Borowitz writes: "Of the many obvious things that people are sick and tired of trying to get through the skulls of stupid people, the fact that climate change will cause catastrophic habitat destruction and devastating extinctions tops the list, with a majority saying that they will no longer bother trying to explain this to cretins."
Crowded Street in Manhattan. (photo: Toshi Sasaki/Getty)
Many in Nation Tired of Explaining Things to Idiots
24 June 15
The article below is satire. Andy Borowitz is an American comedian and New York Times-bestselling author who satirizes the news for his column, "The Borowitz Report." 
any Americans are tired of explaining things to idiots, particularly when the things in question are so painfully obvious, a new poll indicates.
According to the poll, conducted by the University of Minnesota’s Opinion Research Institute, while millions have been vexed for some time by their failure to explain incredibly basic information to dolts, that frustration has now reached a breaking point.
Of the many obvious things that people are sick and tired of trying to get through the skulls of stupid people, the fact that climate change will cause catastrophic habitat destruction and devastating extinctions tops the list, with a majority saying that they will no longer bother trying to explain this to cretins.
Coming in a close second, statistical proof that gun control has reduced gun deaths in countries around the world is something that a significant number of those polled have given up attempting to break down for morons.
Finally, a majority said that trying to make idiots understand why a flag that symbolizes bigotry and hatred has no business flying over a state capitol only makes the person attempting to explain this want to put his or her fist through a wall.
In a result that suggests a dismal future for the practice of explaining things to idiots, an overwhelming number of those polled said that they were considering abandoning such attempts altogether, with a broad majority agreeing with the statement, “This country is exhausting.”
|
THE NEW STREAMLINED RSN LOGIN PROCESS: Register once, then login and you are ready to comment. All you need is a Username and a Password of your choosing and you are free to comment whenever you like! Welcome to the Reader Supported News community. |
 14 October 2016
|
 13 October 2016
|
 14 October 2016
|
 15 October 2016
|
 14 October 2016
|
 14 October 2016
|
 14 October 2016
|
 13 October 2016
|
 15 October 2016
|
Comments
We are concerned about a recent drift towards vitriol in the RSN Reader comments section. There is a fine line between moderation and censorship. No one likes a harsh or confrontational forum atmosphere. At the same time everyone wants to be able to express themselves freely. We'll start by encouraging good judgment. If that doesn't work we'll have to ramp up the moderation.
General guidelines: Avoid personal attacks on other forum members; Avoid remarks that are ethnically derogatory; Do not advocate violence, or any illegal activity.
Remember that making the world better begins with responsible action.
- The RSN Team
"This is not satire. It is 100% accurate."
A number of folks, as you have here, have correctly pointed out a change in Borowitz’ satire. What I find is that his humor is missing! He is so close to the truth, as in this column that the message comes off as raw truth rather than a comedic look at a bad situation.
I wonder if he is so fed up and angry with the the political system that he can’t laugh at it, at this point.
Personally I find little humor in the devastating and rapidly evolving downward path we are on. I am certainly too angry and fed up to laugh.
What do you all think?
Good comparison and thought!
I finally took the time to watch a YouTube video on Carroll Quigley's Tragedy & Hope given by G. Edward Griffin linked in an RSN comment.
Late to the party? Perhaps. Clear about the Tragedy? Crystal. Hope? As long as the sun keeps rising. Reason to doubt?
Black humor is all's left after Charleston. ("But other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?") Anything else is too soon.
Anyone else holding their breath? I'm sorry for my kids.
"Black humor is all's left after Charleston. "But other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?" Anything else is too soon."
Good point, Thanks.
The Quigley Formula - G. Edward Griffin lecture
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynVqPnMQ2sI
I was reading for some time that "the kids have no future" but I didn't really understand it. Now I do though. I don't have kids, but I feel sorry for them--all of them everywhere. It is such a mess!
The lecture is based around the following quote from his book Tragedy & Hope, pp. 1247-1248:
"The National parties and their presidential candidates, with the Eastern Establishment assiduously fostering the process behind the scenes, moved closer together and nearly met in the center with almost identical candidates and platforms, although the process was concealed as much as possible, by the revival of obsolescent or meaningless war cries and slogans (often going back to the Civil War)....The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps, of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to the doctrinaire and academic thinkers. Instead, the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can "throw the rascals out" at any election without leading to any profound or extreme shifts in policy. ... Either party in office becomes in time corrupt, tired, unenterprising, and vigorless. Then it should be possible to replace it, every four years if necessary, by the other party, which will be none of these things but will still pursue, with new vigor, approximately the same basic policies."
So for those who have believed in devoted partisanship, it is time to give it up! It's a scam.
I love that turn of phrase, "...just innocent of common sense..." Or another way of stating that is "guilty of having stupid?"
But it is my observation that a vast majority of the ignorant, WANT to be, or else they would have to look at their own choices and consider changing some of them, which is uncomfortable/ inconvenient -- when they saw that many of their choices are harming their neighbors, their kids, their community and the planet.
"I don't want to hear it, don't want to know, it's too depressing, who needs the bad news, my little bit doesn't matter, are some of the many excuses.
But then too there is our COMPULSORY American Optimism:
Smile or Die (10 minute video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5um8QWWRvo
If anybody else saw the president's performance at the last correspondent's dinner, you saw that he's doing the same. His "anger translator" had to stop and back off because Obama transitioned to "faux" anger himself, needing no translation.
Any more cheeks to turn, ladies and gentlemen?
I can't compete with the Kochs or Adelson or Norquist's traitorous organization until something revolutionary occurs with campaign finance.
Not just stupidity, but evil stalks the land...
While CNN reported 5,000 attendees at the Bernie Sanders June 20th town meeting at Denver University, I, in attendance, guesstimated 6,000 or more. Whatever.
