Study: People Are Getting Dumber
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I’ve been teaching for a lot of years, and each year I notice the latest crop doesn’t always seem quite as bright as the last crop, which wasn’t as bright as those that came before them.
At first I thought it was just a culture thing, you know, forget reading books; Facebook, Twitter, and etc., are a lot more fun, and hey it’s not like it isn’t “reading.” So, I was underwhelmed but alarmed to learn there might be a little more than culture deficits at work here, after all did you follow the last election cycle? Those Tea Baggers just aren’t the brightest stars in the sky.
Here’s the story summary:
(Newser) Talk about optimism: A genetics professor in California argues that human beings have been dumbing down for thousands of years and will only grow dimmer down the road, the Independent reports. We probably peaked as hunter-gatherers, who survived by their wits, and saw a decline in natural selection of the intellect as we shifted to agricultural and city life, argues Gerald Crabtree of Stanford University. Then we just got dumber as genes mutated with each generation. (His paper is in two parts, here and here.)
“I would wager that if an average citizen from Athens of 1000BC were to appear suddenly among us, he or she would be among the brightest and most intellectually alive of our colleagues and companions,” writes Crabtree. “Furthermore, I would guess that he or she would be among the most emotionally stable of our friends and colleagues.” But not all are convinced: “At first sight this is a classic case of Arts Faculty science,” says a geneticist in London. “Never mind the hypothesis, give me the data, and there aren’t any.”
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I suspect you may all be right although many of those nations, such as the ones Mr. Smith noted, China, India, South Korea, etc. have huge, if not majority populations that are barely literate. Many of them provide a low cost work force while others farm small family type farms. India and China are still more imitators than inventors spending much time and resources copying items that originate in the Western world. The same can be said for much of Central and South America and Mexico with the exception Brazil which has made major advancements in fuel conversion but still has a large poor, illiterate population. This country has allowed itself to grow dumb because, I believe, we have minimized the importance of learning and focused on testing for grade levels. Americans have becomes accustomed to having information spoon fed to them and have grown lazy in regard to actually thinking and doing research to learn.
Bill, I have to agree with much of what you say. While China, for example, is imitating much of other technologies, they are working hard to advance their own. Look at their space program. Right now, it is the most dynamic in the world, even though they do have considerable catching up to do.
As far as Brazil, I am in a fortunate position, having lived there for nearly ten years. I have seen the effort they are investing in education and economics. One example is the Bolsa Familia (family purse) which is a type of welfare with strings attached. One of the most important is that to receive this aid, families with children must keep them in school.
In the time I have been here, there have been large advances in a rising middle class. Even some of the most economically disadvantaged have come a long way. For example, nearly everyone has a cell phone. Even the flanalinas that help you park your car (parking is still a major problem in many areas) will have a cell phone. Although some of these free-lance people are not doing too badly. They can easily make $50 a day or more. That’s with no education, training, or special abilities. I may take up an orange rag of my own someday. 😀
You live in a fascinating place James. I have traveled Europe and lived in several European countries, e.g. Germany, Italy, the UK, and I also spent a short period of time in SE Asia. I’ve never been to South America, but hope to visit one day.
Come on down. The weather here is always fine. I have a couple of videos about where I live at http://www.minus.com/slrman that gives an idea about parts of it.
BTW, I went to the movies last night and my ticket was $3.75 and a popcorn and diet coke was $6. The economics of movies is the same here as the USA.
Bill writes:
“Americans have becomes accustomed to having information spoon fed to them and have grown lazy in regard to actually thinking and doing research to learn.”
That’s in a nutshell Bill. Agreed. Every word of your post.
Yeah Mike, some students have to put up with profs that drag themselves into class, prop their feet up and ask the students, “I don’t know, what do you think about it”? Students hate lazy teachers that make them think. 🙂
Bill, I agree with your reply but it’s probably more than just the focus on testing for grades. It’s HOW teachers teach, how parents do parenting and how employers employ. No one wants to talk, listen and help others learn from things that happen right in front of their eyes. Imagine doing some Socratic teaching…oh, that IS how you teach. Your students are lucky.
True Carol, I do. That’s the way I was taught and now I am taking it out on my students. 🙂 🙂
Good!
As George Carlin once said, “Half the people you know are really dumb and the other half are dumber than you think.” (something like that) The older I get, the more I realize he was right.
George was right about so much. I have wondered if he was really human or maybe a visiting alien from a Douglas Adams book.
Now that’s funny. Rick! And the third half are dumber than we are 🙂
I suspect this is an American Phenomena. The “Dumbing down of America” does seem to be proceeding well. True, there are still great accomplishments by the few, but generally, I see the media discarding traditional things such as spelling, grammar, editing, and even basic fact checking in favor of sensationalism, slogans, and mindless rhetoric.
I feel a lot of this is, at least subliminally, encouraged by the religious reich and the neo-cons who pander to them. After all, education, independent thinking, and rational reasoning are fatal to both groups.
Think about the rapidly advancing nations such as China and India. With far fewer resources, both will soon match or surpass the USA in technology and economic progress. They can’t do this by encouraging ignorance.
Like Peter, I’ve seen the “dumbing down of America” first hand. Secondly, one only has to watch Jay Leno’s skit where he walks about asking people general questions like: “Who is the president of the United States,” to understand how uninformed we are.
I agree but I strongly suspect Jay Leno’s people edit those interviews to leave only the amazingly ignorant for the show. Not that I think that would be a terribly difficult task. 😀
Not really, people really are that stupid. I know I have some friends like that, couldn’t even tell you where America was on a map. It is beyond shameful when they are that ignorant.
That’s what I meant. Finding people that are actually that ignorant would not be a difficult task. Nor would editing out those that could actually answer simple questions take very long. How many could there be? Two or three?
LOL, I keep looking for them when I go to Los Angeles to show them that not all young people are morons. Never seem to be at the right spot at the right time.