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I was reading an article in Popular Science regarding the anti-intellectual fervor that has grown in U.S. society over the past few decades.
I'm becoming more convinced that every five years, U.S. voters who want to vote must be able to pass the same exam that immigrants have to pass. Granted, some fool in Congress is going to read that sentence and conclude that a better solution is to remove the written civic exam for all immigrants instead of adding it onto a voting requirement.
I'm not saying that we should have a cut-off based on our grades or IQ scores or standardized test scores. I'm saying that the same test used to see if an immigrant can tell the difference between a Senator and a Representative (or where Bolivia is on a map) would be a fair and already-ready-to-go method of helping to improve the practical wisdom of everyday people every November. I'm tired of correcting people's spelling on billboards. I'm tired of trying to explain to relatives that wind farms don't affect the climate. I'm tired of having to point out that science covers phenomena which can be measured while religion by definition isn't supposed to be able to be covered by science, and that both science and religion can co-exist.
To me, there's a difference between a person of average intelligence who continues being eager to learn versus a person of above-average intelligence who got a college diploma 20 years ago and has been riding for free off it ever since without ever opening a book or spending an afternoon looking up metallurgy on Wikipedia just for fun.
I was also reminded of my favorite lines from Christopher Eccleston's stint as the Ninth Doctor in Doctor Who.
I'm tired of assuming that I'm wrong and that the louder, more passionate, more repetitive voices of the internet and the news are the correct voices. What if there ARE only four lights?
I'm sorry, but "alot" is not a word. It's two words. Stop spreading stupidity.
"Centimeter" means there are 100 in a meter.
The five second rule is a myth. Either wash it off with soap and water first or put it in the garbage disposal.
The Bible is an anthology written and edited by a lot of different men throughout the centuries, not a syllable-for-syllable dictation straight from the larynx of God.
Black people didn't rule ancient Egypt as kings and queens. However, we do have a black President today. Whether or not these facts "fit the narrative" or make you feel better about yourself is irrelevant to the facts.
The existence of antibacteria-resistant tuberculosis does not disprove the existence of God any more than the admission of a heliocentric solar system does.
Breaking a mirror doesn't mean that you've got seven years of bad luck coming; it only means that you need to get a dustpan and sweep up the shards before anyone steps on them.
Repeating a lie over and over does not cause reality to make it true, no matter how many Likes it has.
Columbus discovered America, and so did the Native Americans, Leif Ericson, and others; they just did it at separate times in history without an easy way to communicate their discovery to the other discoverers. Angiosperm flora discovered America before our own species was even around, but I don't hear the local gardening club griping about THEIR bragging rights.
Being a girl does not mean that you're bad at math, hopeless at science, clueless about the number of escape pods on the YT-series freighters, or bad at playing video games.
I'm becoming more convinced that every five years, U.S. voters who want to vote must be able to pass the same exam that immigrants have to pass. Granted, some fool in Congress is going to read that sentence and conclude that a better solution is to remove the written civic exam for all immigrants instead of adding it onto a voting requirement.
I'm not saying that we should have a cut-off based on our grades or IQ scores or standardized test scores. I'm saying that the same test used to see if an immigrant can tell the difference between a Senator and a Representative (or where Bolivia is on a map) would be a fair and already-ready-to-go method of helping to improve the practical wisdom of everyday people every November. I'm tired of correcting people's spelling on billboards. I'm tired of trying to explain to relatives that wind farms don't affect the climate. I'm tired of having to point out that science covers phenomena which can be measured while religion by definition isn't supposed to be able to be covered by science, and that both science and religion can co-exist.
To me, there's a difference between a person of average intelligence who continues being eager to learn versus a person of above-average intelligence who got a college diploma 20 years ago and has been riding for free off it ever since without ever opening a book or spending an afternoon looking up metallurgy on Wikipedia just for fun.
I was also reminded of my favorite lines from Christopher Eccleston's stint as the Ninth Doctor in Doctor Who.
Female Programmer: If you're not holding us hostage, then open the door and let us out. The staff are terrified!
Doctor: That's the same staff who execute hundreds of contestants every day?
Female Programmer: That's not our fault. We're just doing our jobs.
Doctor: And with that sentence, you just lost the right to even talk to me. Now back off!
I'm tired of assuming that I'm wrong and that the louder, more passionate, more repetitive voices of the internet and the news are the correct voices. What if there ARE only four lights?
