January 31, 2019

I read an entertaining brief blog today from Nautilus about the pervasive nature of cognitive bias in today's world, so prevalent that the writer, Brian Gallagher, posits that colleges and universities should create academic departments to study the problems of stupidity.  As he says, though, who would want to be a "stupid professor," as short-hand for professor of stupidity.

Graham Parker, many years ago, sang about a "Museum Of Stupidity," replete with images of religion and American advertising.  Frankly, this is just a cheap shout out for a great song.  After all, anyone who can write the following lines should be revered as a god.

One day there'll be a museum of stupidity
Where we can hang ourselves and throw away the key
Along with the attitudes of the PMRC
And this bullshit drug war full of hypocrisy
The banning of 2 Live Crew
They'll probably put 2 Live Crew in there, too.

Nevertheless, Parker's title, in conjunction with Gallagher's article, made me think of a "Curriculum of Stupidity:"

Stupidity Studies

B.S. Degree [of course]

Curriculum Advisor: Jefferson Wentworthy, III, Ph.D, J.D., and S.T.D. [Stupidity Theory Doctorate]

Description: Stupidity Studies prepares students for a lifetime of frustration and despair, armed with all of the knowledge of how most people in the world are really, really stupid, and yet there is little that a smug academic with a Stupidity Studies B.S. can do it about. Jobs might be found in Think Tanks. However, it is more than likely that the graduate with the SS B.S. will be hired by politicians, lobbying groups, and advertising firms and asked to use the knowledge for manipulative purposes. As a result, the SS B.S. might be best suited for people diagnosed with sociopathic tendencies.

The curriculum and faculty are dedicated to presenting students with real-life case studies. All courses come with the promise of three or four stupid guest speakers, promoting their ignorance without even realizing that they are being used to show negative examples of thinking.  The university is proud to keep this requirement even when our guest speakers later learned that have been used in such a manner.  Consider this curriculum as the Sacha Baron Cohen of academia. Unfortunately, pending litigation does not allow us to list such past speakers. 

Student Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of the program, students will be able to

1) Identify the stupid among us, characterizing them by the logical fallacies that ground each of them;

2) Explain the inevitably simple ways that the stupid reject the complex that is at the nature of all truth;

3) Describe the fundamentals flaws people use in trying to change the mind of the stupid;

4) Rationalize that killing all stupid people won't rid the world of stupidity;

5) Create myths about the saving of the world from the stupid.

Program Entry Requirements:

• A "B" or better in the university's "Fundamentals of Critical Thought," Freshman Seminar course.
  
• Shown competency in managing the university's complicated registration system.

Graduation Requirements:

To qualify for the SS B.S. students must complete a minimum of 120 credit hours as prescribed, maintain a grade point average of 2.0 ("C") and earn a "C" or better in all SS courses.

Program of Study:

University Core:

MATH121  Precalculus 1........................................... 4 credits                          

MATH 125 Calculus 2 .............................................. 4 credits

MATH 131.11111  Math For Endless Degrees .............. 5 credits

ENGL125 Composition I............................................ 4 credits

ENGL224 Composition II............................................ 3 credits

HIST200 -- The History of Intellectual Thought.............. 1 credit

PSYC101 Introduction to Psychology ............................3 credits

SOCI162 Social Behaviors........................................... 3 credits

SPEE342 Human Interaction......................................... 4 credits

A Natural Science course (see catalog page 4288)............4 credits

A Humanities course (see catalog page 4273)..................3 credits

Total -------------------------------------------------38 credits

Major

PSYC162 Deep, Deep Psychology ................................... 3 credits

PSYC248 Mental Disorders ............................................. 3 credits

STST100 Introduction to Stupidity................................... 3 credits

STST110 Stupidity by Association.................................... 3 credits

STST150 Stupidity by Any Other Name ...........................3 credits

STST200 Your Grandfather's Stupidity...............................3 credits

STST201 Your Father's Stupidity.....................................3 credits

STST220 When Emotion Meets Stupidity ..........................3 credits

(cross listed with HEAL098 Dealing With Stupid Emotions)

STST304 Bandwagon Hopping .......................................3 credits

STST318 Stupidity and Social Media...............................3 credits

Or

COMM266 Social Media and The Stupid...........................3 credits

STST323 Making And Burning The Strawman...................3 credits

(includes laboratory section)...........................................2 credits

MATH400 Lying With Statistics........................................5 credits

STST400 Current Events in Stupidity.................................3 credits

STST500 Stupidity Colloqium.........................................4 credits

Total ----------------------------------------------------- 47 credits

Electives ..................................................................25 credits

(Electives from the following departments are strongly encouraged: Marketing, English, Communications, and History.  Electives cannot come from Computer Science or Physical Education.)

Total Credits for Graduation ---------------------120 credits