Thread: Stupid Americans

Actually it was UM, i wrote half of the message in white letters that you cant see try highlighting my message and seeing the part i left out of sight.

Old man ur eyes are failing u!

lol, fun stuff in this thread. How stupid those people were was VERY funny, but I think it is pretty lame to push the blame off on the education system. Yes I could answer all of those questions, yes I went through a public school (a very small one) and Im currently demolishing all math and science courses in my path to being a certified electrical engineer. Just providing a counter point....

ah, dragonlord, dont be too hard on old UM. He has had to fight off many a moon conspiriter. Im sure he has something like war veteran's always being jumpy around loud noises and such.

Whats wrong with blamming the educational system? Its job is to teach, if it doesn't teach its their fault. If your going to blame anyone, it should be them. Theres more than enough blame to go around here. We can blame congress as well.

Obviously all school isn't bad. I am sure everyone had good teachers and bad teachers. You learn from the good ones, and hopefully it makes up for the bad ones which we shouldn't have in the first place.

I have to say most of the questions in there are stuff I never learned from school but I picked up on my own however. I have to say the vast majority of them I learned from talking to people, looking stuff up on the internet, or watching tv and movies.

So really there are two issues here. First a lot of people are poorly educated, and that is a big problem and our school system needs to improve in that. The other issue is that people are not paying attention to anything around them and they fail to pick up basic everyday knowledge that everyone should know.

And America is also one of the most religous country in the world.

The middle east doesn't count except Israel.

Originally Posted by Seismosaur

And America is also one of the most religous country in the world

I read somewhere that the use comes in secound after.....India!

I watched the first video in its entirety, and I have to agree with everything that was said.

I'm lucky enough to be in a phenomenal public high school right now (though I'm still bored and could get much more out of it with more personalized treatment... whatever). I can't imagine being stuck in a shitty public school.

My mother is a math teacher, and so I get a lot of 'behind-the-scenes' talk about other teachers. I know a good handful of teachers that everyone knows are burnt out, overly aggressive, incompetent, or just generally stupid, and yet are not at risk of being fired because of tenure.

It's really a stupid concept, and these teacher's unions have gone way too far.

I'm not sure just how much public education is to blame, I mean the adult population doesn't seem much smarter than the children. Unless crappy education in the US has been going on since the 60s...

Originally Posted by tkdyo

lol, fun stuff in this thread. How stupid those people were was VERY funny, but I think it is pretty lame to push the blame off on the education system. Yes I could answer all of those questions, yes I went through a public school (a very small one) and Im currently demolishing all math and science courses in my path to being a certified electrical engineer. Just providing a counter point....

ah, dragonlord, dont be too hard on old UM. He has had to fight off many a moon conspiriter. Im sure he has something like war veteran's always being jumpy around loud noises and such.

Once somebody expresses support for suicide terrorism, I never assume anything they say is too absurd to be taken seriously. Plus, Dragon said this about the moon landing conspiracy video...

Originally Posted by dragonoverlord

And btw the 9 minute excerpt does make the case well...

So I took him seriously when he said the moon landing never happened.

I should have mentioned that I went to public schools for most of my grade schooling. Two of the schools were very good, but two of them were major jokes. Overall, the public school system would be much better if the schools competed with each other for students and earned a certain amount of money per student. I will also add that even at the worst schools, students can be very educated when they decide they really want to be. School is what a student makes of it, but in most cases, students will make little of school if the teachers are not pushing them the right way.

Originally Posted by Spartiate

I'm not sure just how much public education is to blame, I mean the adult population doesn't seem much smarter than the children. Unless crappy education in the US has been going on since the 60s...

Originally Posted by Universal Mind

We're talking about these people, not the 0,001% of americans who hold a degree in rocket science.

ah, UM. Im not trying to poke fun at you, Im actually quite happy that you try to educate the people who think those moon landings are fake, and doing a good job of dispelling other theories on here.

Alric. Im not saying the educational system has no part in this failure, however I think more personal responsibilities should be given to many of the students who are just plain lazy. However, I agree that something needs to be done about tenure, because it is ridiculous how some terrible teachers can stay in the school just because of that

Originally Posted by Spartiate

We're talking about these people, not the 0,001% of americans who hold a degree in rocket science.

