Comment: Dale,

You might find this book interesting. I sure did.
http://www.amazon.com/What-Intelligence-Tests-Miss-Psycholog...

The author show that standard IQ tests do NOT measure rational thinking at all. America officially values IQ (the efficiency of algorithmic thought, more or less), but not the rational processes of the reflective mind (logic, wisdom, reality-based thinking).

This is why, for example, Ron Paul has a great many fans who, themselves, cannot "make the argument" for Ron Paul. They "like" him, but they are not good at the higher levels of thinking required to "get" him. As an ironic result, they come across to their neighbors in exactly the opposite way of what they desire; they are a turnoff rather than a boost to the campaign. And of course, I'm not talking about ALL Paul supporters, lest anyone assume that I am.

The good news about rational thought is that it does NOT require a high IQ to be good at it. This means that practically anybody can master it. They just need to learn a few things about how to do it, and mostly, they have to WANT it because it is definitely more labor intensive than irrational thinking. It requires care, deliberacy, diligence, and lots of mental energy. So if there is to be any meaningful shift this direction in the American paradigm, it's going to have to be accompanied by getting a boatload of people to learn how to CARE again.