On Wisdom, Knowledge, Ignorance

On Wisdom, Knowledge, Ignorance: "TV news seems to confuse more than it clarifies,' the study [by the Center for studies in Communication of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst] summarizes. 'Even after controlling for all other variables, we discovered that the correlation between TV watching and knowledge was actually a negative one. Overall, the more TV people watched, the less they knew. The only fact that did not fit in with this pattern was the ability to identify the Patriot missle. this is a sad indictment of television's priorities.' They add, 'It is extremely distrubing that this public expertise in aspects of military technology is not matched by any clear understanding of the circumstances that lie behind their deployment. Village Voice (3/5/91)."