I've watched Idiocracy more than once, but only just realized that Mike Judge (Beavis and Butthead) was the director! Ow my balls!
Don't forget Silicon Valley!
Awesome show, but didn't realize Mike Judge was behind that too!
Are We Idiocracy Yet?
521–530 of 582 posts
Re: Are We Idiocracy Yet?
#522Earlier quoted context omitted.
It does explicitly reference IQ and, at one point, shows an adult taking an intelligence test and trying to put a square peg into a round hole. There is nothing in the movie that suggests that the decline in average intelligence is a result of cultural factors or education.
> There is nothing in the movie that suggests that the decline in average intelligence is a result of cultural factors or education. Have you skipped start of the movie or did we watch different editions? They literally open the story with redneck family breeding and spreading their redneck ways through family ties while “smart” family waits for the perfect moment.
I think that the movie makes it really, really obvious that the intellectual degradation goes beyond just culture. The people are presented as being borderline mentally disabled.
Re: Are We Idiocracy Yet?
#523Earlier quoted context omitted.
> There is nothing in the movie that suggests that the decline in average intelligence is a result of cultural factors or education. Have you skipped start of the movie or did we watch different editions? They literally open the story with redneck family breeding and spreading their redneck ways through family ties while “smart” family waits for the perfect moment.
I rewatched the intro, and it is true that they label the character IQs. That said, I still don't think that the particular mechanism is the most important part
I disagree. I can't imagine any sort of cultural influence that can make grown adults incapable of performing basic tasks that a child could do.
Re: Are We Idiocracy Yet?
#524Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's called adding context to keep the directionality correct. " Biden had problems unrightfully covered up " - I do agree with that. But one of the pillars of Grumpism/destructionism is taking valid factual criticisms, but presenting them in a way that leads to a conclusion of normalization/nihilism/etc. For example, yes from when it was made Idiocracy has been a satire of the very real anti-intellectualism that has…
I was referring to the author, not American politics in general. I added "then this should be called out as well." I thought this made it obvious.
No, it doesn't make it obvious - I don't see much difference between your first comment and one that goes on to conclude something something "both sides".
There is plenty of criticism to go around when analyzing how we got to Grump, but keeping it in the right context is key.
Re: Are We Idiocracy Yet?
#525Earlier quoted context omitted.
It breaks my heart when I hear people outraged about Onion stories, not because that they fall for them, but because they know they have a hard time telling truth from fiction.
I think people don't like Onion stories because they're not funny, they're just pretentious and political. For instance, their famous 'No Way to Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens article they post all over their page whenever there is some high profile gun related crime. It's all over their page and no doubt they get a bump in traffic from smug people who feel it's clever. It's just so exha…
Reader's Digest: What pleases you more, applause or laughter?
Tina Fey: Laughter. You can prompt applause with a sign. My friend, SNL writer Seth Meyers, coined the term clapter, which is when you do a political joke and people go, "Woo-hoo." It means they sort of approve but didn't really like it that much. You hear a lot of that on [whispers] The Daily Show.
Obviously we can't see that people aren't genuinely falling out of their seats laughing when that headline get rolled out again. There's no way argue that someone doesn't earnestly think bad (or tired) jokes make effective satire.
I don't think a whinge is a joke just because it has the shape of a joke and a point I like. Overall, I agree with you. But you'll never convince anybody.
Re: Are We Idiocracy Yet?
#526Earlier quoted context omitted.
I never understood that eugenics criticism of the movie. They make zero references to genetics in that opening sequence, and the nurture side of that argument is readily trotted out as a truism even here on HN: "people from affluent parents have easier access to education".
The introduction describes it as a "turning point in human evolution", and that "natural selection ... began to favor different traits". These are some of the very first sentences of the movie. The thesis is given: "Evolution does not necessarily reward intelligence. With no natural predators to thin the herd, it began to simply reward those who reproduced the most, and left the intelligent to become an endangered sp…
This is one of those threads that's making me feel like I'm taking crazy pills. Like, I don't think enjoying Idiocracy makes someone a bad person or anything like that, but it's pretty clearly making a eugenics argument without any mitigating counter-hypothesis.
It's particularly amusing because there are people quoting Neal Stephenson in this thread, ignoring the fact that when Stephenson tackles similar subject matter, he's very careful to make it clear that he's talking more about the cultural axioms which have a long-term effect on how people value learning and intellectualism. It's not even subtext, I've been reading The Diamond Age recently and very early on there's a line where a character clearly states that there's no coherent genetic theory of human intelligence, and the entire thesis of the book runs counter to that notion that intelligence is primarily genetic.
Re: Are We Idiocracy Yet?
#527Earlier quoted context omitted.
I rewatched the intro, and it is true that they label the character IQs. That said, I still don't think that the particular mechanism is the most important part
I disagree. I can't imagine any sort of cultural influence that can make grown adults incapable of performing basic tasks that a child could do. https://youtu.be/jbmq9P-8FiM
...the most important part [of the movie]
Similarly, buildings will probably not topple over and be tethered together with oversized packaging tape
Meanwhile although there's no monster trucks on the White House lawn yet, get ready for UFC Freedom 250
Re: Are We Idiocracy Yet?
#528Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's primarily a movie about fascism and propaganda. The fact that most viewers missed it is actually concerning.
Both are very valued in the USA
Every country values its own propaganda and national myths.
It's just that some countries coalesce around ones that are somewhat less... Blatantly offensive to thinking people.
Re: Are We Idiocracy Yet?
#529Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, it's hard for some to believe, but there are people in my family who are otherwise very intelligent but will not change their opinions on some things. Like climate change.
Climate change and climate change denial is not just about the scientific facts about what is happening to the climate, it is also the political opinion about what actions should be done. Those actions involve contested subjects like economical aspects (both national and global), fairness among population demographics, historical fairness (such as indigenous populations), border politics and wars, as well as what met…
> Climate change and climate change denial is not just about the scientific facts about what is happening to the climate, it is also the political opinion about what actions should be done.
It would be great if what you said is true, and people were just arguing about what to do about it.
It's not, though. "It's a hoax" is both the start, and the end point for a large portion of the population, the media, and the politicians that represent it.
Re: Are We Idiocracy Yet?
#530Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think people don't like Onion stories because they're not funny, they're just pretentious and political. For instance, their famous 'No Way to Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens article they post all over their page whenever there is some high profile gun related crime. It's all over their page and no doubt they get a bump in traffic from smug people who feel it's clever. It's just so exha…
> I think people don't like Onion stories because they're not funny, they're just pretentious and political. After reading this comment thread I think this would best be rephrased as "Some people don't like Onion stories because they feel like they're the butt of the joke." Which is fair enough, but let's not over-intellectualize it.
That may be true in some cases, but not in all. In particular, the Onion school shooting joke strikes me as a satire of a strawman. Whatever humor can be derived from ridiculing a stupid version of a position (like "school shootings are unavoidable") is, at least for me, made flaccid by the counterproductive nature of the satire. In other words, when the satire ridicules a dumb argument that not many serious people make, it's not so funny.