MWM – Multisyllabic Words Matter
Are you stupid?
People love to use phrases like “Ya can’t fix stupid”, or “Stupid is as stupid does”, or my personal favorite, “Stupid people don’t KNOW that they’re stupid, because, well, they’re too stupid to know that they’re stupid”
My apologies for embellishing the last one there. 🙂
The thing is that it’s actually not that difficult to know if you’re stupid or not and, well, here’s how you can tell:
……..let’s call it a thumb rule, eh?
Generally speaking, the number of syllables in the words that a person tends to regularly use in average, everyday conversation with others, generally defines their intellect. There are other ways as well, such as using words over and over and over again in sentences or paragraphs, such as my earlier use of the word “generally”, for instance. Only stupid people tend to do that 😉
Now, no one WANTS to be stupid, and no one wants to THINK of themselves as stupid, but there are clear differences in our individual intellectual capacities to know more things, to figure things out quicker than others, and to make statistically more profitable and successful decisions than others, right? The ability to communicate effectively with others is CLEARLY a “big deal” when it comes to intellect.
Again, this is a thumb rule, but the reality is that true intellect comes from being adaptable, which DOES take intelligence, but is then given up to (dependent on) context or environment. So, if you’re a celebrated and esteemed doctor in your nuanced field of study, such as, say, Dr. Fauci, is, but you order a glass of water at a restaurant by saying “Miss, can I please have a glass of dihydrogen monoxide”, then you’re not only not going to get a glass of water, but you’re also probably about to get your ass kicked (and yeah, by her lol).
The other part of this discussion (i.e. the caveat) is that knowledge in any particular area of work, or field of study, could bring intelligence with or without an expanded multisyllabic daily vocabulary. Let’s look at the earlier example of the restaurant Server. She might not understand, or put to ready memory, the thousands of Organic Chemistry molecules that exist, but I’d be willing to bet that she can hold onto 10 plates at once while skirting around other people and tables, as well as to be able to hold countless orders in her head WHILE she’s running with those plates AND smiling at all the customers and winking at the children.
THAT takes friggin INTELLECT, man! If you’ve ever been a restaurant Server, well, you get it.
Can we maybe take a reach to call that Mastery Level Serving?
What is SYNAPTIC PRUNING?
If you’re interested in understanding what causes (or allows for) real intellect, in terms of our brain development, in life, let’s talk about a process that goes on in our brains called “Synaptic Pruning”.
Synaptic Pruning is a perfectly natural process that happens in our (and other mammals’) brains that, well, basically kills off brain cells that aren’t being used. Life on Earth really is all about the exchange and economy of Matter and Energy, and Momma Nature (or God, if you swing that way) will absolutely smack up your lazy, reckless, and wasteful ass, if you’re not using, and pushing, your brain.
So, it is true, in fact, that if you don’t use it, you lose it.
Nature wastes nothing.
Not to get too deep into the actual biology here, but, basically, we have all the brain cells that we’re ever going to have in life at around birth. What happens next is dependent on how our brains are stressed by our environment and pushed to learn in life. If our brains are not being used, and we are not actively stressing the brain to learn (more) complex “stuff” (or objects, events, processes, and ideas), the process of Synaptic Pruning simply decides that our bodies’ much needed developmental Matter and Energy should be spent elsewhere, so our brains just sorta redirect the funds, so to speak. And boy howdy, are our brain cells spendy, ESPECIALLY, as Humans, because even the dumbest humans are still smarter than the next “lowest” species (Chimps). If we were to compare of all the animals that have brains, that is.
Human brain cells guzzle 20 times the energy that our muscles cells do! So, in nature, that’s a very hard compromise to make.
Synaptic Pruning is also age dependent as it REALLY goes into motion by early childhood at ages 3-5, then starts to taper off fairly aggressively around late adolescence, and, for the most part, completely stops by our mid to late 20s.