The huge crowd all (and I mean all) stood and cheered vehemently, as candidate Bernie finished his great praise of Pope Francis - the Pope's strong stand for protecting our earth and all life, and helping the poor and needy.
Bernie agrees and supports this Pope, in openly and vigorously opposing all the greed and power seeking evil that has overcome us. Time it is for us all, here in the U.S. and across the globe, to get active and, with courage and determination, do all that is needed to...
UNDO THE EVIL COUP!
I'd add that I get tired of pointing out the obvious when explaining the abject failure of trickle down economics. Conservatives cling to this theory like it's their last breath.
Or for that matter, that stupid Texan Governor Abbot...
Ugh...
"Jesus is going to beam them all up anyway. Soon, very soon!"
Thanks for this bit of humor! I needed it!
Not soon enough!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zORv8wwiadQ&app=desktop
Thanks for the link! Very well done. I will be spreading the link.
excessive free time.
But when a post gets within 10-20 characters of the limit, this web site often but not always refuses to accept it.
The comment I will post below, with a continuation, is consistently counted by the web site as 1497 characters after repeated cancellations and re-postings, re-typings, etc. MicroSnot counts 1483 characters including spaces, which would be 1491 if it fails to count paragraph spaces at all. Yet the web site consistently refuses the post that it claims as 3 characters under the limit.
SO:
NO BLEEPIN' BLEEP!
Sorry, sometimes I get carried away.
Yesterday I cited a standard definition of fascism, the alignment through collaboration of the interests of the state and those of big business, often including organized religion and also a scapegoat. We may need to add organized stupidity to that list.
(Continued below)
The point made in the video referenced by Inspired Citizen is simply correct and well known. It is sometimes called the "precautionary principle" and is law for certain cases in some countries. It is related to the two types of statistical error and to basic game theory. I agree that it is worth passing along, because the geek (I'd love to know who he is!) makes a simple case about a simple issue in a way that anyone is capable of understanding. Anyone not already familiar with the principle who accepts the sound argument
will become more enlightened. Ignorance can be cured by learning!
The limiting factor is that "there is no cure for stupid"(idiotic , imbecilic, doltish), generally taken in the sense of one dictionary definition, an inability or unwillingness to learn. Skepticism, a reluctance to accept claims that contradict what we think we know, has serious survival value. But faced with a challenge to our most basic understandings, people often shut down, refuse to learn, remain WILLFULLY ignorant. And that really IS stupid!
The knowledge explosion has yet to reach many humans. This argument has a potential to break through that wall, especially with more emphasis on the less extreme cases.
“But faced with a challenge to our most basic understandings, people often shut down, refuse to learn, remain WILLFULLY ignorant. And that really IS stupid!”
Yes, this is the way it appears; stupid and willfully so.
I believe that when people of average intelligence, refuse to accept obvious facts, the problem is not intelligence related. It is not a “stupid” thing. It is an emotional problem that over rides their intelligence. Usually fear. When they feel threatened emotionally, they freeze and block out the threatening issue. My almost a year in small group therapy back in the early 70s, showed me this again and again. There are many ways to block out the problem and the people that threaten their emotional safety. One guy in that group, got angry every time someone got close to his fear. That ended his working on the problem. Another woman there would cry, thus ending any pursuit of her problem. Me? I used my brilliant (ahem) thinking to avoid facing the obvious problem I was frightened of. (One time I was talking so fast and running so hard, while sitting in that really cold room with the air conditioner stuck on, in the middle of December, I was sweating so profusely, that my glasses steamed up, as the sweat poured down my face. I could not see a thing through them. It was a bit hilarious, as I look back on it, now.)
Continued below
Anyway, when I run into a “stupid” person as you describe them, I look for the fear the person is feeling. If I am lucky I might nail the real reason, and it becomes very apparent. Usually I don’t succeed, but I still think it is more realistic to look at people that way, than to judge them as “stupid.” I certainly get better results that way.
There is a connection here with Alvin Toffler's "information overload," from "Future Shock" (1970). Even when that phenomenon exists, which it does pretty much all the time today, the resulting "deer-in-the-he adlights" behavior is much worse when the information is scary, which much of it is today.
FDR's observation regarding the power of fear was more profound than even he may have realized at the time, although he surely had to confront fear in dealing with the effects of polio.
I have a problem with RSN's character count.
I second your character count problem. It is an irritation.
Well, if you have spent years studying certain issues, it is hard to explain them in a sound byte.
Add to it: people fighting against affordable health care legislation; people committed to cutting from the needs of the people and infrastructure while giving tax breaks to millionaires and corporations and then blaming the poor for needing welfare; people already in massive debt from wars calling for more war; people refusing or neglecting to vote; re-electing officials who have failed. And more...
Yes, Houston, we have a problem here.
"To whom much has been given, much will be expected."
Yes, we know about those countries and people. That, however, does not excuse stupidity here where we have so much available to us.
This isn't satire. I am working to in the next few years retire early, sell the house, buy a bluewater cruiser sailboat, and leave this nuthouse behind my wake, sailing the world. No more Cororatist US Media, if I want news I'll tune into BBC on the SSB radio. If you can't beat the morons, and you don't want to join them, then flee them.
Unfortunately, Buddha, and since the corporations have a mind to take over the world and ruin everything....I am not sure there is anywhere to go. Hell, even the oceans are screwed up.
The Disaster We’ve Wrought on the World’s Oceans May Be Irrevocable
http://www.newsweek.com/2014/07/11/disaster-weve-wrought-worlds-oceans-may-be-irrevocable-256962.html?piano_d=1
I do understand the sentiment though. It is getting crazier and crazier.
RSS feed for comments to this post