What is your take on these (see details)?

Question

I'm looking for two, separate answers :D

The IQ and the life expectancy of the average American recently passed each other in opposite directions. ---George Carlin

By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth. ---George Carlin

Sounds good, Dune, I can't imagine why someone gave you a thumbs-down--I, of course gave you a thumbs-up to counteract that :)

Answer 1

Well, he also see that the IQ is going up in the world, but life expectancy down. That would show he get's how thinking is not a direct understanding of life, but a symbolic one, like math or a graph and stress is going up, machines keeping us alive, but wars and starvation going up also. Intuition extends your life. Paradigm Shift is on to the shift. I meant to refer you to my profile on that very subject, on a previous question and was too tired to remember. I'm having entirely too much fun. The shift does that to you and is the answer to so much. It's partly developing intution and Emotional Intelligence, previously thought to be a women's stronghold. EI is also the best indicator of success in life and relationships. IQ correlation gets a zero for people skills, success or happiness.
If he meant IQ was going down, that would correlate with joke two, as language does block intuition, relate to pain and irrational thought as well. "Reasoning' is led by the nose by emotions, but not understanding them, being run by them and ego, of which men are often accused. If IQ is going down, you would expect that life expectancy would go up for the more relaxed lifestyle and less OCD, more sanity and physical health. That comports with joke two. Robin Williams is probably hep also, as intuition is also called speed thinking. They say humor is truth snuck into your consciousness, maybe in clever ways. That's why jokes are soon forgotten. We usually aren't that in touch with the whole mind. It's like raising your head and shoulders out of the water. You can't maintain it for long and sink back down into relative unconsciousness, and they call the mind the subconscious. It's really the higher consciousness and we are stuck more on an animal level heeding the body too much, for so called intelligent beings that we're designed to be. Science and spirituality are coming closer together today. People lag behind and the media stays with the numbers, if they get it at all. They are not really a bright as other people, they have to dance and fudge. That's where all their intellectual energy goes. My logic might not be tight, but the ideas are right.

Answer 2

Carlin has a knack for making us laugh at the apparent truth. It does seem rather ironic that at a time our longevity is increasing our collective IQ would go down. However, if you were to give it some thought, it makes perfect sense. In more physically dangerous times those who did not have the ability to make intelligent choices most likely would not survive as long as those who could. The balance between longevity and intelligence would seem to make perfect sense. Humanity has used that cleverness to undo some of the more overt effects of the "survival of the fittest" law of nature. Human emotion and spiritual compassion would seem to be involved in the equation as the inspiration underneath the drive to cure disease and alleviate suffering that results in a longer lifespan. Intelligence without emotion would more likely drive humanity towards a more ruthless existence of individual self preservation.

The second is, to me, just a simple statement of fact slightly twisted. Language is not necessarily intentionally used for concealing the truth, however, the end result is that it does. Truth and words do not mix. If you think of those things you know to be true and then try to put them into words, the words prove completely inadequate. The closer to truth one comes the more difficult language becomes.

Answer 3

you seem to have a thing for Carlin--I'm beginning to see why.

1) I'm thinking that the first is a reflection of academia becoming so abstractly-minded that it is no earthly good. I believe he has a good point.
2) The second reminds me of a quote I picked up from the local Unitarian minister. She says that we are not so much thinking (and speaking--my addition) creatures who feel, as we are feeling creatures who may or may not think. I believe very much that language at least obfuscates the truth of our deeper, instinctual motives which are always at work guiding our words (overall) and our actions.
Where the use of language is concerned, our real motives are either to Mate, to Bond or to "Breed" (meaning shaping and forming the character of our offspring). Ironically, perhaps, on an even simpler level, we are separating ourselves from others, in order to accomplish these things: Playing hard-to-get, feeling and fearing being left out by others, and responding in kind in order to garner attention and what we call "sympathy", and finally pushing others away because we perceive others pushing us away.

Answer 4

I also agree with Dune and will add that George Carlin's ability to manipulate the English language to insult all Americans is to be either admired or despised.

Answer 5

I think IQ's are pretty much the same, but youth of
today gave up common sense to gain technical saavy.

The second thought I gotta agree that the tongue is
a slippery little cuss.

Answer 6

My take on these:-
a) It is possible that as the older generation are living longer, the younger people are being dumbed down.

b) You can hide untruths if you are a competent linguist.

I don't know if that is true or not, but it does sound plausible.