Y'all are not really THIS stupid, are you?

[Scooter]

[Bicycle Bill]

Well, I'M not .... but then, I've always stood head and shoulders above the masses when it comes to intellect.

-"BB"-

[Burning Petard]

What year did America gain its independence? 1776! ! checked as the right answer! I don't think so. The 13 colonies declared their independence that year, but the British Crown disputed it and we had to fight a war to settle it. The Treaty of Paris formally ended the dispute in 1783. The guy in the brown sweater guessed several dates, and then his answer of 1783 was declared wrong and they went on, if you view the whole thing at You Tube.

snailgate

[Scooter]

I would say that the guy who said 1783 has a good argument, as that was the year of the signing of the Treaty of Paris. But it has been convention to accept that independence dates from July 4, 1776, so I'm not going to nitpick about that one. It was the dozens of people who didn't know how many stars are on the flag, or that The Star Spangled Banner is the national anthem , or that India is in Asia that I was scratching my head over.

[Burning Petard]

or California as the biggest state. The real puzzler was 13 minus 50 equals 47. I don't think I was nit picking. The stated question was NOT framed the way it is usually said: When did we, the USA, DECLARE independence. When I checked this stuff out on wikipedia, I was surprised to learn the USA started the War of 1812, over a buffer state of free American Indians, supported by the Brits, on the USA Western border. Don't know why this hole in my national history, because I was well aware of Bloody Gen'l Harrison who latter gained notoriety as our president who did no wrong because he spent his entire presidential term giving his long inaugural speech and then retired to his death bed.

snailgate

[BoSoxGal]

Just read a news story about a 19 year old mother of a 3 year old who shot her 22 year old boyfriend with a .50 caliber Desert Eagle from ONE FOOT away, while he held a book in front of his chest which was meant to stop the bullet - all for a YouTube video they were making which they hoped would go viral and achieve them fame and riches. This all took place in front of the wee child, of course.

Stupidity abounds.

[Jarlaxle]

Contraceptives in the water supply.

[rubato]

Video can be edited. It is unknown how many people answered correctly but were edited out as less amusing.

Treating this at face value amounts to accepting being manipulated.

yrs,
rubato

[MGMcAnick]

Video can be edited. It is unknown how many people answered correctly but were edited out as less amusing.
yrs,
rubato

My thoughts exactly. I also said the same thing about Jay Leno when he did his "Jay Walking" tours of Universal Studios. The correct answers are not funny.

[Scooter]

I'm sure there were hundreds of people they interviewed who gave the correct answers. Changes nothing.

[Joe Guy]

The video looks like a collection of funny responses to questions. Treating it at face value means to laugh at some silly answers. Treating it any other way amounts to no sense of humor.

[BoSoxGal]

Many people who live in the United States are “alarmingly ignorant of America’s history and heritage,” according to a new poll.

The poll found, for example, that 10 percent of American college graduates incorrectly think celebrity television judge Judith Sheindlin, known as “Judge Judy,” is a member of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The poll, which was conducted in August of 2015, surveyed both college graduates and the general public and found many were lacking some basic knowledge about the U.S.

For example, only 20.6 percent of Americans were able to identify James Madison as the father of the Constitution, with more than 60 percent naming Thomas Jefferson, who was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence.

College graduates only scored marginally better.

The survey also found that roughly 60 percent of college graduates couldn’t correctly name a requirement for the ratification of a constitutional amendment, and 40 percent didn’t know Congress has the constitutional authority to declare war.

Not even half know that the Senate oversees presidential impeachments.

“These were not isolated findings,” said the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, or ACTA, which conducted the survey.

“A 2012 ACTA survey found that less than 20 [percent] of American college graduates could accurately identify the effect of the Emancipation Proclamation, less than half could identify George Washington as the American general at Yorktown ((Virginia)), and only 42 [percent] knew that the Battle of the Bulge occurred during World War II.”

ACTA found in another recent survey that of over 1,100 liberal arts colleges and universities, only 18 percent require a course in American history or government.

“When surveys repeatedly show that college graduates do not understand the fundamental processes of our government and the historical forces that shaped it, the problem is much greater than a simple lack of factual knowledge,” said ACTA. “It is a dangerous sign of civic disempowerment.”

ACTA describes itself as an “independent, non-profit organization committed to academic freedom, excellence, and accountability at America's colleges and universities.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.voanew ... 53123.html

And then we elected Donald J. Trump to be President.

The ignorance is beyond evident.

[Big RR]

Not even half know that the Senate oversees presidential impeachments.

That's news to me. Actually, the House of Representatives is the body empowered to impeach the president (which is the impeachment I think they're referring to here) and it does so on its own without any Senate involvement. At the end, it votes whether to impeach the president or not. After the president is impeached by the House, the Senate conducts the hearings and votes to convict and remove from office or not. The Chief Justice provides oversight on certain legal issue.

If this is representative of how they word their questions, I'm not surprised many people failed.

[BoSoxGal]

Big RR, that's an error of the article writer, not the poll. If you'd read the linked poll report, you'd have seen this language:

Less than half of college graduates knew that presidential impeachments are
tried before the U.S. Senate.

which is entirely correct.

[Big RR]

OK, thanks.