From I love Amy

Unfortunately for this girl (and for everyone else) all countries are mostly made up of stupid people.

A page of I Love Amy comic with a young girl praying in her bed at night, saying "Why are americans so stupid? I pray that the people living in other countries are smarter than us."
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[–] 15 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (7 children)

People in other countries are not dumb and neither are Americans.

Making decisions as a collective and on a national level is really difficult. Americans' voices are just amplified because they dominate media and the economy. This is further amplified by the fact that the state and structures support perverse incentives and systematically reward people for not acting in collective interest.

Thinking you're smart and everyone else is dumb is such immature "I'm 14 and this is deep" kinda bullshit that it really makes me think negatively of any person expressing this opinion. Stop blaming people (who are your peers and neighbours and community) and start blaming leaders and systems.

But I guess none of this makes for a quick, funny meme.

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  • [–] 5 points 6 months ago

    This is a real measurable phenomenon.

    65% of Americans think they have above average intelligence. People who are smart downgrade their own intelligence, slightly. People who are idiots greatly over estimate their intelligence. The deltas are separated by multiple magnitudes.

    A more mundane version of this, 85% of drivers think they are above average drivers.

    If you cannot surmise from this that most people are actually less smart than they think, the most polite way I can put that is that the problem is not with those who are calling out the issue. A quarter of society is unable to recognize they are below average.

    That is real problem. It is serious problem. It's made worse because a large chunk of society is composed of stupid people thinking they are smarter than the smart people. This isn't new. It is not imagined. It is not exaggerated. It is measurable. It is very real.

    Denialists doom us all because stupid people glob to their comforting lies.

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