That quote from Carlin is one that often comes to mind, LOL.
It’s alarming to learn how accurate that actually is. People often talk about how comedians are basically today’s philosophers and I can understand why.
The measurements on numeracy and literacy in the United States explains quite a bit about one’s everyday experience. I mean, I went to university and graduated. I got mostly A’s in K-12. I was not valedictorian. I did not have a 4.0 in university. I don’t have a PhD. I consider myself someone with about average intelligence, but I applied myself. I read rather widely. I try to apply logic to situations and assess new material as it comes in.
I don’t think this is some high bar for an adult. Honestly, I consider the above the bare minimum. Often it felt like I was coasting in high school and parts of university.
But everyday experiences and seeing how other adults behave and what they believe and accept as “fact” seems to constitute a baffling array of the ridiculous and the silly. When you remember things like this, it makes a bit more sense:
Think about how dumb the average person is, then realize half the population is even fucking dumber.
That quote from Carlin is one that often comes to mind, LOL.
It’s alarming to learn how accurate that actually is. People often talk about how comedians are basically today’s philosophers and I can understand why.
The measurements on numeracy and literacy in the United States explains quite a bit about one’s everyday experience. I mean, I went to university and graduated. I got mostly A’s in K-12. I was not valedictorian. I did not have a 4.0 in university. I don’t have a PhD. I consider myself someone with about average intelligence, but I applied myself. I read rather widely. I try to apply logic to situations and assess new material as it comes in.
I don’t think this is some high bar for an adult. Honestly, I consider the above the bare minimum. Often it felt like I was coasting in high school and parts of university.
But everyday experiences and seeing how other adults behave and what they believe and accept as “fact” seems to constitute a baffling array of the ridiculous and the silly. When you remember things like this, it makes a bit more sense:
https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/survey-of-adults-skills-2023-country-notes_ab4f6b8c-en/united-states_427d6aac-en.html