Theory: Mankind is Growing Stupid

IQ tests are not a way of measuring intelligence. They measure knowledge and recall rates. Nothing more. Intelligence is the ability to adapt knowledge. Education is information taught. Wisdom is information learned.

Let's use fire as a basic example: Being taught how to build a fire is education. Building your own fire is using knowledge. Not sticking your own hand in the fire after seeing someone else get burned is wisdom. Using fire as a tool to make a burnout canoe is intelligence. Showing that to someone else is education. And the cycle continues. Therefore a test question of how to build a fire or a burnout canoe is a test of knowledge if the concept already exists. A true test of intelligence would have you try to answer questions with no defined answers such as a working anti-gravity device.

Now not to say that all inventions come from intelligence, some things are discovered on accident like Silly Putty while trying to develop a synthetic rubber.

Do you honestly think that those people who appear on Maury Povich, or those sorts of programs on the TV are the rule rather than the exception? Wow...and I thought I was pessimistic.

Yes, working with the public as I do, I'm a sort of night manager sort of not (don't ask me to explain, it complicated) at a all night grocery store. I see any number of microcephalic idiots roaming around without a keeper, so yes there are any number of them out there. Some of them are well educated, some not so much. Education as a barometer of intelligence is, I still submit, not an accurate barometer of intelligence.

I think think the correct term is more dumberer.

Mankind isnt growing stupider, but they are getting more ignorant and 'im allright jack.'

[edit on 24-4-2007 by rustiswordz]

My first impression is, does the Title of this thread underscore the original poster being 100% on the money?

OR has it just become so plausible in society that grammatical anamolies are not only accepted, but condoned.

Does this equal "stupider"? "Lazyer"? "indifferenter"?

While more stupid may be an easy answer to how you may feel, I tend to believe that indifference toward what was classically dubbed as being intelligent has taken a back seat to individual convenience. Ie., the title of your thread...I'm quite certain it was more convenient for you to use stupider although I'm also certain you know full well that "stupider" is grammatically incorrect.

Just my $.02

BlueRidge and Nightstalker ... absolutely. The welfare state gets in the way of the natural selection process. People ARE getting dumber. Also, many of the so-called 'smart people' aren't the brightest bulbs on the tree either.



Yep. I'm sure those of us who agree with the OP will be sneered at .. but the truth is the truth, even if it is ugly.

Just in case it hasn’t been mentioned:

There are more gifted students in China than total students in the USA.

I would definitely say that the USA is becoming less educated with each generation and it's mainly due to laziness and the fact that we take care of people that don't want to advance in life. While welfare is great for legitimate claims there are a ridiculous number of people that just use it so they don't have to work. These are also the people that are having the most kids and these kids continue the trend by following the culture in their homes. Hence more drop outs.

Just a footnote:

Yes, "mankind is getting stupider" is not the best use of grammatical structure but it is not wrong.

I think it's simply a matter of application of knowledge.

Take two people extremely knowledgeable/intelligent in a broad range of topics... one will be more apt to apply this knowledge to problem solving tasks. Does this make the other relatively dumb?

Unfortunately this is a subjective arguement at it's core, but I understand what the OP was getting at.

I think a big part of the problem is that (like posted so many times above) there are only so many ways knowledge of Anna Nichole or Britney Spears can help you survive if stranded on an deserted island

The problem seems to be what information we're exposed to that is retained. Garbage in = garbage out. I believe the media is responsible for dumbing "us" down with irrelevant knowledge. So while we may now-adays generally know lots of "stuff", it's mostly irrelevant crap.

All I can say is, people who are easily offended, should be offended more often. Really, you're going to get offended by a statement that is empirically obvious? Look around you people. We are living in a world that has an INTELLECTUAL deficiency. People would rather watch a program on A&E about some drugged out celebrity than they would to watch something on the History or National Geographic channels. That doesn't speak very highly of the intellectualism in today's world.

[edit on 24-4-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

The average IQ is indeed between 85-100.

Yup, getting dumberer. Most stupidest? You know what I mean.

I work in a public school district. It terrifies me that these are the people that will be in charge when I'm in my dotage, depending on some of them for care. As a group, these people appear to be willfully dumb....not necessarily incapable of grasping concepts, simply unwilling to put forth the effort to consider them.

Certainly. As I stated earlier, this fact is what makes it disgraceful. They certainly can't use access as an excuse for their lack of intellectualism. It's really a sad thing to witness.

[edit on 24-4-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

Technology, humanity and medicines are one reason. We find new medicines and we take care of everyone. We get more and more disconnected from nature as a whole, especially in the way nature WORKS.

What i mean is, nature works with one simple rule. "Survival of the fittest". We humans have started dodging this rule, by simply taking care of everyone. Where nature would have stepped in, and gotten rid of the stupider people by natural selection, as with any organism that bears a weakness, we humans fight against this by helping the weak ones out, so they can live on, and have more stupid weak babies. I know it sounds rude and harsh, but its reality.

This brings some irony to the table: Love has gotten us stupider ?

Do you think the motivation was "love" or money? I tend to think it was the latter rather the former. Maybe I am pessimistic, but that is how I see it.

You're right about stupid people breeding like rabbits. But don't worry, there are lots of smart people ready to make them obey !!!! hahahaha

But, anyway, education IS different from being an asshole or a super-smart guy/girl .

think about that

Actually humankind is getting smarter because of easier access to knowledge through libraries and internet. But the certain "developed" societies are getting dumber because the people choose to be stupid.

So I think it's more a choice thing than the breeding habits of people with lower degree of formal education.

Food for thought. Let's check out the word Eugenics

[edit on 24-4-2007 by yanchek]

You would think that,yes, However, I don't think that is empirically the case. As a matter of fact, it's quite obvious by observation and listening to some of the mundane things that people talk about, the opposite is true.

[edit on 24-4-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

I wish it were possible to merge threads somehow. I started this thread as a different user.

I'll paraphrase what I said in the op of that thread; I often walk away from encounters with people and think "How did you survive childhood?

Adjective: stupid (stupider,stupidest) st(y)oopid

1. Lacking or marked by lack of intellectual acuity

2. In a state of mental numbness especially as resulting from shock
"lay semiconscious, stupid by the blow"; "was stupid from fatigue"
- dazed, stunned, stupefied

3. Lacking intelligence
- unintelligent

Noun: stupid st(y)oopid

1. A person who is not very bright
"The economy, stupid!"

www.wordwebonline.com...

[edit on 24-4-2007 by BlueRidge]

As stated before, stupider is not grammatically incorrect. It is however a poor choice.

In comparisons of countries, the rest of the world is getting better while the USA continues to drop. It used to be humiliating to fail or drop out of school (with the exception of the great depression). Now dropping out is no big deal and these people actually expect to be supported.

We are no longer the brightest of the bright and our top students would be just average in China.