Sweeping generalisations

Because the above intellectual is clearly in the USA, I will guess he is not a supporter of the Melbourne Moran gang family.  Even so, I fear for my children.

There are people in the world whose intellect will remain at a child's level forever because they weren't born to parents who encouraged them to read, who simply weren't sufficiently interested in the world around them to do any more than make excuses for what they don't know, rather than summon what little curiosity they possess and research things for themselves.

As quoted on the National Geographic Magazine site:

• over 80% of Americans have not read a book since high-school;
• over half of Americans can't find any given state on a map;
• nearly all Americans interviewed could not find most foreign countries;
• almost half of American teenagers have no idea what the Second World War was about, and don't bother asking who won, when it was fought, or any of the details;
• nearly half of Americans believe the sun revolves around the earth;
• nearly one-quarter of Americans do not know that the United States landed a man on the moon in 1969;
• almost half believe you can drink antifreeze if you're stuck in the desert; and
• over half believe the earth is 6,000 years old.