Althouse: "Stupidity Is Contagious."

June 25, 2011

"Stupidity Is Contagious."

"College students who read a short script about a moronic soccer hooligan subsequently did worse on a test of knowledge than a control group. But the deficit disappeared if the readers were encouraged to carefully notice how they differed from the character in the story."

15 comments:

The Crack Emcee said...: More support for critical thinking, thus, not bullshit.

Coffee good. Bye!; 6/25/11, 8:15 AM
rhhardin said...: I was always a holdout.; 6/25/11, 9:02 AM
traditionalguy said...: This is good stuff. The people around you us do draw us into their habits. I believe that is a talent that makes tribal living work. But the tribes faults are replicated along with its strengths. Ann Coulter says the Dems carefully rely on this human instinct to get mobs going along with them on any idea. When a group is immune to this manipulation effect they get targeted as a hated scapegoat. The Hebrew people, who think God's words in Torah, get easily targeted, and Obama and his friends have obviously targeted the Israel's Leadership and the Land they live in. So refusing to let stupidity contagion to infect you draws attacks from stupid enemies.; 6/25/11, 9:30 AM
Big Mike said...: Stupidity is contagious? After looking at the videos of Wisconsin protesters, how can anyone doubt the thesis?

@traditionalguy, your analysis just blows me away. I'd take my hat off to you, sir, were I wearing one.; 6/25/11, 9:36 AM
Fred4Pres said...: I heard this study reported on the radio a few weeks ago. Thinking is like any form of exercise. Just do it.; 6/25/11, 9:42 AM
Fred4Pres said...: Most people are not born stupid, they are just lazy. Eventually they do become permanently stupid.; 6/25/11, 9:44 AM
edutcher said...: So the old bromide from Darwin - if a redneck yells, "Hey, y'all, watch this", get as far away as you can - may have some validity.

I guess that puts intellect and free will solidly in the Conservative camp.; 6/25/11, 10:08 AM
Phil 314 said...: This is why I periodically need to take a break from visiting this blog ;-); 6/25/11, 10:19 AM
cassandra lite said...: This just confirms that mass consumption of mass media stupidity like the Real Housewives of Stepford is indeed making us stoopider. Too bad old Joe Kennedy didn't have Snooki and the Kardashians for poor Rosemary. She wouldn't have needed the lobotomy.; 6/25/11, 11:40 AM
Original Mike said...: Apparently, you can fix stupid.; 6/25/11, 11:52 AM
Toad Trend said...: The key here is college students.

Most have some measurable intelligence but little real-world knowledge or common sense.

So, it would be easy to shape results.

Lesson? Studies such as these are contagious in their apparent stupidity.; 6/25/11, 11:59 AM
Firehand said...: Just because it seems appropriate:
"He's Black Council,", I said.

"Or maybe stupid," Ebenezar countered.

I thought about it. "Not sure which is scarier."

Ebenezar blinked at me, then snorted. "Stupid, Hoss. Every time. Only so many blackhearted villains in the world, and they only get uppity on occasion. Stupid's everywhere, every day."; 6/25/11, 12:06 PM
Firehand said...: I should've noted, from the last Dresden Files book; 6/25/11, 12:07 PM
Paul said...: Long time ago I found that watching others do their kata during a test affected MY ability to do kata when my name was called up.

So I then on purposely turned away when I knew the poorer students would do their stuff on a test and I watched only the ones I knew where better than me.

Yes my performance was better as a result.; 6/25/11, 4:40 PM
n.n said...: The ability of external stimuli to influence our perception of reality should be obvious to anyone who watches an engrossing movie or reads a book, which is to say to everyone. Fortunately, the distortion of reality, once the stimulus is removed, is short-lived. When they say a book can take you to far away places, they were not entirely exaggerating the effect.; 6/25/11, 11:08 PM