Theory: Mankind is Growing Stupid, page 5
Pages: <<  2    3    4    5    6  >>
ATS Members have flagged this thread 11 times


reply posted on 24-4-2007 @ 07:41 PM by MistahBear
Ok, at this point, I must iterate my original point which was that different people are good and bad at different things, and that a well functioning society requires a diversity in this respect.
But, to add something, IMO, the thing about knowledge vs. Intelligence is pretty valid. The education system, apart from Doctorate and Masters, largely consists of people learning"knowledge" and using this to jump through hoops(exams, papers etc.) set by those who are accepted as being intelligent.
Basically, most people are not taught properly to think for themselves, come to their own conclusions and to be able to evidence these or rationally and logically apply reasoning to them to state their point of view. Ther exists an accepted "corpus of knowledge", albeit expanding, that defines largely in societies view what "intelligence" is.
Intelligence is the ability to question, reason, and also to reject reason when necessary. These are the things IMO that make somebody successful, along with motivation etc.
I`m glad people feel free to put their own POV`s without feeling that they will be branded *ist here.
Also, I am somewhat in concurrence that society promotes a culture of intellectual laziness in many ways, mainly focussed at those who are not "expected" to do any better than be a BabyMachine or Blue Collar worker, for example.
The most creative person in the world is somebody called Tony Buzan, according to the Guiness Book of Records. Who do you think created the test to measure creativity? Yep, you guessed it.


reply posted on 28-4-2007 @ 08:36 PM by BlackGuardXIII
SpeakerofTruth: I can guarantee you, that the 60% of the population that has never read a book, isn't likely to survive, regardless if they "know how to bait a hook" or not.

Originally posted by MistahBear People were making tools 750000 years ago. That`s a long time. Point being, did they need anything better? apparently we now have more leisure time, and will have even more so in the future than ever before...But it`s simply NOT TRUE!! Ask your parents or some old people about this, esp. in relation to all the labour saving devices. We should all be playing golf or whatever 12 hours a day by now and working 8 hours a week, if what we were told and are STILL being told is true about this. Granted, 1% of the popn. probably are, but 2% probably were 200 years ago.
Please tell me my observations are wrong...!?

[edit on 24-4-2007 by MistahBear]

First of all, I would bet that a lot of people who are skilled at fishing are illiterate. In my case, I'd rather learn to fish than to read if basic survival was my goal. If you can't eat, you can't read.
And regarding labour saving devices and their timesaving effectiveness, I agree. Who are some people who you rarely see in a rush, and never hurrying about trying to get everything done in the day? The Amish... isn't it funny how the people who shun technology seem to be able to savour the day, and don't need to scurry around to get by?
Intelligence is over-rated. I prefer a good heart, compassion, and similar traits. Hitler was a genius. But I also agree that, in the west at least, folks are getting less intelligent. Just watch an old 40's movie and listen to the dialogue. People could talk faster, use a wider vocabulary, and just appear sharper than they now do.
It doesn't look good for the future.


reply posted on 29-4-2007 @ 10:41 AM by annestacey
When you consider the poisons that we ingest everyday, it's no surprise that the population is growing stupid. Here is a list of information I've pulled together:

Water fluoridation is prevalent in most cities even though there are no dental or medical benefits derived from the ingestion of fluorosilicic acid. Fluoride is actually a class 2 poison and an EPA-regulated toxic waste chemical. Source (NewsTarget): Fluoride conference reveals fraudulent science behind mass fluoridation; fluoride policy is a public fraud.

A CDC report is also stating that trace amounts of arsenic are entering drinking water by means of the chemicals used in fluoridation.
Source (NewsTarget): Fluoride used in municipal water supplies found contaminated with arsenic

Antidepressant drugs are also now being found in the drinking water. Source (NewsTarget): Antidepressant drugs found in drinking water; pharmaceuticals have now become environmental pollutants

Mercury poisoning has been linked to cardiovascular disease, autism, seizures, mental retardation, hyperactivity, dyslexia and many other nervous system conditions. Some common sources of mercury include dental fillings (dentists call them "silver fillings" to conceal the fact that they're made with about 40% mercury), various vaccines and certain fish contaminated by polluted ocean waters.
Source (NewsTarget): The great thimerosal cover-up: Mercury, vaccines, autism and your child's health

Organophosphates are used extensively in agriculture to keep pests off fruit and vegetable crops, but are hazardous to children's health. Environmental advocates say the chemicals have been linked to neurological and fertility problems, as well as cancer.
Source (NewsTarget): EPA caves to industry pressure, approves continued use of 31 toxic pesticides that harm children