I'm sorry, but "alot" is not a word. It's two words. Stop spreading stupidity.
"Centimeter" means there are 100 in a meter.
The five second rule is a myth. Either wash it off with soap and water first or put it in the garbage disposal.
The Bible is an anthology written and edited by a lot of different men throughout the centuries, not a syllable-for-syllable dictation straight from the larynx of God.
Black people didn't rule ancient Egypt as kings and queens. However, we do have a black President today. Whether or not these facts "fit the narrative" or make you feel better about yourself is irrelevant to the facts.
The existence of antibacteria-resistant tuberculosis does not disprove the existence of God any more than the admission of a heliocentric solar system does.
Breaking a mirror doesn't mean that you've got seven years of bad luck coming; it only means that you need to get a dustpan and sweep up the shards before anyone steps on them.
Repeating a lie over and over does not cause reality to make it true, no matter how many Likes it has.
Columbus discovered America, and so did the Native Americans, Leif Ericson, and others; they just did it at separate times in history without an easy way to communicate their discovery to the other discoverers. Angiosperm flora discovered America before our own species was even around, but I don't hear the local gardening club griping about THEIR bragging rights.
Being a girl does not mean that you're bad at math, hopeless at science, clueless about the number of escape pods on the YT-series freighters, or bad at playing video games.
What Do Characters Think When the Book Closes?
I wonder if the characters from my favorite cancelled t.v. shows or RPG campaigns ever look up into their skies and have this sense that the stars over their heads went black, that the book cover was closed for the last time, that their existence was entombed and forgotten in a box underneath the stairs? Or put another way… Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5 “Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player who struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Iron Mask Deserves More Love
I rented Iron Mask (2019). If its title doesn't ring a bell, Iron Mask is the American title of the adventure/fantasy movie where Arnold Schwarzenegger is dressed as a British redcoat while warning Jackie Chan that no one escapes the Tower of London. It might not win Oscars, but it's happy with what it is. Is Iron Mask for everybody? Nope. (Some people still dislike Star Wars.) Iron Mask is hard to classify, but it reminded me of a mix among: Around the World in 80 Days, Big Trouble in Little China, Detective Dee, The Princess Bride, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor of Thieves, and Xena: Warrior Princess. Note: while my own political views regarding Putin and Xi might ordinary detract from a film which was made in Russia and The People's Republic of China, I DO think this movie deserves more love. All politics aside, I like Iron Mask. (It was also filmed in the Czech Republic, which is one of the few countries in the world that still seems to not hate my country. Thank you, Czech
My Muse Is Too Far Ahead of Me
It could be the harsher-than-usual winter weather which is sabotaging my artistic productivity in recent weeks, but I've had a frustrating type of art block where I ironically do know what I want to create. I'm inspired by someone whose work I admire, but I don't have the skills or the gear to do what that artist does. When I have time off to sit down and work on the art project I have in mind, it just ends up being busywork where all I get out of it is a reminder that I will never get anywhere close to the level of the artist whose work inspires me. It's like I'm firing a gun with no bullets. "Oh, look! That shot would have been a bullseye if I actually had bullets. Or a gun." (Then you didn't actually get a bullseye, did you?) There's this frustration where every time I'm driving or walking somewhere through the snow, I'm thinking about the art project, but when I sat down to work on it, it was a waste of everyone's time. I hate that.
Atheists and Christians and Soup
Y'know, I'll bet that when YouTube and TikTok atheists complain about organized religion, they're forgetting that back in the day, a major selling point of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (in chronological order) was, "Our God doesn't do human sacrifices." That was a really good deal in comparison to the competition! Unfortunately, I think this benefit of no-human-sacrifices stopped being appreciated several centuries ago. In 2023 A.D., it's like seeing an ingredients label which states, "This can of vegetable soup was not built with lead solder or radioactive cesium," or, "This physician washes his hands, with soap!" or, "This day care center promises to not sell your children while you're at work." I think monotheism gets a bum rap nowadays.
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Comments4
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I have doubts about having voters take a test before registering to vote; who would design the test and how would it be ensured that the test isn't biased? I suppose something like the current citizenship test would be fine, but I don't know. Anti-intellectualism and extremism are definitely problems, though. Of course, you can't implement a test to fight extremism without infringing on freedom of expression.