# Are We Getting Smarter Or Dumber? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 10, 2012, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-getting-smarter-or-dumber/637289 "2012-10-10T05:55:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-getting-smarter-or-dumber/637289/41 "2012-10-14T20:56:21Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > The fact that you find it difficult to fathom these things suggests that in evolutionary terms you are the living proof in the decline of intelligence. I am tempted to ask what it means that you’re having difficulty fathoming the Great Debates rules. 😉 Don’t insult other posters in this forum. You can insult other users the Pit, but not here. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-getting-smarter-or-dumber/637289/42 "2012-10-15T03:08:15Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > Also, there is a certain conventional wisdom that goes with this, historically at least. In H.G. Wells’ [War of the Worlds](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Of_The_Worlds), the super-advanced Martians are basically all brain, with useless limbs. _Will we end up like that some day?_ > > 🙂 Western medicine is only about 150 years ago, it started with the development of germ theory, antiseptics, anaesthesia, developments in A&P, etc. However we have made massive strives in those 150 years, and they seem to be compounding. The advances of 1992-2012 seem bigger than the ones from 1892-1912. And 150 years is only about 2 lifetimes, or about 6 generations. So by the time evolution starts having any kind of meaningful effect, we will have developed medicine that allows us to circumvent evolution. It took millions of years for our brain to develop above and beyond those of other primates. It will probably take 50-200 years before we can make and remake the brain from scratch however we see fit. ---
**Author:** ![truthSeeker2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7cd45c/32.png) [@truthSeeker2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthSeeker2)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-getting-smarter-or-dumber/637289/43 "2012-10-15T03:28:01Z")
little kids these days are exposed to so many computers and console games, tv channels, social networking websites etc that they don’t devote time for building mental skills and their attention spans have become shorter. Most of us grew in a different era so we cant imagine what its like for the kids. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-getting-smarter-or-dumber/637289/44 "2012-10-15T04:57:50Z")
> [@truthSeeker2](#): > > little kids these days are exposed to so many computers and console games, tv channels, social networking websites etc that they don’t devote time for building mental skills and their attention spans have become shorter. > Most of us grew in a different era so we cant imagine what its like for the kids. > **[Everything Bad is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture is Actually Making...](https://www.amazon.com/Everything-Bad-Good-You-Actually/dp/1594481946)** > > Everything Bad is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter \[Johnson, Steven\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Everything Bad is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter back in my day we played with a ball in a cup. ---
**Author:** ![Engineer\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9fc29f/32.png) [@Engineer\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engineer_Dude)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-getting-smarter-or-dumber/637289/45 "2012-10-16T14:42:56Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > back in my day we played with a ball in a cup. Oh, no, I didn’t catch the ball in the cup! Oh, wait a minute, it’s okay because the ball is on a string and attached to the cup. ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-getting-smarter-or-dumber/637289/46 "2012-10-17T00:38:27Z")
Translation of most of this thread: “How come all those idiot peasants can get married/have kids and I can’t?” ---
**Author:** ![toysarefun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@toysarefun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toysarefun)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-getting-smarter-or-dumber/637289/47 "2012-10-18T22:10:36Z")
I hear you LC, I hear you, but for some it’s extroversion or social anxiety that keeps them away from other people, i.e. are people inherently good?, not really. i.e. did feminism make women nicer?, smarter, or more powerful, or what does power usually do for anyone? Appendage size, well we chop away at them at birth, others like myself, have little use for it in life, I see it as an expense, or disease catcher, also, or i.e. use it or lose it. Dumber or smarter: Well, take a look at guys like Zuckerberg, an IQ of 160, what does he do?, create a company that rides off girls popularity contest game. I see now we have a TV court show dedicated to women and women clothes only. My answer is does everything being sex and glamour make us any smarter, I would say no, distractions are not making us any smarter. We are still firmly entrenched in the steam age, burning fossil fuels, creating pollution, eating heavy metal through the food chains, increasing our populations, and war machines as fast as we possibly can. No, we are not very bright and becoming less brighter if you asked me. Then again, lol, it’s obvious I’m a pessimist. ---
