The New Dumb
Despite the fact that in the western world we are all educated now until at least 16, and more of us go to college than ever before... it does make you wonder - just why are so many people so stupid?
It is sometimes staggering to hear the inanity spoken by many people, who by their education, position in society and job, really ought to be better informed, better read and better cultured. People who have degrees, but who have not read a book in years, or take part in any culture more taxing than the latest 'reality' TV show.
The brutal 'long hours culture' that many people are now a part of is surely a significant contribution to the New Dumbness.
Back in the day, the reason for most dumbness was that the working classes laboured in fields or in factories. When they got home they were too physically tired to read, take part in hobbies, interests or any other kind of cerebral activity. The harshness of their work made them as dumb as beasts - thinking was the preserve of the middle classes - who worked in clerical positions. They read books, they sometimes wrote them, and they took part in societies, hobbies and had interests in things other than work.
Now we all work in offices - frequently leading the lifestyle you yourself might recognise: rising before 6.00am for a two-hour commute to be at the office by 8am, working until 8pm then the long commute back, arriving home too physically or mentally tired to do anything but stuff a 'peel and ping' dinner down in front of Celebrity Big Brother.
The need to earn ever more to pay the mortgage on inflated property prices has made the educated as dumb as our forebears who worked in the fields. The real concern is that this new form of stupidity is rapidly becoming touted as a virtue (witness the recent fad of 'new laddism'). And a middle class too tired to think straight is catnip for the current shower of New Labour politicians unused to being asked hard questions by the electorate.
It is sometimes staggering to hear the inanity spoken by many people, who by their education, position in society and job, really ought to be better informed, better read and better cultured. People who have degrees, but who have not read a book in years, or take part in any culture more taxing than the latest 'reality' TV show.
The brutal 'long hours culture' that many people are now a part of is surely a significant contribution to the New Dumbness.
Back in the day, the reason for most dumbness was that the working classes laboured in fields or in factories. When they got home they were too physically tired to read, take part in hobbies, interests or any other kind of cerebral activity. The harshness of their work made them as dumb as beasts - thinking was the preserve of the middle classes - who worked in clerical positions. They read books, they sometimes wrote them, and they took part in societies, hobbies and had interests in things other than work.
Now we all work in offices - frequently leading the lifestyle you yourself might recognise: rising before 6.00am for a two-hour commute to be at the office by 8am, working until 8pm then the long commute back, arriving home too physically or mentally tired to do anything but stuff a 'peel and ping' dinner down in front of Celebrity Big Brother.
The need to earn ever more to pay the mortgage on inflated property prices has made the educated as dumb as our forebears who worked in the fields. The real concern is that this new form of stupidity is rapidly becoming touted as a virtue (witness the recent fad of 'new laddism'). And a middle class too tired to think straight is catnip for the current shower of New Labour politicians unused to being asked hard questions by the electorate.
Comments