So, when people say, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”, well…it’s kinda true…..kinda.
Here are some hit-home points before I get to the ESSENTIAL POINT below. If you DO NOT stress your, or your child’s, brain, especially in early childhood development at around ages 3-5, then you will probably have pretty stupid children by the time they get to adulthood. And, while the Synaptic Pruning decreases by adolescence, THAT period in a child’s life is actually WORSE because THEN they’re being crushed by hormones that are all now telling them to have SEX, do DRUGS, and ROCK n’ ROLL! ………………dude.
Let’s look at the affects of Marijuana use and compare its use between ages 0-(about)25, with adults older than that. While it is true, in as far as (I) we know, marijuana itself doesn’t actually kill brain cells that exist… but it’s not a great mystery what it DOES do …it basically makes us lazy, reckless, and wasteful (or wasted). I’m not against smoking pot and I voted for its legality here in WA State years ago, but these are just the facts. So, if KIDS are smoking marijuana, and it makes them lazy (or, like, chill, dude, rock n’ roll, dude), then they are DEFINITELY NOT stressing their brains…and the brain then starts saying to itself “like, chilL, dude, rock n’ roll, dude”, so it simply redirects its Matter and Energy elsewhere, then the brain cells starve, and the Synaptic Pruning process kills off more brain cells.
I can count on one hand (maybe two *a-hem*) how many times I’ve smoked pot, and I’ve always wondered how a guy (me) can go on to achieve such great things academically and become a Science Teacher with a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership & Human Development ..while having a high school dropout father and while growing up in a community with a 90+% poverty rate…
…how on Earth does that happen?
Well, it’s clearly a mix of things (good reading lights as a kid helped), but my first time smoking marijuana was actually in my mid-20s, as an adult, AND after I had gotten out of the Navy in 1996. So, my brain’s Synaptic Pruning process had basically already run its course by then….
…you dig?
I love it when I hear someone say to me “some people do, and other people teach”. Okay, ya got me with that one har har har (by the way, the 1950s called and it wants its insult back, dumbass)….but this previous understanding of human brain development and Synaptic Pruning, especially in children…well…..these are the kinds of things that (most) Teachers know and understand.
So, was any of this interesting to you?
As a Mastery Level Science and Math Teacher, it is MY JOB to know and understand these kinds of things…and, sometimes, if presented with a willing Learner, to teach them.
In fact, I CHOSE to teach kids at those very scary, and hormonally charged “Rock n’ Roll” years, with all of their exceedingly “Synaptic Pruning”ing brains, in order to HELP mitigate this kind of intellectual destruction that usually happens with kids at that age. Let’s be honest, you as a parent, on occassion, probably said “well, it’s just a phase” about your adolescent children, right?
…yeah, no…it’s NOT “just a phase”…….it’s the very destruction of their lifelong intellect, and their ability to learn new things in their future.
So work harder, damnit.
If anything I post or say in one of these posts, pisses you off, triggers you, makes you feel insulted or guilty, or makes you want to punch me in my face, such as suggesting that you’re a bad parent for not forcing your child to learn hard shit, well, please do try to remember, that I’m only doing my job.
But obviously, I don’t want to make this post about me…I’m just here, staying in my lane…..doing my job.
So, don’t take this too hard but you do your job, and I’ll do my job….whaddaya say?
…deal?
ESSENTIAL POINT: =>
Mass marketers tend to use the “syllable” trick when targeting their potential buying demographics. So, one or two syllable words tend to work on younger and less educated buyers, and multisyllabic words tend to work on more educated buyers. For instance, Nike’s “Just Do it” would market mostly to teenagers and younger adults, who are less educated, especially those with more athletic prowess than intellectual rigor. That’s not a slight on one vs the other, by the way, I had the highest GPA on my high school football team (senior year), so I personally know that they’re not simply diametrically opposable. However, I was definitely NOT a great football player either! lol …hmmmm….
