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Are humans getting less intelligent?


Still Waters

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Technology does have it's down-sides........ period!

Don't forget, it has a lot more cons :D

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Don't forget, it has a lot more cons :D

Lol..

I'm thankfull I can sit in front of a flash piece of Technology to debate the dumbing down of people because of it..

Otherwise we'd be sending each other smoke signals.. :P

Don't know how that would work over 3000+ miles... <_<

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Knowing how to operate a cell phone: Turn it on, find the correct app, understand what an app is, access the phone book app, locate the person, select them, choose the option to either call or text... these things require more "intelligence," as they are literally solving a problem, than it takes to merely memorize 7 numbers.

We are merely trading the trend of memorizing things with the ABILITY and knowledge how to quickly find them.

I don't know what the factors were that started the Crimean war. But I know how to find a limitless number of papers and peer reviewed articles online, and I can temporarily know all I need to about any topic in less time than it used to take to get in the car and head to the library. Nevermind look up the information AT the library....

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I'm thankfull I can sit in front of a flash piece of Technology to debate the dumbing down of people because of it..

Oh the IRONY lol

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Watching TV also is good for educating you.. Many people ( myself included ) love to watch movies and it has not dumbed us down ... In fact, I am creative, I love to write... Sometimes I am inspired by what DVD's I have watched.. .. TV for so many can make kids lazy, but I do not think it dumb's them down..

Oh? You don't think TV "dumb's" people down?

Tell me more about how smart you are.

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People aren't dumber. They're just less self reliant for their everyday existence.

Oops, that was self contradictory.

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Oh? You don't think TV "dumb's" people down?

Go ahead and explain in your own words, how it dumbs people down? If a kid watches TV all day, it can get him hooked and he becomes lazy... We cannot blame an object on dumbing anyone down.. We blame ourselves

Tell me more about how smart you are.

I'm intelligent enough not to allow TV to 'dumb me down' and blame objects / tools on my own failings

EDIT to add.. People fail when they cannot take responsibility for their own actions ..It is pathetic to blame any object on your own failings

Edited by Beckys_Mom
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Well, for starters, it makes people think "dumb's" is the same as "dumbs" when they're actually saying "dumb is."

You're attempt to blame an object for dumbing people down is weak and a cop out..

Bottom line - You cannot blame mere objects and tools for anyone failing...

Edited by Beckys_Mom
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You're attempt to blame an object for dumbing people down is weak and a cop out..

Bottom line - You cannot blame mere objects and tools for anyone failing...

*Your*

Actually, I can. The television, with its flashing colors and loud noises, is immediately attractive to our brains. It has all the necessary stimuli to completely rip human attentions right out of reality and convince them to sit there, staring, for hours, with drool hanging from their lip. It is designed to do just that.

Not even to mention the effects of stimulation overload and the whole "You are what you eat" situation which applies intellectually as well. You might think that watching a documentary makes you smarter, but unless you're putting a significant amount of brain power into the act of learning, it isn't doing you any good. The learning part of your brain is almost completely shut off while watching television.

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*Your*

Correction, I meant to say - You're attempting to blame an object. I said attempt instead of attempting.... Do not sit and waste my time over a typo, it makes you look desperate and weak to use that to get back at me for not holding your point of view..If you wish to counter my points, then get to the point.. Your odd bit of 'look at me I can correct a mere typo' is pointless

Actually, I can. The television, with its flashing colors and loud noises, is immediately attractive to our brains. It has all the necessary stimuli to completely rip human attentions right out of reality and convince them to sit there, staring, for hours, with drool hanging from their lip. It is designed to do just that.

Only if you allow it.. If you are willing to plant yourself in front of a TV for endless hours a day, then YOU are at fault.. Nothing is forcing you to sit there all day.. YOU decide what YOU do Blaming the television is a cop out for your own laziness... If you really think the bright colors and loud noises will turn you into a drooling slob, then you may fetch your tin foil, wrap it around your head, and chant - The TV People are going to get me, they want my brain !!

