Dumb and dumberer

Are we getting dumber?\nOn the one hand, our civilization is more technologically advanced than ever, and thanks to the Internet, we now can access vast stores of information, from the Library of Congress archives to every Letterman Top Ten List.\nBut a number of observers have noted a dumbing-down of society. More Americans can name the three American Idol judges than the five freedoms of the First Amendment. Try it. One in four Americans didn’t read a book last year, because we can’t stay awake. We’re glued to the tube when Paris Hilton goes to jail, but two-thirds of us admit to ignorance on global politics.\nPerhaps most shocking is our demolition of science, where teachers tell kids about the Earth being 6,000 years old and political parties with dubious motives stifle government scientists’ reports.\nThis all sounds pretty bad, I admit. And from the sound of shriller critics like Al Gore, American society is sliding into a pit of dumbassery unprecedented in human history. An unending string of Jackass reruns and dancing penguin videos has lulled us into a terrible ignorance, while we poison ourselves with a Thickburger and murder our earth. Yeah, we’ve heard this spiel before. \nFrankly, there’s nothing new about the phenomenon of cultural ignorance. In 1900, 11 percent of Americans were guaranteed not to pick up a book. They couldn’t read. The Lindbergh baby story captivated the masses just as the Natalee Holloway story captivates today. \nWhat is new about this age is that we are choosing ignorance. Whereas in the past, poor schooling and inaccessibility of information made continuing education impossible, it’s surprising that today in the Information Age, we’re rationally choosing to be ignorant and irrational.\nConsider this economic setup. You can either know about global warming, becoming miserable and worried, or you can remain in the dark, gleefully putting along in your SUV and running the A/C on the Arctic Tundra setting, while consuming one of those tasty Thickburgers. It’s no wonder that we choose to be irrational. After all, there’s nothing in it for us to learn, and there’s seemingly no price to pay for our actions. \nIt may be good for society that I know the names of my representatives in Congress, but I certainly get no benefit from it, other than the occasional patched pothole. \nI’m not endorsing this mentality of willful idiocy, simply highlighting its allure and prevalence. And if you think you’re immune, you’re wrong. I mean, did you get the five freedoms? Hell, I only got four (those pesky petitioners).\nIs this endless stupidity inevitable? I am not nearly so pessimistic. Look at the dying support for the Iraq war, or increasing awareness of global warming. It may be selfish, but we need incentive to care. Only after the choice of ignorance extracts a personal cost will we learn to read up in a hurry. \nSo, are we getting dumber? Probably no dumber than we’ve ever been. \nBut there’s definitely room for improvement.