**Author:** ![R3d\_Anonymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@R3d\_Anonymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R3d_Anonymous)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-getting-smarter-or-dumber/637289/48 "2012-10-20T00:40:16Z")
The only reason we are getting smarter is because we still have a minority that cares about school, gpa, education, sciences, mathematics, and college. We’re still able to maintain our advancement in knowledge. But that’s only because of this minority. Most of the people are just, just… no. I see people with 2.7 gpa’s being satisfied. Or as a matter of fact, even gpa’s in the low 2’s. People are getting huge rewards (one kid got a flatscreen TV, and a PS3 in their room) for getting A-'s, while my parents would be a little upset and tell me to try harder (as would most Asian parents). But have you noticed how Asians are ahead by a long shot. USA ranks low compared to other countries in STEM education. I forget the exact numbers, but I think I heard something like “25/34” in the world. Which is actually quite poor for an “advanced” country. People need to step up their standards. I’m sure anyone can get A’s as long as they don’t get distracted by dating, social pressures, popularity, and other useless labels in school. It’s so pointless. The way I think of it, first of all you’re not actually physically attractive until you’re an adult. There’s no point in dating before 18 because what’s the chance of them being your actual partner. Second, kids are still immature and still have some growing left to do. Third, you actually can’t date. Can you drive? No! Dating is when a guy takes a girl (or opposite, but more than likely the guy takes the girl out) out to a place by himself. And last but most important, it’s a distraction from your education. Think about it this way, you have your adulthood to enjoy “actual” dating. Now, just focus on your studies. My parents weren’t even friends until 21. Social pressures and popularity is pointless because a few years from High School, who is going to care? Exactly, nobody (most likely). I hate how people care so much about that kind of thing. All you need is a few friends to keep you company. That’s it. And if you really are interested in a girl, no one stopped you from being her friend. Just make friends with her, and you never know, but if you guys go to the same college, it may turn into something bigger. Strong boy-girl friendships are not discouraged, but boy-girl RELATIONSHIPS are. The reason I went into this whole rant is because I know a kid that goes to a magnet school. And he says that most people get at least low 90’s in that school. And those are classes where every subject is accelerated by 2 or 3 years. Why? Because people that go there ACTUALLY care about their education, and violation of the above guidelines is more minimized. Nearly anyone can do it, but not with the way our society is today. So in conclusion, yes Americans are getting smarter, BUT we can do a LOT better. ---
**Author:** ![nion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@nion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nion)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-getting-smarter-or-dumber/637289/49 "2012-10-20T07:22:16Z")
If Facebook is any example… I do tend to see smart people, too. This website being an obvious (and welcome) example. That said, I seem to spend more time marveling at the relative cluelessness of people I run into on and off the internet. I’d like to think of myself as reasonably intelligent, but surely I’m not THAT above-board to account for such a constant and high level of stupid… ---
**Author:** ![truthSeeker2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7cd45c/32.png) [@truthSeeker2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthSeeker2)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-getting-smarter-or-dumber/637289/50 "2012-10-21T08:20:36Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > [Everything Bad is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter: Johnson, Steven: 9781594481949: Amazon.com: Books](http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Bad-Good-You-Actually/dp/1594481946) > > back in my day we played with a ball in a cup. [Twitter and Facebook ‘harming children’s development’](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9620117/Twitter-and-Facebook-harming-childrens-development.html) > [@](#): > > A generation of children risks growing up with obsessive personalities, poor self-control, short attention spans and little empathy because of an addiction to social networking websites such as Twitter, a leading neuroscientist has warned. Young people’s brains are failing to develop properly after being overexposed to the cyber world at an early age, it was claimed. ---
**Author:** ![al27052](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@al27052](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/al27052)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-getting-smarter-or-dumber/637289/51 "2012-10-22T13:01:08Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Go away! Batin’! Best Post Ever. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-getting-smarter-or-dumber/637289/52 "2012-10-24T13:05:48Z")
People are not necessarily getting dumber, but since about 1960 there has been a significant weakening of the moral/religious/authoritarian limits on the freedoms of dumb people. So today, it’s the norm to see people fathering children they have no intention of taking care of, racking up huge debts to pay for consumer goods, and posting their dumb opinions on the internet for millions of other dumb people to enjoy. I’m talking about the industrialized West here. The situation is very different elsewhere. If you believe like I do that people should generally be free even if it means they might harm themselves, the only hope is that most of these newly free dumb people will soon learn from their mistakes and smarten up. But I’m not holding my breath. ---
**Author:** ![Doughbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Doughbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doughbag)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-getting-smarter-or-dumber/637289/53 "2012-10-24T17:32:40Z")
There is just more people these days… which also means: more dumb people [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-getting-smarter-or-dumber/637289.md?page=2)