Why Jeremy should see Idiocracy

Mr. Nice

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/jeremy_clarkson/article5374360.ece

No. I suspect the main reason there has been such a dramatic leap is that Britain is now fuller than ever of people who are technically stupid. In the olden days (ie, before last week), it was a big story when someone dialled 999 in hysterics because they?d broken a fingernail. But now it happens so often, it?s no longer news.

Just last night in my local supermarket a woman became so hysterical about a hair she?d found on the outside of a packet of bacon that she called the police. Had I been armed, I?m fairly sure I?d have shot her in the back of the head. Certainly, I thought quite seriously about clubbing her to death with my shopping basket.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. In the West Country a woman called for an ambulance because her television remote control was out of reach. Then there was the young man who reckoned he needed emergency care because he?d sniffed some deodorant by accident. And on the very day the ambulance service made its announcement, it had a call from a 22-year-old woman who?d squeezed a blackhead and it wouldn?t stop bleeding.

One pensioner told an ambulance crew she?d summoned to wait for 40 minutes because she was baking a cake. The crew gave her a stern warning about wasting their time and left, but the warning plainly wasn?t physical enough because exactly 40 minutes later the daft old bat told a second crew that her cake had risen nicely and she was ready to go to hospital.

The stories are endless. The people with shampoo in their eyes. The people who think they?ve caught a virus from their computer. The people whose brains are so tiny and so ineffectual that they cannot determine what is a nuisance and what is an amputation.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0yQunhOaU0[/YOUTUBE]
 
I do a lot of after hours, on-call work for my organisation on top of my day job. Basically the on-call officer is there to deal with emergencies (house fires, floods, structural failure of homes) that happen in the middle of the night. One would think that the concept of emergency would be clear to most people. Unfortunately not. Getting calls at 1am because someone's neighbour put some glass bottles in their bin and the clanking was really loud does not, in way, shape or form, constitute an emergency. I know the local ambos are getting call outs to get pensioners to their hospital appointments because the taxis are so expensive, and that the fact that if you are taken to hospital in an ambulance, you are seen to immediately (ie don't have to sit for hours in A&E/Casulty) can certainly be an attraction for some. There should definately be some sort of penalty involved - including fines (eg not only the cost of the call out, but an additional $500).
 
I would have thought the emergency dispatchers would have the aptitude to screen the stupid calls out from the actual emergencies, but maybe that's only an American thing. AFAIK over here most dispatchers are pretty good at filtering through the dumbasses, plus there's a fine if you are found to be abusing the emergency services.
 
Idiocracy is such a funny film. And pretty true. Although I think the current situation hasn't quite reached that stage yet, but there are way too many people who will think and do extraordinarily stupid things. Just think how many people you see day to day you would trust your life with in an emergency, not just because they wouldn't be brave enough to do anything, but just because they don't have the brains to realise the seriousness of a situation. Especially those who think that a broken fingernail is bad.

This may sound slightly corny, but the lyrics to Muse's Apocalypse Please really sum it up to me. "Its time we saw a miracle. Its time for something biblical, to pull us through." Meanings may be different to different people, but to me I agree that to be honest, wiping out the population of the world is the only way to bring back intelligence and intelligent thinking in situations. You can choose to ignore that message, or shout at me for it, but its what I think, and if you disagree and say that breaking a nail is the worst thing to ever happen to a human, then you really do deserve to be shot in the head.
 
Good point, Speedtouch. I do think the general population in most respects, are not exactly clever. A few good ones filter through from time to time, but most really are idiots.

I don't know where it's come from, but the global society seems to be on a downward spiral. Maybe it's all the high-fructose corn syrup in everything we eat.:glare:
 
But intelligence is measured differently. I know some exceptionally smart people in terms of intellectualism and IQ scales, but would not want them next to me when dealing with a crisis (medical, natural disaster etc), whereas others who aren't 'book-smart' have the street smarts to survive. There needs to be recognition of individual talents.

But yes, those we commonly refer to as "oxygen thiefs" aka the plain bloody stupid, need to be put on an island and left. They'll die out eventually. Problem is, I don't know of an island or single continent big enough to house them.
 
Good point, Speedtouch. I do think the general population in most respects, are not exactly clever. A few good ones filter through from time to time, but most really are idiots.