People who have been exposed to pesticides run a 70 percent higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease than people who aren't exposed to pesticides. There is no such thing as a 'safe' level of a toxic pesticide chemical.
Source (NewsTarget): Low-dose pesticide exposure boosts Parkinson's risk by 70 percent

Children exposed to toxic industrial chemicals (mercury, lead, PCBs, toluene and arsenic) during fetal development often show signs of attention deficit disorder, autism, cerebral palsy and developmental delays later in life. When infants nurse, the chemicals are passed to the baby in the breast milk at 100 times the level of the mother's exposure.
Source (NewsTarget): Industrial chemicals causing pandemic of brain disorders in children

Chemicals in personal products: Deodorants contain aluminum that causes Alzheimer's disease, shampoos contain solvents that cause liver toxicity, toothpaste contains non-organic fluoride (causes osteoporosis), mouthwash with aspartame causes brain tumors (the ones using saccharin cause cancer), perfume or cologne contains highly toxic cancer-causing chemicals. Antibacterial soap is made with a potent nerve chemical similar to agent orange. Dishwashing detergent coats our dishes with additional cancer-causing chemicals. The chemical 1,4 DCB is used in room fresheners.
Source (NewsTarget): www.newstarget.com..." target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow">Highly toxic chemicals are found in laundry detergents, dryer sheets, deodorants, perfumes, soaps and other household products

Aspartame is an excitotoxin, that is, a neurotoxic chemical, and it breaks down in your body into both formic acid and formaldehyde. Aspartame can worsen depression in those already suffering from the condition, cause weight gain and insomnia, worsen diabetic control, aggravate multiple sclerosis and other neurological diseases, and causes migraine headaches. By the way... it was Donald Rumsfeld who helped push aspartame through the FDA to get it legalized as a food additive.
Source (NewsTarget): The mass poisoning of humanity: an exploration of human stupidity

MSG (monosodium glutamate) has been associated with reproductive disorders, migraine headaches, permanent damage to the endocrine system leading to obesity and other serious disorders. It is used by food manufacturers as a taste enhancer but is an ingredient known to cause nerve damage by overexciting nerves. This is exactly how MSG enhances the taste of foods: by overexciting the taste buds on your tongue. MSG is also hidden in other ingredients so you don't know it's there. Source (NewsTarget): Food manufacturers hide dangerous ingredients in everyday foods by using confusing terms on the label

Hydrogenated oil promotes cancer, birth defects, cardiovascular disease and many other diseases that ultimately kill people. It also carries an increased risk of a number of degenerative chronic diseases including heart disease, diabetes, birth defects, and cancer.
Source (NewsTarget): The health dangers of trans fats have been known for decades, yet food companies still poison customers with hydrogenated oils

Nitrosamines are Cancer-causing compounds that are so toxic to biological systems that they are actually used to give lab rats cancer in laboratory tests. Yet this ingredient (listed as sodium nitrate) carries absolutely no warning on food labels. Look for sodium nitrate on bacon, ham, pepperoni, and other packaged meat products.
Source (NewsTarget): Food manufacturers hide dangerous ingredients in everyday foods by using confusing terms on the label

And what happens when you mix all that stuff together in your body? That research is only just beginning, but it has been found that mixing MSG, aspartame and these two food colorings causes neurological damage. You can get that combination by drinking a Diet Pepsi and eating a bag of Doritos.
Source (NewsTarget): Interview with Randall Fitzgerald, author of The Hundred-Year Lie, on the prevalence of toxic chemicals

[edit on 29-4-2007 by annestacey]


reply posted on 29-4-2007 @ 11:47 AM by watapi
We need to know what exactly is "intelligence". A person can only "think" or "reason" from the huge library of data he has (knowingly and un-knowingly) stored in his memory. No-one can "think" outside this.

A person is considered "intelligent" when he has (a) stored a significant amount of data in his memory and (b) when he is able to retrieve this data quickly whenever needed. Such a person would have solutions to problems, be able to take right decisions and therefore be useful to society in general.

Another important point to note is the duration or length of "resident time" (for buffering the data received) that he has in his brain at his disposal.

We all carry a certain length of "time" in our brains which helps
us to understand what we perceive - read, hear, or see. I use the term "resident-time" for want of a better one!

You might have noticed that my writing is split into sentences, none of them exceeding five or six seconds of normal reading time. If I were to write what I have written so far as one long sentence, it would have been difficult to understand in one go. Even when we speak, there are pauses (like the commas in writing) which enable the listener to understand what is being said. Just imagine a continuous two minutes' speech without a pause - it may sound like gibberish!

