Do you think people are getting dumber?
Had a person ask me the other day “If my check oil light is blinking, what should i do?”.
Ive noticed these type of questions come along quite often now a days. Does anyone else see this as reason for concern?
(BTW my answer was “you should make sure all your tires have the proper air pressure in them.” I couldnt resist)
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yeah sometimes I’m just amazed of what some people say I don’t have any examples right now but I’ve been there
Yes. The movie Idiocracy will become a reality one day.
the day i see someone watering plants with Gatorade is the day i sleep with a shotgun close at hand
Yes – but then I stop by Fluther and realize I was mistaken.
@cprevite you sir need to open your eyes….. ive seen some pretty bone headed questions on here…. such as “how do i stop getting speeding tickets”
My husband loves to throw people for a loop after the computer has calculated his change and then give them the pennies to make it an even quarter or dollar. He’s mean.
@Tink1113 Music to my ears
Anyway, yes. I’ve been noticing less and less inspired, thoughtful conversations occurring around me. and I’ve been getting out a lot more lately. All I hear are repeated conversations over uninteresting topics like celebrity crap. Which is my I find most of Fluther so very refreshing.
I think we are heading in a direction where people are using different sources for information. When I was a kid and we were lost we stopped at the gas station for directions. Now it is all GPS and Mapquest.
But I think people are reading and writing more now. And they are exposed to new ideas. I’m going to use tink1113 as a example again. Her spelling and grammar has improved so much since she joined here. And even her thoughts are a bit more complex.
I think technology is making her smarter.
@johnpowell Aww chucks shucks ^_^
corrected for john
And yes technology is making me smarter.
Maybe you’re just getting smarter. Or worse…ignorant.
In any case, how much you know vs other people shouldn’‘t translate to elitism or discrimination.
It could very well be you’re opportunity to teach (show off) or learn (be schooled) about certain topics, depending on where you’re coming from.
Besides, one can’t be exceptional in a world were everybody already is.
I think the IQ gap is widening, because the gap between good and parenting is also widening.
I think in recent times, unintelligence has been valued more than intelligence has been. Case in point: the number of new reality TV shows versus new Discovery shows. I do hope this changes though, as intelligence is our only way to the future, riding a wave of stupidity will leave us very much stranded.
I think the ring and little fingers will be lost to evolution. Als I am noticing kids are not copying notes from the board (a good way to imprint them in the memory) they just take pictures of the board with there phones
I gotta tell ya, maybe the person who asked about the “check oil light” wasn’t all that stupid? Maybe I might be more willing to give someone the benefit of the doubt but we don’t know what she was thinking. She could be thinking, “I know what to do when the light goes on but not if it’s blinking”, or she wanted to know if that meant she should pull over and do it immediately as compared to next time she went for gas? Maybe it’s her first car? Maybe her last car had a steady light? Just because you know what to do doesn’t mean she’s familiar with it. I’m sure there are things that are common knowledge to HER that you and I don’t have a CLUE about. I’d hardly equate that with the world getting dumber. Maybe it’s just that more people seem to think they’re smarter then everyone else?
BTW, I really DO think you should have resisted telling her the solution is related to her tires.
I think as technology moves quickly and the world is a smaller place, seemingly more complex, it becomes more obvious that many people cannot keep up with or understand some the complexities. Overall, I don’t think we are getting dumber, there have always been lots of dumb people.
Now “Tech Support”? That’s a different story.
I just read your question about helping yourself. Someone with your problems who doesn’t want to get the help he needs? Now THAT’s dumb!
I don’t think you can make a generalization about whether people are getting stupider or smarter based on the kinds of questions appearing on fluther. You might say that people are asking a broader range of questions, or that new people don’t understand what fluther is about, or that younger people are participating on fluther. Some or all of these may be true, but even these things are not known for sure.
In any case, you don’t know what people were like before we had question sites. Maybe everyone had questions they didn’t ask because they were afraid it would make them look stupid? While I’m sure you’ve never not asked a question for that reason, there are many people who hold back questions for that reason. On fluther, with the anonymity it provides, you can ask anything you want, and not worry that it will affect your real world reputation.
In any case, I don’t think people are getting dumber. IQ scores go up about 20 points per generation (requiring a recalibration of the scores). People learn more at an earlier age than ever before. Knowledge is more easily available than ever before, and it is getting easier and easier to find out what you want to know, thanks to the internet and sites like fluther. This cannot help but make people smarter. So I am not at all concerned about the kinds of questions being asked here. I, at least, am smart enough to know how to use my “remove” button.
I would rather say, more creative with their ignorance.
XKCD would like a word with you.
I for one am not going to believe average intelligence is decreasing until I see some very convincing statistics. Anecdotes of people being stupid tell us nothing.
