Dumbing Down...

[GoodWitch58]

Commentary: The dumbing down of America | McClatchy

And the giant? It sat on its haunches in the mud as the world changed about it and new giants rose and shook their fists. The giant did not notice. It was watching The Jersey Shore on MTV.

And it lived obliviously ever after.

Sad commentary--Leonard Pitts is one of my favorite writers.

 

[DuneAHH]

I too have always appreciated Leonard Pitts writing.

 

[beachFool]

Commentary: The dumbing down of America | McClatchy

Sad commentary--Leonard Pitts is one of my favorite writers.

Thanks for sharing the column.

Mama died a few days after I turned 17.

She taught school is rural south Georgia and in those days teachers could challenge students who doubted evolution.

She had a college classmate whose high school biology text had the chapters on evolution surgically removed (Tennessee).

I often wonder what my deeply religious, intelligent, principaled, Republican mother would think about the direction of our country.

 

[John R]

We are in trouble. Wish the populace would wake up and see it.

 

[AlphaCrab]

Our stupidity is reflected in who we see as our current cultural heroes--whether famous or not so... Growing up, mine were JFK, and astronaut John Glenn, today, it seems to be Sarah Palin and her other famous made-for-TV twin, Snooky, of the Jersey Shore...

Glad I grew up when I did.

 

[Beach Runner]

Those of us in higher education have been shaken up by the dumbing down in higher ed as documented in the new book Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses. It is a hot topic among those in my profession.

 

[30ashopper]

According to this data on Wikipedia, our population is not being dumbed down, it's being smartened up. 38% as of 2009 with a college level education compared to around 7% in 1960. Now granted some of those degrees are in Greek Mythology , but still, the trend is great to see.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_attainment_in_the_United_States

 

[Beach Runner]

Academically Adrift basically argues that some college degrees might not be of value. So statistics on the number of college graduates is not necessarily proof of not dumbing down.

 

[Jesus]

Papa Bear O'reilly used to be a school teacher. Do you think he might have been a positive influence?;-)

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v1SkpUqYj0&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube - How the sun get there? Where does it go at night?[/ame]

 

[AlphaCrab]

In Catholic school, even the nuns hated Bill O'Reilly.