I have to say that when I hear statements like "stupid fucking Americans" or "you Americans are so stupid" or "how stupid can Americans be" or any other similar statement it really bugs me. Why does it bug me? I guess that is because I am an American and I don't consider myself to be stupid but I work internationally and unfortunately I hear things like this with some frequency and it got me thinking as to why people think Americans are stupid.
I believe that Americans are perceived as being stupid for more reasons than I can address, but what I can do is offer up my observations as to why we as Americans can come off as being stupid. My only hope is that I can communicate what's in my head in a manner that doesn't come off as being...dumb:)
A majority of our population doesn’t have a college degree (no link, just an assumption) and critical thinking skills aren’t being taught very well in high school. Not that having a college degree makes you immune to being a bit more than slow but it can go a long way in broadening your horizons and giving you exposure to people, cultures and ideas beyond your hometown. With that being said I don’t think that Americans are stupid per se, but we suffer from a combination of ignorance and apathy. There are a lot of things we don't know about and since we don't know we don’t care either.
Now given that a majority of us haven’t had the opportunity to attend college and build our critical thinking skills or get the exposure that college can afford how else are we as a nation going to be but unknowing and uncaring?
So why are we unknowing and uncaring? America has a wealth of natural resources and a geographic richness that is almost unparalleled. Additionally the Atlantic and Pacific oceans serve as effective barriers to convenient travel. The point I am trying to make is that if Americans want to visit a sunny beach we don’t need to leave our own country, we simply go to one of our coasts. The same thing applies if we want to go to the mountains and ski or if we want to visit the beauty of canyons or view the changing colors of aspens, we have it all right here. There aren't too many other places in the world that can do the things we can do without crossing a border into another country or coming into contact with someone from another country.
Combine our geographic diverseness with the cultural and culinary diversity of our larger cities and there is no need to go anywhere else, all of our needs are met. So why go through the hassle of international travel? Why risk being uncomfortable in a place with people that don’t speak English? Why learn another language? We haven’t had the need to do any of this nor, geographically speaking, will we ever.
Should we try to travel outside of our country more? Sure, if that interests you and you can afford it. Would it be good to be bilingual? Absolutely. In fact it would be more than good, it would be smart. The world is definitely getting smaller and geographic barriers to movement don't play as significant role as they have in the past, but America is so big and the world hasn't gotten small enough yet that we collectively see the benefit of a broader understanding of the world we live in.
So to summarize, if you combine our geography with a lack of critical thinking skills what do you get, ignorance and apathy. But we are making progress. I think there is a greater interest in politics now than since the 60's and our current energy situation has raised the national awareness in regards to our energy consumption. People are beginning to think about stuff they have never had to think about before. We haven't arrived yet but we are working towards it. We may be slow and arrogant and egotistical and narcissistic but we certainly aren't stupid.