Without this resident-time, we would not be able to enjoy music or carry on conversation. If we read a sentence, we will be left only with the last word in the sentence as the rest of the sentence would not "register" in the brain. Music would be some intermittent cacophony. It is the resident
(buffer) time that lets us connect one word to another to make a sentence, and one beat to the next to be able to enjoy music.

We are all born with a "default" resident-time of a couple of seconds or so but as the brain development takes place, say up to an age of six years - this resident time expands and if there is no external aid, the expansion will also be default of say, four or five seconds.

But, if parents spend time, and talk to the children, read bedtime stories - and fairy tales, the children will need to connect one sentence to another, and the beginning of the story with the ending, to be able to understand, enjoy and remember the whole story. You will also note bedtime stories are always short stories - with short sentences. once upon a time, there was a king.....

Such children develop a lengthier resident-time than the less fortunate ones; however it may seem that the best resident time will not exceed twelve or fifteen seconds, at the most. Even geniuses can boast of only so much.

That's the reason why in all literature, no sentence exceeds eight or ten seconds of normal reading time, and all speech is broken up into sentences lasting under ten seconds each.

So now, an "intelligent" person is one who has (a) stored a significant amount of data in his memory (b) the longest possible resident time, enabling him to retrieve data on demand, and use more of the data available for reasoning things out efficiently.

Animals and children seem to possess very short resident-time, that's why they cannot understand long-winded instructions, but quickly respond to short commands like "come", "sit", "eat", "wait" etc. Likewise, an adult with a fully developed brain but with the "default" resident time would not be able to understand much of what is said, and would not be able to reason things out efficiently. We refer to animals as "dumb" and the same term is used to mean "stupid" referring to people.

"Educated" people need not be "intelligent" - they are only "literate" whereas an "un-educated" person can be "intelligent" as explained above.

Ganesh
WATAPI


reply posted on 29-4-2007 @ 12:41 PM by Patriot36
I agree with this post 100% and joke around with co-workers
that the U.S. is becoming a nation of idiots.

I work customer service/support for a cable company and
have a few real world examples of idiocracy to share.

Customer : It aint working.
Me : What isnt working ?
Customer : I dont know.


2nd example

Customer : I got the ghosts on my tv.
Me : What do you mean ?
Customer : I got the ghosts on my tv, like the movie polderguyst (they actually spelled it for me)
Me : You mean you have static on your tv ? (thinking to myself... You mean you have green misty hands coming from your tv ? you dont need to call me you need ghostbusters)
Customer : Yea static, thats it.
Me : Ok go to the front of your tv and make sure its on channel 3
to get the cable picture through.
Customer : How do i do that?
Me: press the channel button on your tv and set it back
to channel 3. (getting frustrated now)
Customer: You want me to do that with my hands?

3rd example

Customer : my cable isnt working.
Me : what problems are you seeing?
Customer : I got the ants on my cable box.
Me: What do you mean by that?
Customer : There's 4 green ants on my cable box.(when a customer is
delinquent on there bill or the box is not connected it will
display 4 dashes on the box, this customer was not delinquent
Me : Ok lets check some wires on the back of your cable
box, can you find the cable wire coming in from your
wall in this room and tell me where it's connected to?
Customer : What wall?


I weep for the future of this planet.....


reply posted on 29-4-2007 @ 07:03 PM by hippichick
One thing that people seem to ignore is "beautiism". Everyone wants to cohabit with "beautiful" people. Beautiism is sending western humanity down the dumb path.

Due to the long time scale of human generations and the rarity of isolated populations who employed selective marriage, studies into the relative intellects of human population pockets is rather rare. There is, however, one study into three populations who used marriage selection processes based on certain human characteristics rather than the "scattergun" approach used by "enlightened" societies.

I won't mention the groups because they are based on racial/ethnic/religious/geographic lines and facists could use the study as a basis for their filthy propaganda. Two of the groups selectively married based on intellect/acumen/compatibility but the third selectively married on a physical/beauty basis. All three groups practised selective breeding over a period of about 6,000 years.
I know that it is a rather small study but the two groups who selected using intellectual criteria had a mean intellect above that of the world as a whole. The group which used physical attributes for selection had a mean intellect below that of the world as a whole. I'm not saying that all "beautiful" people are dumb but this one study on one population pocket shows lower than average intellect.
I know that such a small study is, by no means, definitive, but it suggests that selective breeding, based on certain criteria, can raise the average intellect of humanity while breeding based on other criteria (absence of intellectual selection characteristics) has a negative intellectual outcome. The western world's preference for "beautiful" partners, rather than "smart" partners suggests that, over time, western humans, as a sub-species, will become dumber. Of course, if you can get a partner who is both smart and beautiful, you're on a winner.

