PDA

View Full Version : Does being American make you stupid?




furface
04-20-2010, 09:35 AM
Here's an interesting set of links.

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=stress+decreases+intelligence

The thing is that stress definitely makes you less smart, and in the long run it leads to dementia like Alzheimer and Parkinson.

America is a country that is currently run on fear. We fear everything. We fear AlQaeda. We fear the police. We fear government. We fear the IRS.

Funny how the people who line up behind neocons like Sarah Palin and John McCain are also demonstrably, well stupid is the only word for it. They think that we can reduce the deficit by increasing military spending. They think that we can balance the budget by getting rid of 1% of the budget that are earmarks. They think that dropping bombs is peaceful and invading foreign countries is the work of Jesus.

Do stress related intelligence reductions have anything to do with it? For society at large? Does warmongering actually effect people by making them less smart?

Elwar
04-20-2010, 09:39 AM
Being a collectivists is stupid.

MelissaWV
04-20-2010, 09:39 AM
The US (speaking in generalities based on statistics) is also a rather inefficient nation. More is spent for diminished results (think education), more work is done by fewer workers who produce less (examine how the work week works in other portions of the world), and more taxes are paid into the system for fewer national programs (a lot of our taxes go towards pet projects that very few of us see benefits from as opposed to, say, everyone having their college education paid for or something along those lines). All of those situations can contribute stress.

I don't think this is a strictly American phenomenon, but the USA does culturally seem like it thrives on stress and inefficiency. Those of us on these forums may be the exceptions, but we see the rule every single day.

furface
04-20-2010, 09:48 AM
Being a collectivists is stupid.

Forced collectivism is an act of violence. Some people benefit from forced collectivism, others don't. If I'm an American construction worker and I'm forced into a collective with a Mexican worker, I lose. If I'm the Mexican worker or Diane Feinstein's family, I win. There's nothing wrong with voluntary collectives. My view is they can be used to challenge big government and big banking.



I don't think this is a strictly American phenomenon

I often think about this issue. I think that the American experience is unique to the world, but is also now driving a lot of the rest of the world. My personal observation is that when traveling to Europe for instance, I don't see the stress levels that I see among Americans.