The Dumbing Down of Society
October 13th 2006 01:30
Look in a magazine at any supermarket checkout. Who's on the front cover? Britney Spears? Paris Hilton? Nicole Ritchie? Anna Nicole Smith? Lindsay Lohan? Chances are it was one of these bimbos.....or someone just like them - those with an IQ smaller than their [tiny] dress sizes.
Turn on the tv and what do you have? A Current Affair or Today Tonight who seem only to show different versions of the same 4 stories which are:
1. Weight loss
2. Pensioners being ripped off
3. When house tenants go bad
4. Big Bad Banks
I coloured my hair a month ago and the warning label on the dye told me not to drink the contents of the dye. I bought an outdoor setting that required assembly. The instructions warned me to take the pieces out of the box BEFORE attempting to assemble the setting.
Listen to our policitians. We had to go to Iraq and take out Saddam. Not because George W told us we had to, but because Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. Uh huh, sure. Apparently the Coalition of the Willing won the war in Iraq......but I can't really find any proof of that. And did you know, that it's okay to violate basic human rights so that we can win the "war on terror"?
I, for one, am sick of the dumbing down of society. Our newspapers, tv, films,books and our politicians are aiming right at the lowest common denominator. We are supposed to be smarter than any generation that has gone before us and yet we try and sue McDonalds when we spill our own hot coffee on ourselves because McDonalds should have put a warning on the cup that the contents were hot? I'm no John Nash when it comes to maths, but even I have trouble adding this up!!
In a professional capacity I was dealing with an Unfair Dismissal claim lodged by an employee. The employee's solicitor said to me that his client would be trying to claim damages for the emotional trauma of the incident. Which is all good and well, except that in Australia in these kinds of cases you CAN'T claim for that. Now, I would have expected an Australian solicitor to know the difference between our legal system and that shown on the TV show Boston Legal or the like.
We laugh at Americans for being a bit thick when, as far as I can see, we're equally as stupid. We laugh at George W for being extremely thick.....yet we let him lead us into a war in Iraq that was unnecessary. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not laughing. Mostly I'm nervous. Is this a sign of things to come. Are things going to get dumbed down even further?
I think we need to take a long hard look at ourselves
BTW, I know that the link between this post and the topic of Celebrity is a little tenuous.....but hey, I figure that when Paris Hilton is commanding $100K just to appear at a party, get drunk, smoke a little dope and sleep with some stranger that it's just another illustration of how far down we've already gone!!!
Turn on the tv and what do you have? A Current Affair or Today Tonight who seem only to show different versions of the same 4 stories which are:
1. Weight loss
2. Pensioners being ripped off
3. When house tenants go bad
4. Big Bad Banks
I coloured my hair a month ago and the warning label on the dye told me not to drink the contents of the dye. I bought an outdoor setting that required assembly. The instructions warned me to take the pieces out of the box BEFORE attempting to assemble the setting.
Listen to our policitians. We had to go to Iraq and take out Saddam. Not because George W told us we had to, but because Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. Uh huh, sure. Apparently the Coalition of the Willing won the war in Iraq......but I can't really find any proof of that. And did you know, that it's okay to violate basic human rights so that we can win the "war on terror"?
I, for one, am sick of the dumbing down of society. Our newspapers, tv, films,books and our politicians are aiming right at the lowest common denominator. We are supposed to be smarter than any generation that has gone before us and yet we try and sue McDonalds when we spill our own hot coffee on ourselves because McDonalds should have put a warning on the cup that the contents were hot? I'm no John Nash when it comes to maths, but even I have trouble adding this up!!
In a professional capacity I was dealing with an Unfair Dismissal claim lodged by an employee. The employee's solicitor said to me that his client would be trying to claim damages for the emotional trauma of the incident. Which is all good and well, except that in Australia in these kinds of cases you CAN'T claim for that. Now, I would have expected an Australian solicitor to know the difference between our legal system and that shown on the TV show Boston Legal or the like.
We laugh at Americans for being a bit thick when, as far as I can see, we're equally as stupid. We laugh at George W for being extremely thick.....yet we let him lead us into a war in Iraq that was unnecessary. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not laughing. Mostly I'm nervous. Is this a sign of things to come. Are things going to get dumbed down even further?
