Americans 'do not know....'

[Super Nova]

The OP story is woefully understating just how dumb the average American is. Just one look at our politics and history will tell you this.

In other news, scientists confirm that water is still wet. And now for sports...

I travel to America a couple of times a year these days.

I have to say it is always to the east or west coast so I have spent no time in the middle.

People in the US cannot be more dumb than the rest of the planet. It must be education and cultural to be ignorant of history, science and the geography of the world. Maybe it is to the advantage of those in power, industry and political to have the masses on this opiate that keeps them so ignorant.

[IQS.RLOW]

You have your own version of religion SN. You believe in AGW despite all proof to the contrary, but you are worse.

A bible thumper only wants you to live a good life and not kill anybody. You want to tax everybody into believing your way of thinking and reduce quality of life.

[Chard]

I travel to America a couple of times a year these days.

I live here and travel around the country constantly.

People in the US cannot be more dumb than the rest of the planet. It must be education and cultural to be ignorant of history, science and the geography of thworld. Maybe it is to the advantage of those in power, industry and political to have the masses on this opiate that keeps them so ignorant.

Compared to other First World nations our education system is terrible until you get to university. At the uni level we've got several of the fines learning inststutions in the world. Worse thing is that just a few decades ago we were the smartest, most productive nation on earth in every metric you can name. Now we're not. We got fat and complacent, but the reasons why we've dumbed down so much is a discussion all it's own.

[Super Nova]

It gets better.

10% of yanks think HTML is a sexually transmitted disease.

1 in 10 Americans think HTML is an STD, study finds

By Salvador Rodriguez
March 4, 2014, 10:40 a.m.

If you're talking tech with Americans, you may want to avoid using any jargon.

A recent study found that many Americans are lost when it comes to tech-related terms, with 11% saying that they thought HTML — a language that is used to create websites — was a sexually transmitted disease.

The study was conducted by Vouchercloud.net, a coupons website, as a way to determine how knowledgeable users are when it comes to tech terms.

"Technology is a huge interest for our user base, and month after month we see thousands of people visiting our site to look for coupons and deals to use when purchasing their favorite tech products," a company spokeswoman said in a statement. "It seems that quite a few of us need to brush up on our tech definitions."

Besides HTML, there were some other amusing findings:
77% of respondents could not identify what SEO means. SEO stands for "Search-Engine Optimization"
27% identified "gigabyte" as an insect commonly found in South America. A gigabyte is a measurement unit for the storage capacity of an electronic device.
42% said they believed a "motherboard" was "the deck of a cruise ship." A motherboard is usually a circuit board that holds many of the key components of a computer.
23% thought an "MP3" was a "Star Wars" robot. It is actually an audio file.
18% identified "Blu-ray" as a marine animal. It is a disc format typically used to store high-definition videos.
15% said they believed "software" is comfortable clothing. Software is a general term for computer programs.
12% said "USB" is the acronym for a European country. In fact, USB is a type of connector.

Despite the incorrect answers, 61% of the respondents said it is important to have a good knowledge of technology in this day and age.

The study involved 2,392 men and women 18 years of age or older. The participants were not told that the study was specifically looking into their knowledge of tech terms. They were presented with both tech and non-tech terms and were asked to choose from three possible definitions.

"Hence why a mix of both normal and technology-related words were used," the company said in a statement.

http://www.latimes.com/business/technol ... z2v5ohljIf

[boxy]

1 in 10 is 10%, actually, and isn't all that surprising, to me.

[IQS.RLOW]

1 in 10 is 10%, actually, and isn't all that surprising, to me.

About the same percentage that vote for Greens. The difference being is that Americans that think HTML is an STD still have friends and can interact with society.

[Chard]

That article is fucking retarded and in and older, better time the dumbshit that wrote it should take his life in shame.

If you're talking tech with Americans, you may want to avoid using any jargon.

If you're talking about anything technical with a layperson, i.e. someone that doesn't have technical knowledge of the subject, you should avoid using jargon without immediately explaining what it is. That holds true regardless of where you're from, and I'd wager money if you did the same study in Australia, Canada, or the UK you'd get similar results.

But hey, meaningless statistics and sensationalism is better than critical thinking. Seriously, this jackoff expects everyone to know everything about computing, yet completely ignores that for most people, knowing what "USB" actually means isn't critical information. Your average computer user will never see the inside of their box, so knowing the names of all the bits inside isn't useful information.

Fun thing is, I bet I could stump this dumb bastard with a quiz on what random car parts do and his first reaction will be "why do I need to know what fuel filter is? My car's under warranty, man." Same applies for most people and technology. They just need to know how to use it, no more.

[boxy]

So, do tell us, Mr 127 IQ, what is your critical analysis of the article? We are all waiting with bated breath for words of wisdom from a certifiable genius

[Phil E. Buster]

So, do tell us, Mr 127 IQ, what is your critical analysis of the article? We are all waiting with bated breath for words of wisdom from a certifiable genius

Firstly an IQ of 127 is not a certifiable genius. Coming from you that comment was understandable however. Secondly there is no royal we, there is only you, and you are not waiting with baited breath at all. Thirdly you are unteachable so there would be no reason to furnish you with words of wisdom at all, nor would you be capable of recognizing them. Fourth thanks for making me laugh at the fact that you would be capable of understanding someones critical analysis. That's slack I know but never the less couldn't be helped.

You have a nice day now ya hear.

Oh, I say Old Chap of very superior intelligence. Please make that 'bated' in keeping with your most excellence.

[IQS.RLOW]

In boxys case, using 'baited breath' is quite appropriate. Just a whiff will be enough to understand.