Running out of STEAM
Comparing Test Scores
“The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.” --Neil deGrasse Tyson
“STEAM is an integrative approach that builds student interest in science, technology, engineering, arts and math as it develops a range of important skills.” --ISTE
The best example of the sheer stupidity of Americans is TikTok. TikTok is like the Olympics for dumb fucks. Giving unbridled narcissism a camera and a microphone is not exactly the recipe for increasing the intellectual capacity of the country.
Reference someone like the mental giant, Arynne Wexler, who calls herself (Just a nonlib). Like other “influencers,” she has made a living for herself by talking trashy and being “a lightning rod for attention.” AKA an attention whore. She outlines how ‘conservatives’ have secret codes that they use that distinguish themselves to each other so the ‘libs’ won’t recognize them. Here are some of her “Secret clues” to tell her that the man is not a libtard:
Drives a pickup truck
His love language is sending tweets
Wearing anything from Orvis or Bass Pro Shop
They have All-In or Joe Rogan on their recently played Spotify
Watched Yellowstone or is into grilling
A newfound favor for Bill Maher in the last two years
They stop at Buc-ees on road trips
Reference Jordan Peterson or David Goggins
An American flag on their clothes
So, if you shop at Bass Pro Shop or like to grill or happen to drive a pickup…or if you like to stop at the Buc-eees, you are on your way to catching the far-right girl of your dreams. Way to go bro, you are a man’s man.
In the USA, we have STEM and, what are now called STEAM schools…because someone was brilliant enough to recognize that ART was critical to expanding one’s knowledge, so STEM went to STEAM.
Science
Technology
Engineering
Art
Math
The U.S. ranks 16th out of 81 countries in science. The United States is not in the top ten countries globally for education. On math, the U.S. has the most mathematicians, but ranks 33rd, below Malta.
The Willfully Ignorant: Untalented, Obnoxious, Clueless
“We had a moment some 50 years ago when intellectualism and literacy were prized in American culture, when writers, artists and scientists were also genuine celebrities, fixtures on talk shows and in socialite columns, not only for what they wrote, painted or theorized but because they were thinkers cultivated by a nation that aspired to intelligence.
You could know of Gore Vidal, Andy Warhol or Wernher von Braun without ever having read The New Yorker, visited a museum or studied aerospace engineering.
Today, people are famous just for being famous or, in various stages of devolvement, for being untalented, obnoxious, clueless, naked, or sexually ravaged, with television shows wholly dedicated to promoting it, and social media guaranteeing its permanence. Go to YouTube. Type “Americans are stupid” in the search box, but if you laugh, be advised: Surveys repeatedly show that ignorance, willful or otherwise, is widespread in American history, basic civics and current events.” –Bruce Maiman
This comes down to altruism, the length a person will go to be a better human. In far too many cases, the American culture of “untalented, obnoxious and clueless” influencers are choosing to remain ignorant.
This is also known as “motivated ignorance” and is a by-product of an over-indulgent culture, a culture that is spoiled. We are trained from birth to be ‘consumers,’ to feed the capitalist machine. This has led to a world where expectations are high. Wall Street demands ever-increasing ‘growth.’ Quarterly profit reports dictate the ‘health’ of the economy, which is driven primarily by consumption (2/3rds to be precise).
There isn’t any motivation to learn when you can just buy/sell shit. And today’s ‘influencers’ have figured out that if they act outrageous and stupid they can sell ‘merch.’ They are rewarded by equally uncurious ‘followers’ who listen to their stupid nonsense and feed the machine and the cycle continues.
Conscious Devolution: Frivolity
Did some of us get “One chromosome too many,” and that keeps us out of the realm of Spirit? Remember that the A in STEAM is for Art. Art is the thing that encompasses all of STEM. You cannot have science or technology or engineering without art.
The “intellectualism and literacy were prized in American culture” era was not a fluke. They were expressions of art.
When Devo appeared on the scene in the late 70s, it was the beginning of Punk. Johnny Rotten & the Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious and ultimately what would be called “New Wave” music in the 80s. Devo was quirky, and they played three chords, hardly groundbreaking art…but it was art. Most of what they brought was the crazy visuals. Yes, Devo played into the culture of over-indulgence, but they did it as a mockery of how weird society was getting. Their Art was making fun of Art.
Today’s influencers are not self-deprecating, and they are anything but artists. Rather, they play upon the angst and the frustration of the over-indulgent society, increasing the toxicity…all in the name of the holy greenback. If you can get eyeballs to your TikTok, Instagram or YouTube, you can be rewarded handsomely.
Today, a top “YouTuber” makes $38 million a year while other people watch him play video games. This is a far cry from the time when literacy was prized in American culture.
We can put the blame on ‘social media,’ but it goes much deeper than this. Literacy is a choice. Learning is a choice. Ignorance is a choice. We live in an age where any fact you “want” to learn is just a tap away on the supercomputer in your pocket. But today’s culture chooses to be “entertained” with nonsense and frivolity. Welcome to the Machine.
I will argue that the real culprit is the schools/education, which I am saving for another post. With the Department of Edumication on the chopping block it will, at the very least, be contemporary.
Till next time, try not to be a Mongoloid.