Once you've found something that doesn't work, keep using it

[Quixote]

CTC warrior Woodwalker received a letter from the State of New Mexico:

Dear Taxpayer:

A review of information provided to the Taxation and Revenue Department by the Internal Revenue Service under section 6103 (d) of the internal revenue code indicates that the IRS has examined your personal income tax return for the year 2005. The department received information from the IRS yada yada yada...................................

My question is do I file with the state the same as the fed's? 4852 and 1040X

Absolutely; it completely failed with the feds, but it will work with the state.

[The Operative]

Yup, break a federal law, why not break a few state laws too.

[LPC]

My question is do I file with the state the same as the fed's?

I know I should know better, but one of the things that persistently amazes me about these drooling morons is that they constantly prattle about the Constitution and the "rule of law" and yet have absolutely no understanding of either the federalism or the rule of law that underlies the entire constitution.

It's like listening to someone lecture about the works of Charles Dickens and then discover that the lecturer cannot read or write and was reciting something from memory that someone else had read to them from the Internet.

Actually, it's not "like" that, it's exactly that. We're dealing with people who cannot read or write functionally. They are able to recite words and phrases they have memorized, like parrots, but they have absolutely no understanding of what they have memorized.

And their lack of understanding is not due to the complexity of the subject, but because they refuse to believe that it is as simple as the lawyers and the accountants and the government claim that it is.

[Judge Roy Bean]

...Actually, it's not "like" that, it's exactly that. We're dealing with people who cannot read or write functionally. They are able to recite words and phrases they have memorized, like parrots, but they have absolutely no understanding of what they have memorized.

And their lack of understanding is not due to the complexity of the subject, but because they refuse to believe that it is as simple as the lawyers and the accountants and the government claim that it is.

Actually, in many cases their "lack of understanding" is due to the complexity of the subject, and given the average reading and comprehension level in the United States (barely 5th grade), you have to consider that a very large portion of the population is not going to be able to read and understand anything more complex than a pancake recipe.

They're also attention-span deficient; if it's longer than two or three paragraphs they skim.

Which means they are more than vulnerable to having someone 'splain things to them - especially as Judge Easterbrook so elegantly described - when a belief in preposterous things happens to coincide with their own self-interest.

And if you delve into someone's lack of understanding or knowledge you'll soon start finding a mistrust of those who do understand. It's very common particularly in law and to some degree in medicine and the proof of that is the huge market for fraud and quackery.

The psychological roots of this are developed in childhood; if you've raised (survived) adolescents you'll recognize the phases where you, the adult, tell them things and you know they're compelled to go out and find a way to prove you were wrong. The behavior can be self-destructive or just educational but ultimately it boils down to how someone deals with authority.

[Burzmali]

The anti-intellectual streak isn't as old as you think. As recently as WWII scientists could achieve a pop-stardom akin to sports stars.

[Mr. Mephistopheles]

America has long, long, long held a strong anti-intellectual streak. Look at all the nicknames for intellectuals - egghead, poindexter, nimrod, brainiac, brain, geek, nerd, encyclopedia and so forth...

Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one." - Bill Gates

My brother used to be harassed as being a nerd. He was also a heck of an athlete. "Educated idiot" was one derisive therm that was used. Considering he's now a Professor at an Ivy League university, I think those people can just STFU and go back to whatever manual labor job they most likely perform poorly.

[Leftcoaster]

The anti-intellectual streak isn't as old as you think. As recently as WWII scientists could achieve a pop-stardom akin to sports stars.

"Unbeknownst to most historians, Einstein started down the road of professional basketball before an ankle injury diverted him to science" -
-- Gary larson

I tried to find the image, but they are notoriously difficult to find on the the web.