SafeAsMilk wrote:Sorry, did we come up with an actual method yet for testing if someone is wise and/or smart enough to vote? Because unless you can come up with that, everything else is pretty much mindless bullshitting.

Keep It Real wrote:
Why should unwise adults be allowed to vote and not wise 15 year olds

proudfootz wrote:

Keep It Real wrote::googles mook: that's not like Mookie from do the right thing is it....it's a racist term isn't it...oh dear you yanks...oh got the google term....not racist...uh oh racistly stereotyping USAians as repping racist slang....perhaps.....but it does sound like Mookie so maybe you'll let me off this time.


so what's a wonk?

I'm not sure what a 'mook' is meant to be, but another poster called me one. I can only assume it was meant to be an insult.

As for 'wonk' I'm told it has to do with someone who has knowledge ('wonk' is 'know' spelt backwards) about a topic - this came to my attention during the 1st Clinton administration.

Definition of wonk for English Language Learners

: a person who knows a lot about the details of a particular field (such as politics) and often talks a lot about that subject

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wonk

Not in this case meant as an insult to you!

CarlPierce wrote:
Play wizardry 8 (best rpg of all time) and you will find out what a 'mook' is.

SafeAsMilk wrote:Sorry, did we come up with an actual method yet for testing if someone is wise and/or smart enough to vote? Because unless you can come up with that, everything else is pretty much mindless bullshitting.

The analysis of MR images, which focused on areas where meditation-associated differences were seen in earlier studies, found increased gray-matter density in the hippocampus, known to be important for learning and memory, and in structures associated with self-awareness, compassion, and introspection.

Keep It Real wrote:

SafeAsMilk wrote:Sorry, did we come up with an actual method yet for testing if someone is wise and/or smart enough to vote? Because unless you can come up with that, everything else is pretty much mindless bullshitting.

How about a pertinent general knowledge quiz, IQ test and obtaining a certain threshold level of grey matter density in crucial brain areas? That'd be a start.

SafeAsMilk wrote:

Keep It Real wrote:

SafeAsMilk wrote:Sorry, did we come up with an actual method yet for testing if someone is wise and/or smart enough to vote? Because unless you can come up with that, everything else is pretty much mindless bullshitting.

How about a pertinent general knowledge quiz, IQ test and obtaining a certain threshold level of grey matter density in crucial brain areas? That'd be a start.

Do you think people are going to want to pay for testing that's going to deny them the right to vote? How many times are people going to be able to take these tests? What do you think a "pertinent general knowledge quiz" is going to look like, and how are you going to determine how much general knowledge is enough?

SafeAsMilk wrote:If it were possible to determine with certainty that a politician was lying and fine them, that would be great.

Sendraks wrote:

SafeAsMilk wrote:If it were possible to determine with certainty that a politician was lying and fine them, that would be great.

Yup, I'm trying to imagine the inquisitorial process required to ascertain whether a politician had lied or not and the costs attached to it.

aban57 wrote:
And how to make the difference between someone who tells something wrong on purpose and those who don't.

Sendraks wrote:

SafeAsMilk wrote:If it were possible to determine with certainty that a politician was lying and fine them, that would be great.

Yup, I'm trying to imagine the inquisitorial process required to ascertain whether a politician had lied or not and the costs attached to it.

Thommo wrote:Who is "them"? And how are you all so sure "them" you are not one of "them"?

Surely there's an IQ test threshold none of us would pass that would make sure voters were even better informed...

SafeAsMilk wrote:
edit: Damn you, blackbart

SafeAsMilk wrote:I agree that an IQ test probably isn't an especially good way to tell if someone's qualified to vote, both in terms of ability and how elitist it would appear. Certainly wouldn't fly in huge swathes of the US, anyway.

If it were possible to determine with certainty that a politician was lying and fine them, that would be great. I think you might find that as difficult as trying to come up with a test to see if someone should be able to vote, though. You'd find out pretty quickly all the different ways around it.