Your statement was much more general than that, and the Mars Rover is only one example among a great many major accomplishments of Americans. We dominate world business, technology, economics, entertainment, and military power, and it is not exactly because of the cherry picked imbeciles in that video. I'm sure I could find some ditch diggers and janitors in Canada who can't name a country that starts with C. Go to an American college campus with a video camera and see how much luck you have making a video like that. You will have to interview the right cafeteria workers. It is amazing how hard yet pitifully people try to downgrade our intelligence when we dominate the world in so many ways.

Originally Posted by Universal Mind

So I took him seriously when he said the moon landing never happened.

I should have mentioned that I went to public schools for most of my grade schooling. Two of the schools were very good, but two of them were major jokes. Overall, the public school system would be much better if the schools competed with each other for students and earned a certain amount of money per student. I will also add that even at the worst schools, students can be very educated when they decide they really want to be. School is what a student makes of it, but in most cases, students will make little of school if the teachers are not pushing them the right way.

Ya well the the video the 9 minutes i saw atleast did make very good points and raised important questions about the moon landing UM. Are you denying that? They indeed did raise good questions. Im not saying the Moon landing never happend just that its a possibility it never happend man. The topic is open to debate.

Take it easy your working yourself up about nothing. All of a sudden i say "only in america" and you seem to take it personally. Jeeze.

On the school issue i think you got a good idea going there.

Originally Posted by dragonoverlord

Ya well the the video the 9 minutes i saw atleast did make very good points and raised important questions about the moon landing UM. Are you denying that? They indeed did raise good questions. Im not saying the Moon landing never happend just that its a possibility it never happend man. The topic is open to debate.

Take it easy your working yourself up about nothing. All of a sudden i say "only in america" and you seem to take it personally. Jeeze.

I just love to debate, and I think America haters have a lot to learn... or admit. You did not catch my attention by saying, "Only in America." You caught my attention before that by openly supporting suicide terrorism. Your "only in America" comment just had me making a crack about suicide bombers, which had you expressing more support for suicide bombers and talking about how they are supposedly very effective. That is when I decided to try much harder to get you to be specific.

I thought the moon landing video was a bunch of assertion and was not backed up by any kind of secondary evidence, which made it very weak. It was just moon landing footage and a woman's voice saying things and just expecting us to believe everything she said. I could make a video and use my voice to make a bunch of wild claims about what the film proves. It would not be difficult. I could talk over an old film of a tennis match and say, "That kind of tennis racket was not invented until ten years later. This proves that aliens from the future visited John McEnroe." That type of video proves nothing.

Originally Posted by Universal Mind

Go to an American college campus with a video camera and see how much luck you have making a video like that.

Watch the end of that video for an added laugh (that's part 1 of 5 by the way, filmed in 2000).

The way I see it, it's like Americans are single-minded. They're very focused on (and usually good at) what they do, and pretty much ignore anything that doesn't directly concern them.

For me, this isn't about trying to slander the States, it's about exposing how little America pays attention to the world it watches over. It's true that the US dominates the world in many ways, yet it's scary how its people know next to nothing about it.

Originally Posted by Spartiate

For me, this isn't about trying to slander the States, it's about exposing how little America pays attention to the world it watches over. It's true that the US dominates the world in many ways, yet it's scary how its people know next to nothing about it.

Have you ever lived here? I don't know where you are getting that. Those videos were set up for entertainment and do not reflect realistic samples. Jay Leno makes videos like that too, and he shows them on his extremely popular late night comedy show. Do you know why his enormous audience thinks the videos are hilarious? Because they know the answers to the questions and think the dumb responses are very unusual and surprising. I would be surprised if a single American who has viewed this thread has watched the videos and gone, "Duh, what's so dumb about not knowing that stuff?" You must be watching too much Jerry Springer or something.

I've been to the US many times, I've met many americans, I see your media every day, I've seen surveys and statistics, and more often than not, I get a taste of the american "we are so great" attitude.

I can only go by what I have seen... and what the US projects.

Originally Posted by Spartiate

I've been to the US many times, I've met many americans, I see your media every day, I've seen surveys and statistics, and more often than not, I get a taste of the american "we are so great" attitude.

I can only go by what I have seen... and what the US projects.

Have you met many Americans who are opinionated on the Russian presence in Saskatchewan? Have you seen a lot of Americans saying things like that on our news programs? That was some very unusual stuff in those videos. What did not get shown were the intelligent answers that would have taken the fun out of the video. We have no way of knowing how many there were. It is not like that guy showed up at Mount Rushmore and downtown Montgomery, Arkansas and other places with a camera and made an unedited live video. It wouldn't take that long to find a Parisian who is going to act like he has an opinion on the Malaysian invasion of Paraguay if a fake news man talks about it like it's real.