I don't know where it's come from, but the global society seems to be on a downward spiral. Maybe it's all the high-fructose corn syrup in everything we eat.:glare:

watch the movie, you might have an idea :lol:
 
Good point, Speedtouch. I do think the general population in most respects, are not exactly clever. A few good ones filter through from time to time, but most really are idiots.

I don't know where it's come from, but the global society seems to be on a downward spiral. Maybe it's all the high-fructose corn syrup in everything we eat.:glare:

It's probably due to many things, modernization, abused litigation system, people becoming increasingly entitled and not having to truly struggle for what they need in life.

Just look at wild wolves compared to domesticated dogs, who seems smarter and more capable to you? I think humanity is slowly moving into the same direction.

The age where we have computers and robots do EVERYTHING for us, its game over.
 
It has nothing to do with intellegence, and it has everything to do with common sense.

I mean look at van gough, he cut his ear off for fun and yet he was probably the best painter in the world, ever.


I think all the people in here need to turn the mirror on themselves and realize maybe the idiocy is actually in not being able to seperate unbridled stupidity from self centered ignorance. Everybody says, everybody else is getting dumber, but do they ever check themselves? I can tell you asses certainly don't. And that is why just because you can afront everybody elses values and pretend your all mature, you may yourself know nothing of it.


PS: I totally agree kids need to learn whats hot and whats on fire. Otherwise they will undoubtedly grow up and become a sissy.
 
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Everybody says, everybody else is getting dumber, but do they ever check themselves? I can tell you asses certainly don't. And that is why just because you can afront everybody elses values and pretend your all cute and mature, you may yourself know nothing of it.

Can you rephrase that? I read it a few times over but your wording is pretty confusing.
 
I'm saying that to a certain degree, when people pretend everybody else around them is stupid they take the first step towards themselves becoming dumber.

That said, the actual problem of raising a society full of sissies is very real.
 
It has nothing to do with intellegence, and it has everything to do with common sense.

I mean look at van gough, he cut his ear off for fun and yet he was probably the best painter in the world, ever.


I think all the people in here need to turn the mirror on themselves and realize maybe the idiocy is actually in not being able to seperate unbridled stupidity from self centered ignorance. Everybody says, everybody else is getting dumber, but do they ever check themselves? I can tell you asses certainly don't. And that is why just because you can afront everybody elses values and pretend your all mature, you may yourself know nothing of it.


PS: I totally agree kids need to learn whats hot and whats on fire. Otherwise they will undoubtedly grow up and become a sissy.

Ottobon, what are you talking about? Have you done drunk yourself retarded? Are you possibly upset at a misperception you had over the name of this thread? Did you bother to read Jeremy's article? Do you understand that Idiocracy is a movie? You've really gone on the defensive, and you really are making no sense whatsoever.
 
It's no co-incidence that common sense and personal responsibility died out around the same time.
 
Well the movie is wrong in some respects such that smartness is genetic, as the neuron pathways in our brains never set, so it's more about upbringing and how we live our lives.

Personally I think at some point someone will think up a better corriculum for our schools, something that will make us not drones filled with barely usefull knowledge but instead teach us things such as critical thinking, and understand more about ourselves both as animals and as part of a society.
 
Just look at wild wolves compared to domesticated dogs, who seems smarter and more capable to you? I think humanity is slowly moving into the same direction.

I've got an Aussie Shepherd I'd stack up against a wolf anytime in an intelligence test.
 
I've got an Aussie Shepherd I'd stack up against a wolf anytime in an intelligence test.

*sigh* there's always exceptions, you know what i'm talking about, in GENERAL.

and your Aussie shepard is probably smarter than 99% of domesticated dogs which are dumb as rocks, but thats not the point.
 
i have ZERO sympathy for stupid people. god i cant stand stupid people, GAH. anyway. it is sad to seehat society is slowly creeping towards the world of Idiocrocy. it is mind numbing abou how stupid and ignorant the general public is. especially in the US. example: we elected Dubya TWICE. what the fuck is wrong with us.

also. what ever happened to natural selection? where the stupid ones would get killed off and not be able to make more stupid people. damn seatbelts and pedestrian friendly car hoods.
 
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