Are We As Dumb As We Look?

So, this company that I'd never heard of, Morgan Quitno Press, has come out with another one of those potentially hugely bogus study results--one that seems to exist solely to give news editors, debate teams, and bloggers something to talk about.

In this one, they rank Vermont as the "smartest" state in the union, with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts--now to be deemed "The Silver Medal State" thanks to both this and Nancy Kerrigan's semi-heroic skating--as number two. Vermont repeats as #1 from last year while we geniuses here popped up 1 place, forcing those dumbasses in Connecticut down to #3.

I know you're interested in who hit dead last. I certainly was. It's Arizona, as it turns out, followed by Nevada, Mississippi, and California. The Southwestern Trifecta, with a kicker. The punchlines here are easy pickin's.

But this is not why I bring this study up.

Dumb as it may be to play into this, let's do it as a thought exercise. Let's say a bunch of guys from Kansas (#15) determine Massachusetts is somehow 2.5 points dumber than Vermont, 12.4 points smarter than New York, and second out of all fifty states based on graduation rates, test scores, knowledge of Star Trek, whatever. What's it mean?

Most obviously and importantly, it means that the teachers, school committees, PTAs, administrators, paraprofessionals, staffs, parents, and of course, the kids are doing what they all need to be doing, sometimes under incredibly difficult conditions and on shoestring budgets.

It means that people come here for the excellence of our school systems, public and private; early, secondary and higher. People come to Massachusetts to go to Andover, Miss Hall's, and Deerfield. For Simon's Rock and Williams. For Harvard, MIT, Tufts, BC, BU, Northeastern, Holy Cross, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Hampshire, Amherst, UMass, Clark, WPI. And people stay once they've been here.

It means that state and local government has been able to accomodate business that attracts and retains educated professionals without driving them out of state to New Hampshire or North Carolina.

Regardless of how true or not the results of this sound bite study actually are, there will always be candidates, columnists, pundits, salesmen, and loudmouths. And their worlds will always be troubled; there will naught but evil to be fought and challenges to be overcome. And in a troubled world, you can turn to--well, whatever candidate, idea, or product they're suggesting will make everything shiny, safe, and easy.

Don't believe all of it, though. Believe instead for a few minutes that committed people, working together, can educate our kids, keep our stuff and our families secure, and make things better for everyone. Maybe not perfect, and not always shiny, safe, or easy. But always trying harder, working smarter, and realizing the ultimate lesson from Star Trek: the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

It's either that, or rerouting the warp core phase flucuations through the tractor beam will reverse antimatter inversions and repair rifts in space-time. I think it's the "needs of the many" thing, though.