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]

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.