People or Sheeple?

[Sasaki Kojiro]

So I was bored and browsing around on the internet, and I come across a statistic like this:

"20% of americans believe the sun revolves around the earth, 17% of the people who know that the earth revolves around the sun, believe it does so every 24 hours"

I watch some tv, they're showing reruns of a show where questions are asked of random people on the street:

"If your French teacher says she's a French patriot, what country is it likely she's from?"

Haha, come on...

One of the three contestants got it right. The other answered "England" and the third said he didn't know.

"What piece of clothing does a tie clasp hold?"

Only one got it right



I browse the internet some more and read a study that says 9 out of 10 men and 7 out of 10 women will become overweight.

Back to tv:

Commercial for "electronic ab stimulator to give you a sixpack while you sit on couch".
Commercial for diet pills to make you thin.
Commercial for an exercise machine that will make fit and toned with no effort and in only a few weeks.

Flipping through the channels I see more inane drivel, browsing internet forums I see the same.


*****************************

So, what gives? Are all these people really that ignorant? Do they really think they can instantly solve their problems with some gimmick? Do they possess no drive for self improvement? Or do they not think for themselves at all, just following whatever they are shown, like sheep?


I have a pretty poor opinion of the "average joe" right now.

[ichi]

20% of americans believe the sun revolves around the earth

Only 20% know that? What do the other dumbass 90% think? Clearly this is a failure of the NEA and others who have corrupted our school system.

ichi

ps I once actually convinced a girl that while a Lunar Eclipse is when the Earth comes between the Moon and Sun, a Solar Eclipse is when the Sun comes between the Earth and Moon. But then she also let me take her to the submarine races at Mentone Bay

[Kanamori]

"20% of americans believe the sun revolves around the earth, 17% of the people who know that the earth revolves around the sun, believe it does so every 24 hours"

I'd be willing to bet that many more than 20% would get the reverse wrong: that the earth revolves around the sun. The earth doesn't revolve around the sun.

[Just A Girl]

Didnt even read the post till after i voted,
Ive always said,
Most People are just like sheep,

not for the reasons above,
but I still say Sheeple

----------
P.s

Has every 1 gone mad?

Only 20% know that? What do the other dumbass 90% think? Clearly this is a failure of the NEA and others who have corrupted our school system.

ichi

20% + 90% = Ichi had a Bad school. :P

The earth doesn't revolve around the sun.

Madness

[Kanamori]

Earth's center of revolution isn't the sun. When it revolves, it happens to travel outside of the sun. The sun and earth revolve around the same point, in simple models.

[Lemur]

Balderdash! The earth is flat, and carried on the back of giant tortises. Anyone who says different is a heretic. And don't take my picture, or you'll be stealing my soul.

[doc_bean]

People are people, they keep their heads down unless they can really benefit from sticking it out, and there is almost no risk to doing that.

Self improvement ? People will improve what is necessary, for most people this isn't a lot. Those wieght loss products and related junk are for things they feel can/should be improved, but not really necessary.

Lack of common knowledge ? What did knowing about the universe ever do to help you in life ?

[Just A Girl]

Balderdash! The earth is flat, and carried on the back of giant tortises. Anyone who says different is a heretic. And don't take my picture, or you'll be stealing my soul.

Its not a tourtoise its a turtle and the planets not on a turtle ANY WAY. Cos its on 4 eliphants,
And there on the turtle and the planets on them,
And the turtle is called
The great a'tuin.
I know cos ive read it in a book :P
And books dont lie,

Earth's center of revolution isn't the sun. When it revolves, it happens to travel outside of the sun. The sun and earth revolve around the same point, in simple models.

you guys are saying the earth revolves around its axis.

I was always taught.
it spins on its axis, 1 revolution per day "wobbles a bit 2"
And then revolves around the sun. "takes a year to go all the way round"

but i didnt read that in a book, So maby Im Wrong

Lack of common knowledge ? What did knowing about the universe ever do to help you in life ?

Were you a contestant in the Does the world revolve around the sun question :) ?

(Just kidding if you didnt know)

[Just A Girl]

Ok i know this is 2 posts in a row,
And its technically spamming... But if i post this in theAbove post aswell as whats already there No 1 will read it :)


THESE ARE REAL INSURANCE CLAIMS THAT PEOPLE FILED. (mostly austrailian im afraid)
But they do show Some true class. I love these things

Incidents with Pedestrians.
The pedestrian ran for the pavement, but I got him.

The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.

I was sure the old fellow would never make it to the other side of the road when I struck him.

To avoid hitting the bumper of the car in front I struck a pedestrian.

The pedestrian had no idea which way to run as I ran over him.

The car in front hit the pedestrian but he got up so I hit him again.

I saw a slow moving, sad faced old gentleman as he bounced off the Bonnet of my car.

A pedestrian hit me and went under my car.

I saw her look at me twice. She appeared to be making slow progress when we met on impact.

