byChrisWhite – 2015

I had myself a curious thought some weeks back, now, try as I might, I can’t for the life of me recall what exactly led me down this crooked lane. I suppose it’s hardly worth mentioning, except that the gist of it was this: we, as a people, are steadily getting more ignorant. Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing particularly novel about such an observation. Even back in Twain’s day, folks were bemoaning the lack of common sense in others. But I’d venture to say that the ignorance we’re experiencing today is not your everyday brand; it’s like some highly sophisticated ignorance, a willful and enthusiastic embrace of the inane, and it’s spreading faster than a prairie fire in a high wind. Scientific studies, bless their earnest little hearts, have apparently proven this to be true, though that fact alone is likely more distressing than comforting.

It all puts me in mind of that 2006 cinematic masterpiece, “Idiocracy,” which proposed a delightful, albeit harrowing, scenario where evolution itself took a wrong turn and started favoring traits that had nothing to do with survival, intelligence, or even common sense. Instead, the world was left to those who could procreate the fastest, leaving the thinking folk to go the way of the dodo. The whole world ends up populated by people who, let’s just say, couldn’t recognize a syllogism if it slapped them in the face.

And why this sudden musing on our collective dimming of the lights? Well, now I remember, it was Tony. My good friend Tony, who has a knack for saying the most cheerful things at the worst times, was telling me about a recent study he’d read. According to this bit of academic insight, a troubling percentage of PhD holders have simply decided against having children. As if that weren’t enough, the same study went on to explain that women of higher intelligence tended to have fewer children compared to those of lesser academic achievement. Naturally, this leads to a bit of doom-and-gloom pondering over how the less thoughtful among us seem to have no trouble multiplying like rabbits, whereas those who have some sense seem intent on self-extinction. And that, dear reader, was inspiration enough to dip my pen in ink and set off on another blog entry.

So I went off, did my research, and immediately regretted it. I found all sorts of things that would have been better left unread. Turns out one of our foremost testing agencies, the Educational Testing Service, put out a report that’s quite disheartening, to put it mildly. It seems Americans, regardless of education level, are trailing behind our counterparts throughout the industrialized world in literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving skills. Imagine that: throwing trillions of dollars at education, only to come out more clueless than before. The report paints a picture of a country that places a higher premium on education than it ever did before, and yet Americans are, relatively speaking, stumbling around clueless about the basic tools needed to function in a modern world. Even the millennials, those digital natives born after 1980, know less than their elders, despite being educated in an age where the answer to every question is just a Google search away.

What’s more, here in Tennessee, and in other states as well, we’ve embarked on some rather grand ambitions for higher education, the sort of lofty plans that look good on campaign posters but are about as effective as sending a possum to charm a rattlesnake. The idea, you see, is to offer free two-year college education to every young person. A fine notion, perhaps, but I can’t help but think of our travels across Europe, where such free education is offered. Time and again, the locals would tell Emily and me that these two-year degrees had become little more than glorified high school diplomas, entry-level qualifications in a system that rewards mediocrity instead of striving for excellence.

Now, I’m not saying we shouldn’t try to improve education, I wouldn’t dream of it. But I reckon there’s a point where the education becomes so “free” that it loses all value. Like the old adage goes, if the government hands it to you on a silver platter, it’s probably worth just as much as that platter. The real trouble, it seems to me, isn’t just about access; it’s about the quality of the education we’re offering, and what kind of value it has in a world that’s growing increasingly complicated.

As it turns out, despite our best efforts and our big talk, Americans are steadily becoming less capable of solving problems and applying logic. We might be a nation of innovators, but we’re becoming a nation that can hardly figure its way out of a paper bag. In 2011, for instance, the average IQ in this country measured in at 88.54, now, average intelligence is supposed to fall somewhere between 89 and 100, meaning that we’re slipping perilously close to a number that suggests below-average smarts. For the first time in our history, our children are entering the world less educated than their parents. That’s a sobering thought, considering that for generations, each successive one strived to reach higher and further than the one before it.

If you take a closer look, it gets even more disheartening. Our millennials rank near the bottom in numeracy, right there with Italy and Spain. And while they’re at it, they also struggle with problem-solving in environments that are rich in technology, which is a polite way of saying they can’t figure out how to use their own gadgets effectively. Our brightest students, those in the top 10 percent, are still lagging behind their peers in other industrialized nations. Even our best-educated, the ones with advanced degrees, can only boast being slightly better than those in places like Poland and Spain.

Now, I hear some folks out there muttering about the state of our inner-city schools, and how they’re starved for resources and struggling to keep kids in the classroom. But the truth is, this problem isn’t confined to just the cities. No, it stretches out to the suburbs, the rural communities, and even the well-off neighborhoods. It’s a malaise that affects the entire system, from the ground up. It’s not that we’re not sending our kids to school; it’s just that when they get there, they’re not learning much.

And I can’t help but wonder, what is it that’s gone so wrong? I suspect it has something to do with this modern aversion to learning facts. Somehow, we’ve gotten it into our heads that knowing things like historical dates, basic math, or fundamental scientific concepts is old-fashioned, something only dusty professors care about. We’ve replaced that with an emphasis on “self-esteem” and “feelings,” as if getting a warm pat on the back will make up for not knowing how to calculate simple interest. We give out gold stars to everyone, just for showing up, and call it a day. But the harsh truth is, life doesn’t hand out prizes just for participation. It rewards those who know how to think, who can use their wits to solve problems.

And it isn’t just our schools, either. The same sort of thinking seems to have permeated every corner of our society. We’ve grown so afraid of offending anyone that we’ve stopped speaking plainly altogether. It’s all about being politically correct now, treading lightly so as not to disturb anyone’s feelings. We’d rather inconvenience everyone with security theater at the airport than admit that, just maybe, certain people bear closer watching than others. It’s a strange time we’re living in, where the very idea of using reason and judgment is treated as suspect.

I suppose, when it comes right down to it, our problem isn’t that we lack access to education, but that we’ve lost our respect for knowledge itself. We don’t value learning for its own sake anymore. Instead, we see it as a means to an end, a ticket to a job, nothing more. We’ve forgotten that education, at its core, is about becoming better human beings, people who can think, reason, and contribute meaningfully to society.

So what’s to be done? I wish I had a ready answer. I wish I could wrap this up neatly with some profound insight. But I’m no genius myself, just a fellow trying to make sense of the world, and getting more bewildered by the day. In the meantime, I reckon we’d all do well to remember that the value of an education isn’t in the diploma you hang on your wall, but in what you carry around in your head.

And since I’m feeling just a little cynical at the moment, perhaps I’ll let Doctor from “Idiocracy” take it from here, with his eloquent summation of our predicament: “Well, don’t wanna sound like a jerk or nothin’, but, uh… it says on your chart that you’re messed up.”