Americans Tinker Less

Less an issue of what people do rather than what people know, but according to this story on a survey Americans are less likely to tinker with fairly common projects, from making toys to basic household projects.

Many Americans simply do not work with their hands anymore, whether it's to tackle a hobby for pleasure or to handle a necessary household repair. Young people essentially have no role models when it comes to fixing things or taking pride in building something," said Gerald Shankel, Fabricators and Manufacturers Association president.

Obviously these guys have a dog in this hunt, so take this with a grain of salt, but according to the survey 60 percent of Americans avoid doing household repairs themselves.  Okay, I've been doing more of them, but only because I'm cheap.  We're nearly done painting the outside of our house, a year-long job since we have to clear out a day or weekend when the weather cooperates and we're not driving kids from one obligation to another. 

On a related note in the same story, a survey of teenagers found 73 percent have no interest in blue-collor work, hands-on kind of jobs.  Are we becoming a nation of people who can't do the most basic of chores or tasks?  Probably not, because at least people can work their own cell phones -- and we know that's all that really matters in the world. Oh, that and work Facebook. Such vital skills.

What People Know -- About Their Teeth?

Offered with little comment on a Sunday afternoon, a survey reported here that looks at what people know about their teeth and why it matters.  Here's a factoid from the survey that surprised me: "More than a third of the survey respondents (36 percent) admit their child brushes his or her teeth less than once a day."  

Ugh.

One Way to Get Better Knowledge

Want to improve the public's political knowledge? In a survey there are two really good methods for getting more correct answers, according to one study.

• Give 'em more time to answer the question
• Pay 'em for their trouble.

No, really. They work.

The resounding doh! you hear out there comes from any real people who read this blog is understandable, but this actually matters. It tells us something about the role of motivation, that people often can come up with correct answers about political knowledge if properly motivated. A random telephone call from a stranger asking if you can name your congresspersonthing is hardly a motivating moment.

The lesson? People are smarter about political knowledge than we think. That sounds good, but we (i.e., scholars) think very little of the public's knowledge, so there's plenty of room for improvement (in perception, that is).