The New Stupid

At the ripe age of 35 I am a cranky old man. I've always been entranced by new technology and culture, but here's what makes me old school: I think the habits and perspectives of many of my fellow citizens are turning, every so gradually, into mushy, self-serving crap. Too much excuse making, moral equivalence, blame shifting and, worst of all, stupidity.

I'm not talking stupid like a Pepsi commercial.

I'm talking about the deep-seated entrenched stupid that puts biases and opinion ahead of deep, factual knowledge. I'm talking about the kind of stupid that has rigid moral (or secular) certainty about the events of the day but cannot offer any historical perspective, doesn't know the world of ten years ago, a hundred years ago. The type of stupid that hears a few words of what is being said, leaps to conclusions, and then waits, oblivious, for the other person to stop talking before spraying out a defensive, reactionary and semi-coherent response that is entirely devoid of logic and betrays not the slightest bit of foreknowledge of what was said previously.

Our information culture doesn't support a more measured, studied kind of interaction. To keep up with the blast of bits and babble we feel compelled to respond without thinking, mulling anything over. Silence is anathema, and quantity trumps quality every time.