I think we need to take a long hard look at ourselves
BTW, I know that the link between this post and the topic of Celebrity is a little tenuous.....but hey, I figure that when Paris Hilton is commanding $100K just to appear at a party, get drunk, smoke a little dope and sleep with some stranger that it's just another illustration of how far down we've already gone!!!
| 152 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
Comment by Nina
The issues with directions on packaging and suing companies seem to be in line with an evolving culture of always blaming someone else. It's the fault of the evil multinational corporations, or advertising, or some other faceless entity. What happens is we end up in a nanny state, where the government regulates everything because we're so stupid we just can't manage it ourselves.
Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
This is a subjet that can not be discussed to much, it all boils down to the fact most people would rather be told what to think than do it for themselves.
Its invasion of the bubble people.
Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
Thanks for the feedback. I guess we all have to keep fighting against it. Don't get me wrong, I can be a bimbo at the best of times........but I take responsibility for that. And that's the difference.
It's hard to believe that people prefer to be told what to isn't it? I can't understand someone who would rather be told what to do so that they can blame someone else if it goes wrong. I'll make up my own mind about what I want to do......and take responsibility if it turns out that I made the wrong decision thank you very much!
Kylie
Comment by Anonymous
Comment by Ahmed
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
My family 'moved' *out* of Iraq and to Australia to escape Saddam's regime, but looks like Australia is slipping that way... maybe I'll be doing some 'moving' with my kids when I'm 40...
Comment by Aaron
Example #1: 'American Idol' is the MOST popular show in the U.S.
Example #2: CSI Miami is the number 1 rated show IN THE WORLD!
I'm a TV critic so I measure society by it's TV habits.
Aaron.
Comment by Homer Joyce
One of the most interesting phrases in your post, in relation to the post itself, was: We are supposed to be smarter than any generation that has gone before us.
My first questions would be: Who said that and why? Who believes that? Supposed to be? According to whom?
I’ve always believed that there is an huge chasm between intelligence (or smartness) and wisdom.
The smart person who isn’t wise would say: Let’s invent a new education system for children, and make it fun. There’s too much discipline in learning. Get rid of it.
The wise person would say: Let’s teach the children properly, or they’ll all end up with no notion of discipline whatsoever, and fans of trash TV like Idol and Big Brother.
I reckon one of the main reasons for the dumbing down of society is the fact that education now has to be ‘fun’ rather than smack of anything disagreeable …or anything slightly resembling discipline or learning values. Hence, learning anything of value (like how to discern between what is good and what is not) has been given an early minute.
But fear not. Those DNA experts from CSI Miami will find out why it was given an early minute, prosecute it, and bring it to strict justice US-style.
Homer …
Comment by Gareth
In relation to not drinking hair dye, and taking things out of boxes before trying to assemble them, I recently read the instructions on a clothes iron (I dont know why), but it advised me not to try ironing clothes while wearing them! I also recently ate a packet of peanuts that according to the packet 'May contain traces of nuts'. How lucky am I? I could have accidentally ironed my chest while trying to get the creases out of my shirt and sparked off a nut allergy by simply eating a packet of peanuts if it wasn't for this essential guidance!
Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
I totally agree with the topic, yes we are in a society that is increasingly moving towards treating us as like fools. I had sleeping tablets earlier in the year and the pharmacist told me to be aware that they make me drowsy.... I wish I'd had the guts to say 'yes, isn't that what sleeping tablets are supposed to do?'. But I didn't, I nodded and watched as he put the sticky yellow label on, warning me against operating heavy machinery, driving and drinking alcohol when using the tablets. So that was all my usual pastimes out the window....
Tracy
Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
Comment by tamara, hottie
omg your article is really true
our society today is sad,
it has become soo unintelligent and vulgar. you know the " dumbing down" of society today started in the mid 1990's!!!!!!!
well thanks for the insight hun
i am a year 10 student and this really made me think !!!
i think i am goin to incorporate some of your thoughts into my essay, hope you dont mind,
well thankyou very much
xx tamara xx
Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
Comment by Anonymous
How could we possibly live without the essential advice of our celebrities:
(1) A good few years back Arnold Schwarzenegger was advising people of the correct way to sit on the toilet pan.
(2) A few months ago Sheryll Crow told us how many sheets of toilet paper we should use when visiting the toilet. According to her, the maximum necessary should only be two, except for these difficult times when you require three!
From this I can presume a) she is an origami expert b) American toilet roll is gigantic!
I can now rest in peace knowing this.
Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
HAHAHAHAHA. I do remember the Sheryl Crow one. That's just weird if you ask me. But I hadn't heard about Arnold. That's priceless!!!
Thanks for stopping by!
Kylie
Comment by Svetlana