@Fyrius :: It is like saying global warming is bullshit because it is cold today.
@galileogirl – Well, maybe computer game junkies will grow a sixth finger.
The mean IQ is well above average.
For uneducated, or purposely ignorant people, yes. It shocks me sometimes. But the intelligent people get more intelligent—perhaps because they seek out knowledge.
Common sense is mostly dead at this point though.
It might seem like people are gettin dumber, but don’t you think that if you are in a job that provides solutions to other people’s problems, you’re going to come across some pretty stupid problems eventually? About common sense, I think it’s just much more obvious when one person obviously lacks it than when many more people actually do have it. You’re much more likely to hear about the one idiot who didn’t pay attention to the ‘do not pet the alligators’ sign than the thousands to do, right?
Just that we need signs like ‘do not pet the alligators’ amuses my husband, he is always quick to point out warnings on products and wonders what idiot actually made the mistake previously that they now need a warnng for it. A gentlemen who used to work for me said he was going to write a book called “Push Pull” because he was always entertained by people would try to open the door of a store, pull and pull and pull, when right in front of them it says push.
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I think our reliance on machines and technology to serve information up as quickly as possible has made us rely less and less on our own thinking capabilities. For example, quick mental math is very under-valued while calculators are in abundance. I also think that information comes and goes so quickly that it’s difficult to retain much. If a computer can remember something so easily, why should I bother?
@n8unit
Have they actually invented anything that can do our thinking for us, too, then?
Correlations between calculating skills and calculator availability or between memory capacity and internet use are conceivable enough, but I don’t think there exists any machine that would affect our thinking capabilities in the same way.
“Thinking” here being used in the sense of reasoning, figuring out solutions to problems, evaluating ideas, making decisions, inhibiting stupid actions.
@Fyrius I’m a control systems engineer, so my job is all about trying to make automated machines that think for humans.
I think that with lack of use, the brain atrophies like a muscle. My grandmother is not as sharp as she used to be, and it’s because she is alone in her apartment and doesn’t have much to think about. So if machines do our problem solving for us I think we will rely on them and not exercise our thinking potential.
@n8unit
Hm.
Well, it’s definitely true that the brain is like any other kind of living tissue, in adapting itself to its use. If you have reasons to believe some machines make thinking unnecessary, I agree with the rest.
As for your grandmother, I would hesitate to attribute her losses to a lack of practice. Brains also just get old.
@Quagmire I have nothing more to say to you….. I cannont take anyone seriously who defends the same person that asked me “How do you put a fraction into a calculator”. AND DONT EVEN TRY TO ASK IF IT WAS LIKE (3x – 4)/(2x+5).... it was like 3/7…....
@ratboy….. that was just a completely WRONG statement….. the mean IQ is well above average? as in the Average IQ is above average…. as in the average is above itself? who’s average IQ? In comparison to who? humans over apes? USA over France?
Very good example of look it over, and try again…..
@locoluke its not job related, it was a friend asking me. BTW the light itself says “Check oil”
@jleslie On a sweedish chainsaw “Do not attempt to stop blade with mouth or genitals” lol
@kibaxcheza You are hysterical! LOL. I’ll tell the chainsaw to my husband, he will appreciate it. Maybe @ratboy meant that the mean IQ is well above what is considered normal IQ? Still, very funny.
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@Fyrius Yeah, i got that about 5 min after i posted my response XD I turned off the mower and just stood in awe that i didnt pick up on it…. I think theyre rubbing off on me…
@samanthabarnum – IQ is determined by nature (genes) and nurture. More and more scientists support an interactionist position. Both virtuous and vicious circles are possible. The nurture part is mainly driven by 2 factors
– parenting
– food
The nature part is not only determined by the fixed part of the 46 chromosomes but also by gene expressions (depending on nurture) in the brain. Bad parenting is often linked with bad food as well. And it will make babies, toddlers and children dumber indeed. As I said it seems the IQ gap is widening, because the gap between good and parenting is also widening.
As a side note to my earlier statement of statistical scepticism, I think it goes to show something that seemingly every single person who complains that “most people are dumb” incidentally happens to consider themselves one of the few non-dumb people. I for one have never come across anyone who would conclude that train of thought with an admission that they themselves were part of the great stupid masses. It’s always all the other people.
90% of the population considers themselves among the top 10%.(1)
(1) Percentages retrieved from the International Database of Made-Up Statistics.
@mattbrowne Yeah, you said what I was saying with more effort and probably more wakefulness. :P
yeah not really caring about the science of being smart….. nice try though… you were close
xD Well , i think it depends on the individual ,i don’t think we’re all getting dumber together , i think some people choose not to be smarter xD.
Maybe it’s just people slacking off and now being very open, but , i just really think it depends on the individual and if they decide to use their head or not lol. xD
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