Using this knowledge, what do you think about the sloganized corporate branding of “Black Lives Matter”? Boy, they sure took a REAL RISK there by creating a virally triggering pop slogan with a two syllable word (Matter) in it, don’t you think?
Putting my previous points about actual INTELLECT aside, it IS true that the more educated (more actual years going to school) you are, the more syllables you are going to use yourself, as well as with your other close local “tribal” (friends and family) members. More educated people tend to associate with other like-educated people and vice versa. In fact, when people ask me what the purpose for going to college is, or they’ll say it’s “just a piece of paper”, I’ll say, well, college isn’t really about getting a job anyway, nor does it guarantee a higher intellect, it’s really more about making social connections and, specifically, making connections with people who tend to have more power in society.
You can’t really get that anywhere else. Even the military is highly separated between Officers and Enlisted personnel.
So, for people who go to (and graduate from) college, it means access to power structures, as well as, on average, eventually better opportunities in life for THEIR children. And having more POWER allows people to get what they want or need in life MORE THAN people who have less power.
Someone once asked me (not long ago, actually) what I learned in college, and I basically told him the truth…that I learned how to manipulate, manage, and even take advantage of people who DIDN’T graduate from college.
So, for instance, if you didn’t understand the “syllable trick” before you read this post, then it’s because you were being manipulated, managed, and being taken advantage of by it.
The NEWS, by and large, prints its material, and speaks its words, in an, on average, middle school reading level. They tend to NOT use words with more than 3 syllables in them, and almost all of it is solely designed to numb people’s brain and ability to think and learn…
…almost like smoking pot does.
Whether you’re enraged or whether you’re a little too “chill”, either way, you’re still not THINKING.
And that is exactly what they want.
I’m only a humble Science Teacher, so I’m trying to stay in my lane, but I’m also completely disgusted at watching kids, who could otherwise have been my students, being brainwashed by their News to run out and destroy whole cities because they truly (have been led to) believe that they are “fighting Fascism”.
I’m also sick and FUCKING TIRED of having to suffer and wear a GODDAMNED mask or risking GETTING SICK because GROWN ASS ADULTS who should KNOW BETTER aren’t GETTING VACCINATED!
I will be writing a completely different post on WHY it’s SO IMPORTANT to get vaccinated, because I KNOW that what the NEWS is telling people is both WRONG and DANGEROUS to, literally…everyone.
…and I KNOW this because I have the EDUCATION to UNDERSTAND IT….to say nothing of the State Certification to teach it.
So, if you’re vaccinated but you think kids should blow up police cars, pull down statues, and be out breaking Starbucks windows in the name of “fighting Fascism”, then my blog is for you.
And if you can’t stand watching those kids blow up police cars, pull down statues, and breaking Starbucks windows, but you’re choosing to NOT GET VACCINATED (without an actual Doctor recommendation)….then my blog is for you…too.
The truth is that BOTH of you (or those groups of people) are being gamed and pitted against each other by a mass marketing manufactured “bidding war” that brainwashes one group of “True Believers” to hate the other group of “True Believers”, and vice versa.
And the REALITY is that what BOTH groups BELIEVE is 100% HORSESHIT and manufactured by the news for boatloads of Wall Street profits.
AND, sadly, ALL OF US are FORCED to SUFFER for it!
……and that is exactly what they want.
People who consume and believe the News, and get so easily spun up by their gamed up bullshit, aren’t really “stupid”, per se, they’re just gullible.
….and gullibility stems from people being less Adaptable…….I don’t know…is THAT stupidity?
So….are you stupid?
Lastly, using profanity would be considered a null (non-factor) when it comes to this “syllable trick”, and trust me, people with both higher and lower intellects, and higher and lower education levels, use it, and in almost equal proportions (don’t ask me for a scientific citation on this…or I’m liable to give you one).
– Your Friendly Neighborhood Science Teacher
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