Accidents with other vehicles.

I collided with a stationary truck coming the other way.

A truck backed through my windshield into my wife's face.

The other car collided with mine without giving warning of its intention.

My car was legally parked as it backed into another vehicle.

When I saw I could not avoid a collision I stepped on the gas and crashed into the other car.

I started to slow down but the traffic was more stationary than I thought.

The accident occurred when I was attempting to bring my car out of a skid by steering it into the other vehicle.

I was backing my car out of the driveway in the usual manner, when it was struck by the other car in the same place it had been struck several times before.

I was unable to stop in time and my car crashed into the other vehicle. The driver and passengers then left immediately for a vacation with injuries.

The gentleman behind me struck me on the backside. He then went to rest in a bush with just his rear end showing.

The car in front of me stopped for a yellow light, so I had no choice but to hit him. (She pushed him through the intesection)

Collisions, calamities, and injuries.

Coming home I drove into the wrong house and collided with a tree I don't have.

I told the police that I was not injured, but on removing my hat found that I had a fractured skull.

I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law and headed over the embankment.

I thought my window was down, but I found it was up when I put my head through it.

As I approached an intersection a sign suddenly appeared in a place where no stop sign had ever appeared before. I was unable to stop in time to avoid the accident.

In an attempt to kill a fly, I drove into a telephone pole.

I saw two kangaroos having it off in the middle of the road. So I hit them, which caused me to ejaculate through the sunroof. (LMAO That 1s funny)

I was thrown from my car as it left the road. I was later found in a ditch by some stray cows.

The telephone pole was approaching. I was attempting to swerve out of the way when I struck the front end.

I pulled in to the side of the road because there was smoke coming from under the hood. I realized there was a fire in the engine, so I took my dog and smothered it with a blanket.

The claimant had collided with a cow. The questions and answers on the claim form were -
Q: What warning was given by you?
A: Horn.
Q: What warning was given by the other party?
A: Moo.
Who is to Blame?
No one was to blame for the accident but it would never have happened if the other driver had been alert.

I didn't think the speed limit applied after midnight.

I had been shopping for plants all day and was on my way home. As I reached an intersection a hedge sprang up, obscuring my vision and I did not see the other car.

The indirect cause of the accident was a little guy in a small car with a big mouth.

I was going at about 70 or 80 mph when my girlfriend reached over and grabbed my testicles so I lost control.


On approach to the traffic lights the car in front suddenly broke.

The accident was caused by me waving to the man I hit last week.

Windshield broke. Cause unknown. Probably Voodoo.

No witnesses would admit having seen the mishap until after it happened.

I had been learning to drive with power steering. I turned the wheel to what I thought was enough and found myself in a different direction going the opposite way.

The accident happened when the right front door of a car came round the corner without giving a signal.

I had been driving for forty years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had an accident. (classic)

I left for work this morning at 7am as usual when I collided straight into a bus. The bus was 5 miniutes early.
(You cant make these up Lol)

An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my car and vanished.

I knew the dog was possessive about the car but I would not have asked her to drive it if I had thought there was any risk.

The accident happened because I had one eye on the truck in front, one eye on the pedestrian, and the other on the car behind.

I started to turn and it was at this point I noticed a camel and an elephant tethered at the verge. This distraction caused me to lose concentration and hit a bollard.

:)
i think these are more examples of this type of sheeple.
Hope you like them as much as I do And forgive my 2 posts.
"maby some 1 els will have posted by now"

[Prodigal]

Sheep.

Read up on the accident statistics in UK as an example, the number of people so seriously injured by tea cozies they need to go to hospital is scary enough, but the real doozy is that it seems a large number of people, (& I'm not naming any specific country, state *hint-hint* or politcal affilation), believe the age of the earth can be dated by couting the ages of all the people in the bible. What about dinosaurs? Well obviously they were put there by god to test your faith!

Oh & for the record, the earth revolves around me, otherwise I'd be dizzy all the time.

[Tricon]

While I'm thouroughly convinced that most people are schmucks, I, at least, have to try to defend them.
These "ask random people and show their stupid answers" shows/reports are in no way representative. They ask and tape maybe 40 people... but only show you a selection of maybe 5 who answer. One answers corectly, one is a bit off, and three outlandish answers. Surprisingly, you'll usually see all of these three in the later questions, too... and usually getting it wrong, and giving silly answers - thereby entertaining the average couch potato. They don't show you the 30 people who get it right, they concentrate on the numbnuts. Why do they do that? Why, because a) it IS entertaining and b) now most who watch may feel superior. And we all like to think that we're superior. Now add a bit of nationalism... maybe by showing certain ethnic groups, or people from a certain country, and you can even form public opinion a bit... The very least it will do is, it will confirm our own prejudices.... and we always like that.


