Addendum on Stupidity

Just a quick point I wanted to raise in regards to the documentary on stupidity I was watching earlier. Bill Maher made an interesting comment about how everything on television is geared toward a teenage audience, as if we ruled the world. In fact, another person added how important it is from a business perspective that they do this. Studies have shown, for example, that brand loyalty is developed in the teenage years, so it is not only important that advertisers cater to this audience in order to hook them, but also for broadcasters to offer programing which will potentially hook us to their network.

But, what Bill Maher points out and is especially pertinent, it's funny how there is in fact no real "adult" programming on television, and that adults really aren't respected for what they are or should be. He points out that North American culture is the only one that doesn't get it. Being an adult is a situation of hierarchy because they have learned more in their lifetimes. This is visible in older societies where the town elders would be the most respected for their knowledge and virtue. On the other hand, if we look at the world today, adults really have no time to cultivate anything past the teenage intellectual level. They do not have time because of work and other pressures of the world. In essence, there is nothing for teenagers to aspire to, which could be one of the reasons why nobody is really encouraged to develop their intellect. As far as adults go, the only knowledge that the large majority of them acquire after school are specific tools that they need to use in their work life. What a world...