If we should ever want to breed "super-intellects" we need to identify those human mutants whose genes put them above the statistical maximum and breed them together. Some of their off-spring will possess the parental intellect. This selective breeding is well outside the currently accepted breeding criteria for humans and will, illogically, not happen.

The western world has become obsessed with "beauty" to its detriment. It is no wonder that the marital breakdown rate is at an all-time high. People get together on the basis of physical attraction and then learn that long-term compatibility is an intellectual process.
Tall men are six times more successful at obtaining top jobs than shorties of equivalent, or even superior, skills and experience because western society perceives tall men as more beautiful. This discriminates against a huge number of highly capable men and denies society the best services of a huge intellectual resource.
A study where the same woman applied for multiple jobs across the USA had some interesting results. She included a photograph with each application. Half the photographs were of her as a blonde, the rest as a brunette. She was more successful at getting interviews for human-interfacing jobs as a blonde because bosses wanted a "pretty" person and they perceive blonde-ness as being more beautiful. For intellectually-based jobs, she was more successful when portrayed as a brunette because bosses associate intelligence with dark-haired women. There's a clue girls; if you want a job in the "engine-room" of a company, get that brunette rinse before interview.


But beautiism is but half the story. Beautiism will, in time, dumb down humanity. For speed in dumbing down we need to look at all the aids, both mechanical and electronic, that flood our society. No one thinks anymore, a machine does it for us. While our organic intellect hasn't changed, our working intellect has.


reply posted on 30-4-2007 @ 12:11 PM by orangetom1999
I for one do think that NGC's post smacks of thinly veiled elitism. It just does not look so in the surface. However...NGC is entitled to their opinion and to voice it.

I too am self educated. I am not particularly impressed with mental giants. Nor am I impressed with ignorance...no matter who is carrying it out or who is its victim.

As to being a caring human..I will choose about to whom and or what I care. I do not accept the standards on this concept so often foisted on me by others. I am not intrested in what the world outside my doors thinks should be my standard for caring. Most of the world can get lost in this arena. I will make up my own mind..good times or bad.

I do agree with NGC on one thing ...and that is that many of us are a few fries short of a Happy Meal. I choose as much as possible not to frequent such a buisness extablishment. When I say short ..I also mean the intelligent peoples.

I have the opportunity of working with some engineers in my profession. I have learned you must closely watch them. Some of them are not tightly wrapped. THey too can get you killed or injured if you have no concept of what you are about in this occupation. Dont ever give some of these guys a wrench...they need to stick with a calculator or slide rule. Give them a wrench and some of these intelligent types will get you hurt or killed.

My nightmare..dream or scenerio is to be stuck on a deserted Isle with this type of engineers and others who know mostly consumption rates and video games. THe other nightmare group in this dream is those who have survived mostly on beauty skills...as hippychick so aptly states.

I agree also with this part of Hippychicks post. This is merely a survival strategem for many. It is not a new concept but very ancient.
I believe the concept described by Hippychick is that beauty can be deceiving and also a drug. Beauty can deceive us as to real value by putting us on a artificial drug not worth its cost or long term expense. I agree with this assessment.
I would however like to know the source of this information Hippychick is describing in her position on beauty verses intelligence. I would find this an intresting read.
I find that what the world calls beautiful women ..who are not integrated into any real thinking or accomplishment skills..the ability to do work...actually very ugly. I notice this because their maintenance requirements are way out of thier proportion to their actual usefulness to me. I dont have much use for a pretty porcelain statue.
I find that the media caters heavily to this genre..this drug habit. I notice this often in periodical at the check out stands at various buisnesses here...the merchandizing of the beauty drug.

And this is my elitist opinion.

Thanks,
Orangetom



[edit on 30-4-2007 by orangetom1999]
Pages: <<  2    3    4    5    6  >>    ^^TOP^^



WWIII - USS Enterprise, a dying Legend to be the FALSE FLAG !! ??
  Posted 19 days ago with 64 member flags
A Gigantic Pyramid on Ocean Sea Floor in Bermuda Triangle?
  Posted 13 days ago with 45 member flags
"The Internal Working Components of One type of UFO".
  Posted 17 days ago with 37 member flags
The Argument that Fukushima Was Sabotaged
  Posted 14 days ago with 14 member flags
Invasion of Korea underway
  Posted 2 days ago with 10 member flags