While my obvious conclusion has been proffered as tongue-in-cheek, the title of this post probably did grab your attention! After all, I am certain that we encounter many individuals each and every day that would fall into the below-average category and we relish confirmation of that fact.
And I guess this a classic case of whether or not the glass is half empty or half full, as I could have just as easily stated that nearly half of the people are above the average level of smarts!
But ever since Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1440, news publishers across the ages learned that bad news sells! Extrapolated forward into the television era, we have all heard the expression that “if it bleeds, it leads!”
So the discharge of the mass media is not necessarily a microcosm of our society, so much as it an assemblage of our woes and misfortunes rolled into neat little thirty second vignettes.
And so it should be accepted for what it is.
Film at eleven.
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So true Richard. Sad but true. Have a great weekend filled with positive headlines.
Richard,
And we all know that we are in the top half of that "nearly half." And, we know that our bad news is righteous bad news. The lower half of that nearly half is just a bunch of whiners.
Have a great day!
Richard.....imagine if the real estate licensing exam had an additional section: an IQ test!!!! we certainly would not be a dime a dozen.
It's unfortunate Richard. Common sense also appears to be on the decline in America!
Paddy...
It's human nature, isn't it? THX
Mike...
That tickled me. lol and thanks.
Barbara...
I won;t even go there! ;)
Good morning Richard,
You are right..bad news sells! Unfortunately had the headline read "50 percent of the beople are above average level of intelligence" no one would have read the article!
Just help me with this, how do they get elected over and over. Does this mean we need lobotomies to be able to understand them?
Gabe...
Indeed it does. Thanks for the comment.
Dorie...
You are 100% correct. Thanks.
Dale...
I won't go there either! Thanks.
Richard,
Your headline caused me to do a double-take. It was effective, and you made your point. :)
Steve
Hi Richard, you got my attention, only to be rewarded by that gorgeous photo. Nice work!
Richard...Yea, get me started about the media! They are held on to high of a pedelstal!
Richard maybe this explains some of the people that are elected to office?
I've made the statement before my friend, fear and interesting wordplay will sell and grab attention. A headline that reads ominous storm threatens small community, sounds a lot better than one that say it might rain today.
This was funny because at first I was alarmed and then I laughed out loud. I am going to have to use this as an example in my Intro to Psych course about how easily we can be manipulated when we don't think critically. I agree, bad news and doom and gloom are much more interesting and eye catching than the mundane.
You have a way of getting our attention and then making your point. TV has really taken the "if it bleeds it leads" and running with it for sure, just look at the polls and how they are massaged.
Richard~ that is why I always got a kick out of watching Jay Leno's Jay walking segment. I was astonished at how ignorant people were! It made me feel that much more intelligent.
Interesting but true Richard. 30 seconds seems to be about the length of the average attention span as well...
I think it is a bell curve effect too Richard. Half may be below the mean but how far down the curve are they? Within one standard deviation or more? And good judgment doesn't necessarily follow higher intelligence either. Common sense as we all know is not very common.
I think that too many people take what they see and hear from the news media and extrapolate it to mean more than it should. People today live in hyper awareness. As a parent I am continually amazed that other parents believe there is a bad person waiting to do harm to their child behind every bush and corner. The media does their part to perpetuate this myth. The key to protecting your kids and yourself is education, not irrational fear.
Richard,
The biggest mind number in America today is game shows, reality shows, Geraldo, Fox, Limbaugh, Pobertson...on and on, and they're popular. I agree with your headline-no tongue in cheek.