Are people getting stupider?

Americans live in the most medicated country in the world. No wonder!

U.S. prescriptions have swelled by two-thirds over the past decade to 3.5-billion yearly.

About 130-million Americans - many far healthier than the Heckmans - swallow, inject, inhale, infuse, spray and pat on prescribed medication every month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates. Americans buy much more medicine per person than any other country.

The number of prescriptions has risen by two-thirds over the past decade to 3.5-billion yearly, according to IMS Health, a pharmaceutical consulting company. Americans devour even more nonprescription drugs, polling suggests.

The pharmaceutical industry served up more than $250-billion worth of sales last year, the vast majority in prescriptions, according to industry consultants. That roughly equaled sales at all the country's gasoline stations put together, or an $850 pharmaceutical fillup for every American.

Edit to add link

[edit on 11/6/2009 by Iamonlyhuman]

reply to post by In nothing we trust


But it is so much easier to control sheep and people that are satisfied with their 9-5 jobs and weekend NFL.
That's all the world in existence to them. Their attention span outside of anything other than that is a decayed corpse unless something tragic or life altering happens.

Sheeple are much more satisfied with comfort than with truth or meaning. They purposely avoid core issues by putting immense focus on trivial pursuits. God forbid we might have to think on a deeper level and ultimately conclude that life isn't all about my new convertible and 670" LCD T.V.

Something worth reading on the subject is The Deliberate Dumbing Down Of America

Just adding to the subject, another case in stupidity is this.

Fruit loops lady

Seeing things like this really shows how some people lack not just common sense, but any sense.

This is something I've often wondered about, as well. I'm in no way the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I'm smart enough to know that I could be smarter if I really worked at it. I read a lot--always have--and I can't tell you the number of times I've had people look at me like I'm the featured attraction in a traveling freakshow because I'm sitting quietly with a book. Reading? You're reading a book? What's wrong with you?

I think that a lot of people just don't want to think about anything more strenuous than what's on TV later that night. They don't want to stretch their minds far enough to consider the possibility of anything out of the ordinary. It's easier to just sit back and have everything spoon-fed to them without having to trouble themselves with actually *thinking*. That's why, when you say anything to them dealing with the unusual, their first reaction is an eye-roll and a smug "That's ridiculous."

Vanity, is the cornerstone of ignorance.

It is not the people that are becoming stupid.
It's the stupid becoming the people.
I know you are wondering, "what the hell is this guy talking about"?
I am talking about the entity of society.
Consider the collective reasoning and motives of a society.
Just like a "ghost in the machine" the society itself takes on a life of it's own.
There are rules to every society, and those rules are followed, and those who do not follow are labeled outcasts, and more or less, rejected outright. Intelligence of the individual becomes immaterial and unnecessary for the functioning of a society.
As the motives of a society focus more on monetary value, corruption and greed, the dumbing down of the rest of the values is inevitable, including the enforcement structure.
As enforcers are more and more removed from responsibility, the less they have to think on their own. Following orders, becomes the rule.
Individual decisions are removed, and the machine begins to turn.
These machines become within themselves, micro realities and the entity known as a society.
So as the people follow the group dynamic, they instinctively go with the flow, to avoid as much confrontation as possible.
This is what makes us appear stupid. We follow and do not question where we are going and why.
Higher political agendas tend to set the precedent, and of course, the individuals follow suit.
So, to understand the dynamic of the world in which we live, we need to understand the dynamic of the most influential societal structure.
As it turns out, that very structure is, at this very moment, collapsing around us.
The reasons are clear, if you simply think about it.
In a society with so much corruption, the rules begin to break down.
This happens when there is no one to make the decisions necessary to keep things going, or that the machine becomes so complex, that and football team of astrophysicists cannot figure it out.
We become victims of our own convenience.
As the walls come crashing down, the reality sets in, and the individual becomes aware of the part that they play in that very society.
As awareness occurs more and more often, individuals must make decisions regarding their newly rediscovered responsibilities and those decisions may not always be correct.
How can everyone know what to do, when the individuals are not used to thinking on their own?
So there we have it.
Just my opinion.
*~




[edit on 11/6/2009 by reticledc]

reply to post by Iamonlyhuman


I'd have to say... the American medical system like everything else stinks if your poor, is fantastic if your well off

my doc is a dope pimp... if I want to affect a mood or feeling or state I need 2 things...

The knowledge to prescribe myself...

and the money to do so

Now, if your on some system like Obamas Mandatory health care soon to be... well then you and I are both screwed... I know misery often times loves company, but the thread in here about the kid FORCED to have chemo... that scares the crud out of me...

But scrips....

It's all how you use it

complete control of your physiology at will is not, in the end a bad thing.... Only if it's forced on you or you don't have the proper access to what's available...

Great day and age... being able to control the body, like all innovations, when new, the controllers try to control it... but in the long run, that we use scrips, when done right is no negative

reply to post by mopusvindictus


I don't agree. I think that we overuse prescription and OTC drugs. Doctors feel like they have to prescribe something almost everytime you go into the office or you'll feel cheated or something.

I know for a fact that anti-depressants are over prescribed as well as ADHD medications. Seriously, think about all the "stuff" we put into our bodies (and our brains). How could they not cause a dumbing down??

reply to post by reticledc

Holy Moly feller! Carefull, you bout summed up the whole
kit -n- kabbodle right there in one post!
Save some for the next guy!
Kidding of course! Great stuff guys! I'm entertained and laughing.
Deep stuff too. I like the vanity idea but I also agree,
its just alot easier to let others do our thinking for us.
They do and already make everything anyway!
I think "spoon-fed" is very appropriate!~
What we are saying is we take no responsibility for any of it,
even though we demand all of it! Brilliant!



[edit on 11-6-2009 by dodadoom]

what are you stupid? Can't realize that people are being systematically dumbed down?

JK =D, people are getting more stupid due to the technological distractions of modern day.

There is quite the lack of critical thinking not being used now a days that for sure.