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In other words Americans are not deficient in the capacity for deep and critical thinking, and those sociologists who claimed college students couldn't, and those lbo posters who agreed with the sociologists were all full of shit. It wasn't that the college students (or for that matter, the high-school dropouts) are intellectually unable to think critically; they simply (for reasons no one cares to investigate, chose different topics to think about. In fact all statements that detached intellectuals choose to make about the "intelligence" of the population are full of shit because they are grounded in narrow and possibly irrelevant judgments of what topics people 'should' think about.
Carroil
^^^^^^^^^
CB: A lot of American thought about sports is religious , artistic and superstitious, though, not deep and critical even as to the material reality of the games and teams. For example, without religious-type fervor the Chicago Cubs and Detroit Lions probably wouldn't have an fans. The owners' of those teams evidently treat them like rich kids' toys, because they haven't won ultimate championships for a long time. The teams are something like long running tragic operas. Also, fans have little ability to impact results. It's like rooting for good weather. Or rituals trying to get good weather for a good agricultural crop. They are never able to practice all that radio-talk theory. Monday morning quarterbacking and all that. Fan is a derivative of "fanatic". Spectator sports are in part a new opiate of the masses of American men.
Of course, some of the above applies to our email list analysis , too (giggles)