Are Americans really as dumb as they appear?

Question

I mean it is the fault of an American that take out coffee cups of a warning lable on them saying "caution contents hot" Like NO SH!T It is the fault of an american that The box my air conditioner came in had a warning on it that said " pushing through window may cause damage" YOU THINK? and I could go on. I mean are most Americans drowning in the common sense pool?

FYI: The winnibego story did happen, It happend on the I5 just out of Seattle. The funny thing people don't hear is the appeal case. In the case of the woman who sued McDonalds when she spilt her coffee on her, she was awarded a cash settlement by jury. Because someone in the jury room realised that they would be setting precident by awarding the settlement, so if anything like that happened to them they would be able to get a settlement. What you don't hear is that the appeals go in front of a judge and only a judge. Who by the way probably has a lot more common sense than most. He/she looked over the case and told the women to get out of the court she didn't deserve a cent. Although McDonalds did admit to having their coffee hotter than it should have been.

Answer 1

Only our president. And we're very embarrassed. Very.

Answer 2

If you change "Americans" to the word "People" and do a bit of research, you will find your question to be one of the many asked for eons. Are "people" so stupid wee need to have printed warnings & instructions for the obvious? Or perhaps a better set of questions might be; With regards to those working in advertisement, do THEY really think consumers are that stupid? Is it a "disclaimer" to prevent lawsuits & should those warnings & instructions now be written in multiple languages?
I mention "instructions" because of other examples of idiocy : Shampoo, Rince, Repeat...This is in hopes of you (1) reading the instructions, (2) following the instructions hense using & buying twice as much...
No..."Americans" are not that stupid that WE need to be instructed in or warned about the obvious, but many people must be or it wouldn't be there...There are products that need warning labels & don't, like "Alcohol"...But then again, I bet a pint, wine bottle or beer can with a simple skull & crossbones would rapidly become popular...
One last minor point: A full blooded American (such as myself) is a mutt, a mixture from long ago (mostly europian blood), but to be an "American" of any race, color, religion, age or gender is to strive for an ideal, what this country was founded on in the begining. To be an "American" is to want freedoms & rights and to wish others could band together, without fighting amoung themselves and learn to accept & enjoy the same...Too many foreiners judge the "American Public" by what our government or rich & famous do, though the majority or the common persons strongly disagree..."Americans" don't have the market on stupidity, it's a Global Epidemic...

Answer 3

It's not that Americans aren't intelligent. It's the fact that a lot of people will SUE over stupid stuff like that, not being warned that hot coffee will be hot, that you can't use a hair dryer while you're sleeping, can't use a toaster underwater, can't iron a shirt while you're wearing it, and so forth. It's the courts that will actually permit such lawsuits to go forward that are behind the necessity to post all possible warnings against all possible misuses of every single thing that is sold today.

Answer 4

Here's a good one. This is supposed to be a true story. This guy buys a Winnebago motor home and puts it on cruise control while he goes in the back to make himself lunch. When the motor home crashed, he sued Winnebago because the Owner's Manual didn't warn him against this. AND HE WON THE CASE!!! To answer your question, it's not the people, it's the lawyers. CYA. This is not to say, though, that I haven't noticed a certain dumbing down overall. It's either the teachers or the lack of funds for education. You think?

Answer 5

The reason for stupid warning labels is as old as time....greed. Lawsuits, especially the frivolous kind, have resulted in all kinds of warnings. Bill Engval, my favorite comidiene, has an entire routine on various silly warnings such as the one on a hairdryer that says not to use it while you sleep and a curling iron that warns against inserting it into bodily orfices. Americans aren't stupid....the greedy ones keep inventing new ways to misuse products and try to con a buck out of companies who don't want the hassle of protracted legal battles and lawyer fees. These are the same people who are making costs on everything skyrocket, because companies have to go through so many legal gymnastics in order to try and protect themselves and it increases costs.

Answer 6

It is a responsibility issue. Companies got tired of being sued for what should be common sense stuff and started putting on the labels.No matter what country you live in,it becomes a matter of not wanting to appear stupid or unwise so let's blame someone else.First comes pain,then shame,denial,then blame transferance.Peace.

Answer 7

Actually the reason behind all those stupid labels are that americans look for ANYway to get money through Sueing companies for bogas reasons like they 'didn't know the coffee was hot' and getting money for it. So, out of fear of losing money, the companies put warning labels on everything that can prove to get them sued.

Answer 8

These things aren't put on items because Americans are dumb. It's because they like to sue others for money because they are too lazy to work for it. For instance, I know that my coffee is really, really hot, but if I'm a lazy and don't want to work, I can spill it in my lap and cause extreme burns to my groin area in return for a free ride for the rest of my life, simply becasue the fast food restaurant didn't state the obvious. Lazy, lazy, lazy!!! Not dumb.

Answer 9

All Americans aren't stupid, but we are a litigious society.
Yes, most are just plain ignorant.
I do not believe dumb to be the correct term, as I don't believe generalizing or placing labels on a certain group helps the situation.

Maybe overly cautious would be a better term.

Answer 10

They make such a big deal so they can su the companies and get rich, making the companies put the labels so they cant get sud again

Answer 11

It seems to me that Americans are not taking responsibility for their actions. Whenever they do something STUPID, they look for someone to blame. No wonder the lawyers are all rich - everybody wants to sue someone when they do something stupid - like drop hot coffee in their lap.