Karen S. (CacaoBear) reviewed Dumbth and 81 Ways to Make Americans Smarter on + 87 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Didactic. Pedantic. Verbose. Stultifying. Condescending.
While I was initially captivated by Mr. Allen's premise, I was left struggling to forge my way through the text. He laments the "dumbing down" of Americans, but writes in a manner that only afficionados of the driest scholastic tomes could hope to appreciate, thereby completely alienating his potential audience, and doing significantly more harm than good to his cause.
After an introduction consisting of some 50 pages of statistical evidence and 50 more pages of anecdotal evidence concerning the lack of knowledge and reasoning power of Americans, I found that I almost didn't care what the 81 "rules" were, as long as they were brief! Alas ... it was not to be, and I'm afraid I'll put this book down without truly absorbing most of the valuable information presented.
While I was initially captivated by Mr. Allen's premise, I was left struggling to forge my way through the text. He laments the "dumbing down" of Americans, but writes in a manner that only afficionados of the driest scholastic tomes could hope to appreciate, thereby completely alienating his potential audience, and doing significantly more harm than good to his cause.
After an introduction consisting of some 50 pages of statistical evidence and 50 more pages of anecdotal evidence concerning the lack of knowledge and reasoning power of Americans, I found that I almost didn't care what the 81 "rules" were, as long as they were brief! Alas ... it was not to be, and I'm afraid I'll put this book down without truly absorbing most of the valuable information presented.
Helpful Score: 1
Steve Allen takes on the dumbing down of America. The book was written years ago, but I believe has more truth today than it did when it was written. This was a re-read for me, and I enjoyed it more the second time than the first, age. I would recommend this book.
Lynda C. (Readnmachine) reviewed Dumbth and 81 Ways to Make Americans Smarter on + 1474 more book reviews
A detailed and readable overview bemoaning the increasing amount of ineptitude, ineficiency, and sheer stupidity that pervade all segments of American life and work, including thoughts on how we got this way and what might be done to ameliorate the problem. If you're looking for a humorous collection of "dumb people" stories, this isn't it, but if you're looking for some thoughtful suggestions on how to increase your own reasoning powers and how to encourage it in others, you could do worse.
