Why Europeans Believe Americans Are Stupid
I often hear these kinds of bad prejudices from Europeans about Americans: Americans seem fake, their culinary culture is terrible, and so on. What shocks me most about these lynchings is that Americans are stupid.
Yet the national IQ average for Americans is 97, identical to that of the French. Almost all European countries have an IQ difference of plus or minus five below that of the U.S., proving that there isn’t much intellectual contrast. I live in the U.S. as a European and don’t see any intellectual difference. Thanks to their sociability and friendliness, I feel more comfortable talking to Americans than Europeans, which I don’t easily find in France.
How do Europeans judge Americans to be stupid? Here are some explanations, as a European, that explain their point of view.
Different Common Knowledge
The French are a perfect example. It’s part of French culture to show one’s intelligence by showing you know how to debate, by showing one’s knowledge, and by supporting one’s own opinions. If you Americans intend to live in France, you must be aware of this cultural difference to create a community there.
Intelligence is measured above all by an individual’s knowledge of general culture. General culture refers to knowledge gained from current events, curiosity about different countries, culinary cultures, geography, etc. The problem is that Americans aren’t interested in this kind of thing. They have a totally different general culture. The general culture in the U.S. tends to be news that happens mainly in the U.S., politics in the U.S., sports in the U.S., American culinary culture, and so on.
Everyone has as much knowledge as everyone else, it’s just that the knowledge we all have is totally different depending on the individual, depending on the culture, and above all, depending on the country. Americans couldn’t name the capitals of European countries. Still, they know the political situation, culinary culture, and history of every state in the U.S. These arguments lead to the second reason.
Americans don’t know about other countries
Their knowledge is really U.S.-centric, which makes Americans ignorant when it comes to other cultures. It’s just that they know American life well, and they embrace American culture.
The U.S. territory is huge, and each state has its news. Americans are well acquainted with American football, which exists only in the U.S., with the regional team that Americans follow closely. The topic of conversation turns mainly to sports, trendy news like the recent Titan submarine news or the advance of AI, big company innovations, celebrity tweets, and so on.
If you decide to live in the U.S., you must embrace American culture, buy your regional team caps and learn American skills to create a community. Even if you don’t know what it’s like to live in the U.S., it’s really easy to integrate thanks to America’s great social skills, which I find more advanced and intelligent than in some European countries, notably France.
The media population
Most popular series and films are American. The world should be more grateful and give credit to these forms of entertainment, which come from the U.S. Influencers have appeared with Americans creating social networks.
Many influencers (without mentioning names) have original and extreme ideas, which to many seems quite stupid. Other influencers even survey Americans to learn about their general knowledge of European cultures, such as geography and different countries flags. And, of course, since the aim is to film only ignorant people, only the wrong answers are recorded and shared on social networks. And this has a worldwide impact since it’s what’s remembered about American culture.
Americans (Democrats) are also well aware of Trump’s many shocking punchlines. His election as president is an argument used to caricature Americans as stupid. Unfortunately, I can’t disagree with this argument. Still, one of the strong points of this scandal-creating ex-president is that his speeches are manipulative, and it’s easy to be fascinated by them (even if his arguments were almost always unfounded). France, too, is potentially going to be similarly caricatured as stupid if, at the next presidential election in 2027, Marine Le Pen is elected.
Here are a few arguments as to why Europeans think Americans are stupid. I should add that this is just a stereotype, which isn’t true. There’s a reason why this stereotype of the U.S. is not true: Americans are hard-working, their universities are known worldwide for their advanced research, and today they are the world’s leading economic power. They are smart and innovative in responding to customer needs, which is what has made American life so comfortable and accessible to all. Americans are by no means less intelligent than Europeans.
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