Grumble.
Public opinion is so easy to manipulate. Give me footage of babys crying near a road and of a few tiger tanks, and I'll convince a lot of TV viewers that the Nazi's have invaded Belgium.

[yesdachi]

Baaaa, People are sheep. And Americans are fun to make fun of but stats like these are often loaded. If you ask enough people the same questions you are bound to get the answers you want, just like the Pepsi challenge or the 4 out of 5 dentists situations.

[Kommodus]

Tricon, you hit the nail on the head. We naturally enjoy feeling smarter than the average Joe, so the TV producers give us what we want. Maybe the statisticians do, too. Who are the schmucks now?

Why, I ask you, should I think that most people are morons compared to myself? Because of some statistic I happened to read in passing? Do I really know anything about how a survey's results were obtained, or how representative they are of reality?

I have never met all these supposed masses of ignorant people, and neither, I suspect, have you. Most of those I know are really quite intelligent, some clearly more intelligent than me. So what should I allow to shape my perception of people: my actual experience, or vague statistics heard through questionable media sources?

Looking at many of the greatest thinkers of history, one realizes that they recognized their own foollishness and lack of knowledge. So banish the temptation of intellectual elitism, before it makes a fool of you.

[Prodigal]

"The only thing that sustains one through life is the consciousness of the immense inferiority of everybody else, and this is a feeling that I have always cultivated."
-Oscar Wilde

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programme...nt/4469590.stm

[yesdachi]

So banish the temptation of intellectual elitism, before it makes a fool of you.

I’m not an elitist, I just think I am better than everyone else.

[Byzantine Mercenary]

people often give stupid ansers to questions when their preoccipied or arn't realy listening to the question properlly, heck ive done it before.

those insurance claims are funny but i have a feeling that ive seen them somewhere else before...

[master of the puppets]

sheep and fools believing that what everyone else says is right. its hard not to be but i try to excell both physicly and mentally which means that being smart many people hate me (but also because i point out there own foolishness.). but i usually hate there kind. sheeps and fool.

[Tricon]

sheep and fools believing that what everyone else says is right. its hard not to be but i try to excell both physicly and mentally which means that being smart many people hate me (but also because i point out there own foolishness.). but i usually hate there kind. sheeps and fool.

That's a sig, if ever I read one.

[Geoffrey S]

Huh. Who does think for himself nowadays anyway?

[GoreBag]

Sheeple. I've heard similar statistics where a staggering number of English believe Robin Hood was real and William Wallace fake. Also, a small number believed Churchill was made up.

[Tricon]

those insurance claims are funny but i have a feeling that ive seen them somewhere else before...

I have definately seen german translations of these claiming to be real insurance claims in germany. I'll have to check...maybe I still have the list on my harddrive at home somewhere...

[Papewaio]

Welcome to the other end of the bell curve.

Andrew Denton (an Aussie Comedian/Interviewer) once went around asking Australians if we should keep our flag... however he was holding the NZ flag... difference being that the stars on the NZ flag are red and the Aussie Flag has a few extra. Lots of people said we should keep it... including a few New Zealanders who had grins on their faces... only a couple of Aussies went 'hang on that's not our flag to start with' and said no.

[master of the puppets]

That's a sig, if ever I read one.

hmm, you think so? mabey i should make it my sig.

[Alexanderofmacedon]

Funny Americans...I'm American, but it's still funny to see my illiterate countrymen. Sure it's bad, but what can you do? I've seen that Street Smarts show and it's pretty funny!

[Just A Girl]

those insurance claims are funny but i have a feeling that ive seen them somewhere else before...

I have definately seen german translations of these claiming to be real insurance claims in germany. I'll have to check...maybe I still have the list on my harddrive at home somewhere...

They realy are Real insurance claims,

many comedians including jasper carrot have used them in there scetches/stand up routine,

So it is not uncommon for them to have been heard before,

Some of them are simply edited to make them sound worse,
like the one about the possesive dog Driving
"obviously her femail freind was driving, And was then bitten by the dog"
But they edited it to sound like the dog was driving.

But the majoraty of them Really wrote those things down on there claims,

it kinda shows you dont need to go around asking random people dumb questions to get a dumb answer,
Some times there more than willing to Do it all them selfs.

I know that a good % of the claims are definatly Australian,
For instance How many kangaroos have you seen in germany?

and. I beleve germans use Something called auto ban or sumthing That means there is no speed limit as such,

"i think they have a white box drawn on the road and only 1 car can be in that box at 1ce if there are 2 in the box you are to close to the person infront"
So the..
"I didnt think the speedlimit applied after midnight"
insurance report couldn't have ever been Claimed to be a greman insurance report

There are some in the list that i had not heard before.

I think some were from the uk.

And i supose that some Could have been els where Including germany.

But I know that the Austrailian ones that i posted Have always been True insurance Claim file reports (from austrailia).
I dont see why the new aditions to the list would need to be false.

(Think il go read em again I love them )