MOULTRIE —  Quite often we hear that the U.S. population is “dumbed down.” And while we might want to believe the best, routinely things pop up that defend this negative assessment.

I’ll just deal with one example.

In an earlier column, I wrote about “Shark Week” on television. There were movies and documentaries to address peoples’ fascination with these creatures.

One feature of Shark Week was promoted extensively. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps was going to race a shark. Like thousands or maybe even millions of other viewers, I watched this show.

I was not surprised at all at the production or the outcome. But apparently, many people were furious after the “race.” That extreme dismay was even an element of Good Morning America.

What happened was Phelps raced a simulated shark and lost by two seconds. In other words, he didn’t race a real shark which rankled a lot of viewers.

Really?

People expected Phelps to take his position beside a live great white shark and both launch toward the finish line with the shark’s complete cooperation?

Give me a break! The public is not that dumb, right?

My curiosity was about how they would calculate a shark’s speed and then pose Phelps against those numbers. I never imagined that a real shark would be involved in close proximity of the swimmer. It just doesn’t fit any form of logic. What if the shark got hungry half way through the race?

But even the method they used, which obviously did mislead the dim witted, is questionable in my book.

I realize scientists know a lot about sharks. They know about their feeding and mating habits. They know about their migrations. They have studied them from medical perspectives because they apparently are immune to many diseases. So I don’t discount socially redeeming value for that curiosity.  And they probably know a great deal about how fast they can swim, give or take a few miles per hour.

In this contest, they fitted Phelps with mono-flippers to emulate a shark’s propulsion. And they fitted him with a skin-tight outfit that simulated a shark’s skin. What they didn’t attach was an Evinrude.

One person critical of this production said it was about as realistic as the movie “Sharknado,” which unintentionally turned into comedy even without the aid of libations.

There was a suggestion that Phelps might want a rematch. I would not go there if I were him. As the saying goes, “I wouldn’t touch that with a 10-foot pole.”  It would only make the issue more ludicrous and would greatly infuriate the Bigfoot searchers and those who bet on professional wrestling should they not see him in an Olympic swimming pool with a great white in a parallel lane.

An Olympic icon like Phelps can shake off one faux pax, but surely he’s smart enough not to add insult to injury. It would be like a really bad movie having a sequel.

Now for those who really thought Phelps would be in some kind of swimming lane with a real great white, let us advise you to not play in traffic and come inside when it rains. Stay hydrated when it’s hot. And yes, man has walked on the moon.

(Dwain Walden is editor/publisher of The Moultrie Observer, 985-4545. Email: dwain.walden@gaflnews.com)