Originally Posted by Universal Mind

I just love to debate, and I think America haters have a lot to learn... or admit. You did not catch my attention by saying, "Only in America." You caught my attention before that by openly supporting suicide terrorism. Your "only in America" comment just had me making a crack about suicide bombers, which had you expressing more support for suicide bombers and talking about how they are supposedly very effective. That is when I decided to try much harder to get you to be specific.

I thought the moon landing video was a bunch of assertion and was not backed up by any kind of secondary evidence, which made it very weak. It was just moon landing footage and a woman's voice saying things and just expecting us to believe everything she said. I could make a video and use my voice to make a bunch of wild claims about what the film proves. It would not be difficult. I could talk over an old film of a tennis match and say, "That kind of tennis racket was not invented until ten years later. This proves that aliens from the future visited John McEnroe." That type of video proves nothing.

Ok thanks for clarifying that. I disagree with your opinion on teh video but for me to counter your argument i would have to watch the video again and honestly im not passionate about that issue.

I think we are falling a little off topic here guys.
And, as far as the "america is the greatest attitude" I have been to Taiwan, Korea, Germany and Japan. In every one of them you meet people who think their country is the best and that everyone else is doing something wrong. I think it is pretty lame to characterize any one nation as this when all of them have people who think this way.

Originally Posted by Universal Mind

Have you met many Americans who are opinionated on the Russian presence in Saskatchewan? Have you seen a lot of Americans saying things like that on our news programs? That was some very unusual stuff in those videos. What did not get shown were the intelligent answers that would have taken the fun out of the video. We have no way of knowing how many there were. It is not like that guy showed up at Mount Rushmore and downtown Montgomery, Arkansas and other places with a camera and made an unedited live video. It wouldn't take that long to find a Parisian who is going to act like he has an opinion on the Malaysian invasion of Paraguay if a fake news man talks about it like it's real.

That's true, BUT, I have noticed that one thing said at the beginning of the video is true, Americans do tend to try and elaborate about subjects they know nothing about, rather than just admit ignorance on the matter.

If it's really not as bad as all the videos and stuff portray (hopefully most americans know how many sides a triangle has), then all the better; but you should really try and improve your outgoing image.

Originally Posted by Spartiate

That's true, BUT, I have noticed that one thing said at the beginning of the video is true, Americans do tend to try and elaborate about subjects they know nothing about, rather than just admit ignorance on the matter.

If it's really not as bad as all the videos and stuff portray (hopefully most americans know how many sides a triangle has), then all the better; but you should really try and improve your outgoing image.

So those people in the video who were interviewed in Montgomery, Arkansas are more like that than the typical people who would have been interviewed for such a video in, say, London or Tokyo?

Originally Posted by Universal Mind

So those people in the video who were interviewed in Montgomery, Arkansas are more like that than the typical people who would have been interviewed for such a video in, say, London or Tokyo?

I wouldn't know, having been exposed far less to people from those places. One thing's for sure though, those regions don't exude a "stupid vibe". I think the general somewhat obnoxious attitude attributed to Americans is what differentiates them from other nations though. It's easier to pick on the loud annoying ones (no offense).

Originally Posted by Spartiate

I wouldn't know, having been exposed far less to people from those places. One thing's for sure though, those regions don't exude a "stupid vibe". I think the general somewhat obnoxious attitude attributed to Americans is what differentiates them from other nations though. It's easier to pick on the loud annoying ones (no offense).

Spartiate, you just got nailed. I even gave you two chances to pass the test. The people in the video were not in Montogmery, Arkansas. They were in the capital city, where the capitol building is and where the governor lives and works. The capital of Arkansas is not Montgomery. It is Little Rock. Montgomery is the capital of Alabama.

Originally Posted by Universal Mind

Spartiate, you just got nailed. I even gave you two chances to pass the test. The people in the video were not in Montogmery, Arkansas. They were in the capital city, where the capitol building is and where the governor lives and works. The capital of Arkansas is not Montgomery. It is Little Rock. Montgomery is the capital of Alabama.

Heh, fine then . Although it's not like you asked me "what is the capital of Arkansas", because I really wasn't paying attention to place names while casually reading through stuff here at 2 am; I just read "Are the Americans interviewed any different to typical people you would interview in England or Japan". But I'll let you have your fun...