We are very DUMB to vote

I counted the number of very dumb people personally. I came up with 62,040,606. By sheer coincidence, this was the number of people voted for Bush in 2004.

--fhunter

Some of those 62,040,606 may have died. It may even be that some have gained 'wisdom' since 2004 (unbelievable though it may be that such a miracle could ever happen to a 'Bushie'). To counter such losses through the rise of wisdom in one-time Bushies, it is also quite possible that some very dumb people may have been born or may have developed through creationism, intelligent design and such wondrous non-evolutionary strategies of the omniscient God that Bushies believe in...

Thus it would be interesting to find out just how many will vote for John McCain (aka GW Bush redux) this November.

--GSC

I 'sort of second' CS Burton's suggestion that sound debate on these complex issues could be the way forward to get over this problem of 'voter dumbness'.

But there is a critical difficulty here: debate in the conventional 'pure prose mode' all too often leads to nowhere except frustration all round and greater dumbness and aggressiveness (and certainly not to enhanced wisdom in behaviour).

This happens largely because of the unrelenting linearity of prose, and its consequent inability to capture the complex, multilinear relationships of factors in real life and our ideas about real life. The problem is like so: we wish to communicate about the multi-linear relationships that we perceive between the factors involved in the systems we are considering. But our prime mode of discussion, 'pure prose', allows ONLY linear relationships to be readily discussed. Thus, a great deal of what we are trying to communicate is all too often not understood clearly (or is even entirely misunderstood) by those to whom are are trying to communicate.

Suggestion: I suggest a minor extension to the language we use, 'prose', in our conventional debates. The extension is a language I call 'prose + structural graphics' (p+sg). The recommended 'structural graphics' are pictures graphically showing the multilinear relationships between factors in complex systems (the subjects of our debates), which are left largely ambiguous in pure prose. It takes no great effort or time for anyone who knows how to read and write to learn to think and work in this recommended p+sg.

p+sg is based on the seminal contributions to systems science by John N. Warfield, who has created powerful tools that can signficantly enhance our ability to communicate effectively about complex issues. More information about some of Warfield's developments is available at http://jnwarfield.com and more is available at the 'John N. Warfield Collection' maintained by George Mason University: http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaead/published/gmu/vifgm00008.tp.

(With those qualifications as noted a couple of paragraphs ago, I do entirely agree with CS Burton's contention that good debate could definitely help us surmount this problem of 'voter dumbness' [to a considerable extent]).

In several of my earlier postings, I have provided some basic information about p+sg - and I would happy to provide (freely) plenty more information, to those who would write in to me at gs (underscore) chandy (at) yahoo (dot) com - along with a useful software package, freely downloadable, that can help creating the models involved in p+sg.

-- GSC

...You can fool too many of the people too much of the time.

The leading source of irrationality in American society is religion. 44 percent of the population ostensibly believes in the "Rapture."

If you rely on 'belief', mysterious 'emotions', myths, pleasant lies, ludicrious 'science', an error ridden 2,000 year old book and other light-headed approaches to reality, how are you expected to vote clearly?

The U.S. is far and away the most religious of the advanced capitalist societies in the world.

I agree on local & state levels that the people make huge mistakes. However, I would argue the people have gotten it right in every presidential election since FDR - even if I would not have voted for the winner. Truman was a likeable guy & a decent prez. Ike was a no brainer war hero picked over egghead Adlai. JFK was the fresh new face against a shady looking Nixon. LBJ was JFK's 2nd term & the country was just not ready for Goldwater yet. Nixon was the easy choice after RFK died, Humphrey & especially McGovern were way too liberal. Carter was a disaster but he was punishment to the Repubs for Nixon & Watergate. Reagan was a no brainer against the hapless Carter & way overmatched Mondale. Clinton was the proper punishment for Bush41 breaking his taxes pledge. I loathe Clinton but Dole was not a big upgrade at the time. W was right because the country was sick of everything Clinton (despite the recently disproved myth of his popularity)& while W has been bad the country saw Kerry for what he was - an empty suited Masschusetts liberal. I alo think the country saw that his entire career was built on his war service but he betrayed his fellow soldiers after he returned from honorable service in Vietnam. Love to discuss this more - respectfully.

I agree on local & state levels that the people make huge mistakes. However, I would argue the people have gotten it right in every presidential election since FDR - even if I would not have voted for the winner. Truman was a likeable guy & a decent prez. Ike was a no brainer war hero picked over egghead Adlai. JFK was the fresh new face against a shady looking Nixon. LBJ was JFK's 2nd term & the country was just not ready for Goldwater yet. Nixon was the easy choice after RFK died, Humphrey & especially McGovern were way too liberal. Carter was a disaster but he was punishment to the Repubs for Nixon & Watergate. Reagan was a no brainer against the hapless Carter & way overmatched Mondale. Clinton was the proper punishment for Bush41 breaking his taxes pledge. I loathe Clinton but Dole was not a big upgrade at the time. W was right because the country was sick of everything Clinton (despite the recently disproved myth of his popularity)& while W has been bad the country saw Kerry for what he was - an empty suited Masschusetts liberal. I alo think the country saw that his entire career was built on his war service but he betrayed his fellow soldiers after he returned from honorable service in Vietnam. Love to discuss this more - respectfully.