2w ago

Politics talk

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One thing they leave out of the story was that healthy frogs would jump out.
It was only after the scientist gave the frogs lobotomies that they sat in the pot until they boiled to death. Today doing such an experiment would be highly unethical.
- Today, we got digital, surgery-free lobotomies.
  Just stare at your phone 24/7 and scroll through an infinite stream of dopamine. Parts of your brain will atrophy. Boom, free lobotomy.
  
  Ding ding ding!
  The analogy does actual work, just look at average American adult literacy levels.
  We're down to 5th grade level comprehension, that's the average as of 2024.
  We've been functionally lobotomized by politicians intentionally destroying the public education system, numerous other things.
  
  I don't get it...my kid is in second grade and apparently reads at a sixth-grade level.
  The kid is smart...but is he smarter than most of America?
  Actually...probably. I remember a few years ago on mother's day, he saw a pickup truck merging on to the highway with a balloon arch in the bed. He called him out on his dumb idea before he even finished merging, and a couple seconds later, it flew loose.
  I bet that guy never lived that down.
  
  When I was in 2nd grade, I'd finish my classwork so quickly, so often, I got assigned to help 5th graders who had trouble reading.
  They'd send me and a 5th grader out into the hallway, 5th grader would read from a paper or book outloud, and I'd help them with pronouncing words they didn't know, and explain their meanings.
  Your kid probably is significantly smarter than average.
  ... Something like 30 EDIT: 21% of Americans are functionally illiterate. They can't read beyond roughly a 2nd grade level. 'Hop on Pop' level reading skills.
  Less than 10% of Americans are capable of evaluating two stories in the news about the same event, and contrasting what parts are emphasized, left out, and use general knowledge to evaluate bias.
  When I was about to go to college, I was told that anyone who goes to college would need to be capable of that as a prerequisite.
  Now, we have many with bachelors degrees or higher that can't even pull that off.
  
  That seems incredibly high. Do you meet a lot of people that can’t read there? Because that’s like one in ten people minimum.
  
  You're right about the illiteracy rate, I risremembered it.
  Here we go from the horse's mouth:
  https://www.thenationalliteracyinstitute.com/post/literacy-statistics-2024-2025-where-we-are-now
  On average, 79% of U.S. adults nationwide are literate in 2024.
  21% of adults in the US are illiterate in 2024.
  54% of adults have a literacy below a 6th-grade level (20% are below 5th-grade level).
  So, I was correct to say that the average adult American reads at a 5th grade level.
  21% are functionally illiterate, not 30%.
  Now, do I, personally meet people who can't read beyond a 5th grade level? Have a very limited vocabulary when speaking in person, unable to articulate themselves clearly, often misusing words that don't mean what they think they mean?
  Yes. Frequently. All the time.
  2 in 10 seems about right to me, comparing the stats to my own experience.
  Americans and English speakers outside of America really do not seem to understand that we are fucking stupid compared to basically all the rest of the developed world, G-whatever number, countries.
  Most European and other 'First World', developed countries have literacy rates above 99%.
  Basically all European countries are over 95%.
  China is at about 97%
  The US is at 81%.
  That is comparable to... Cambodia, Kenya, Algeria, Guatemala.
  In my own life, almost every single person I've met online, who speaks English as a second language, speaks it more proficiently, has a wider vocabulary than most Americans I meet or know online or irl.
  This is what happens when a country destroys its public education system.
  
  Wow. I guess looking back on times I’ve visited the states, I have met a fuck ton of stupid people. And I haven’t been there often. I guess it’s like the whole Irish drinking thing, it sounds like an exaggeration of the truth but the reality is actually worse than you thought.
  
  Oh god do not even get me started on how culturally normalized drunk driving is in the US.
  Almost everyone I've ever known in the US has driven drunk or very high maybe once a month or more, for at least a 5 year period of their life, and they will call you an asshole for telling them that's bad.
  
  Jesus and I thought Alberta was bad haha
- Wait, what? I didn’t know this was an actual experiment that they did. Also giving the frogs LOBOTOMIES first invalidates the whole point of what the results try to imply.
- Not so fast, sir.
- So it's a perfect analogy for conservatives.
- Today doing such an experiment would be highly unethical.
  Keep telling yourself that.

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