I cannot say I have ever sat for hours in front of a TV, I always had other interests. . Yes, I found much of it interesting and informative, but it did not distract me from doing other things .. I am in control of myself and what I do, not a TV or any other form of entertainment

You might think that watching a documentary makes you smarter, but unless you're putting a significant amount of brain power into the act of learning, it isn't doing you any good. The learning part of your brain is almost completely shut off while watching television.

In my own opinion, documentaries do not make you smarter, they do however encourage you to learn more and take interest..

Edited by Beckys_Mom
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A lazy person will use technology simply to make life easier. A smart person will use it to gain greater knowledge. As Beckys mom states its not the tool that is to blame.

We now have more information that we can gather far faster. We still have to asses how valid that information is and apply it to whatever it was being gathered for.

None of this really fits the premise of the article though. All that is stating is that mutations in areas connected to intelligence are more likely to be passed to the next generation. This is more about our social structure in western society. Certain mutations that cause lower intelligence do not stop a person from growing old enough to have children and for those children to survive. It by no means suggests the aptitude of those without those mutations is any less than any previous era but that an accumulation of such will be statistically significant in the future for the average intelligence to be less than in the past. While it states this process is already in progress the dramatic changes are anticipated rather than current. It even goes on to suggest its a situation we may learn ways to avoid.

Edit to add: Many tasks eliminated by technology are more time consuming than they are intellectual or difficult.

Edited by tipsy_munchkin
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Correction, I meant to say - You're attempting to blame an object. I said attempt instead of attempting.... Do not sit and waste my time over a typo, it makes you look desperate and weak to use that to get back at me for not holding your point of view..If you wish to counter my points, then get to the point.. Your odd bit of 'look at me I can correct a mere typo' is pointless

Actually, it's not. You used yourself, and continued to do so, as evidence that TV does not make you dumber. Evidence is open to scrutiny. I am scrutinizing it. If you don't like it, don't use yourself as evidence.

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Actually, it's not. You used yourself, and continued to do so, as evidence that TV does not make you dumber.

I watched TV, it caused me to make a typo or two,so you say I am dumber as a result... *sigh* You cannot judge a persons full intelligence on a mere typo .. If that is what you call evidence, you fail miserably.. Fact of the matter is simple TV cannot dumb a person down, you do that yourself with laziness To blame an object on your own failures, is a dumb excuse, and that is basically what your logic is - A dumb excuse ...Blame the object and not the person

Edited by Beckys_Mom
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I watched TV, it caused me to make a typo or two,so you say I am dumber as a result... *sigh* You cannot judge a persons full intelligence on a mere typo .. If that is what you call evidence, you fail miserably.. Fact of the matter is simple TV cannot dumb a person down, you do that yourself with laziness To blame an object on your own failures, is a dumb excuse, and that is basically what your logic is - A dumb excuse ...Blame the object and not the person

I'm not excusing anyone. If anything, I'm arguing that people should watch less TV and keep their brains from spilling out.

Also, not just judging on your typos. Judging on your speech mannerisms, sentence structure, inability to narrate thoughts, and, in general, anecdotal opinions.

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I'm not excusing anyone.

No?

Oh? You don't think TV "dumb's" people down?

My response

You're attempt to blame an object for dumbing people down is weak and a cop out..

Bottom line - You cannot blame mere objects and tools for anyone failing...

You reply with...

Actually, I can. The television, with its flashing colors and loud noises, is immediately attractive to our brains. It has all the necessary stimuli to completely rip human attentions right out of reality and convince them to sit there, staring, for hours, with drool hanging from their lip. It is designed to do just that.

Seems to me, you like to blame the object for their failings and not themselves That logic alone is a dumb excuse. The people who sit for endless hours watching, have themselves to blame, it's a matter of sheer laziness

There is nothing more to say here, it's going in circles . I no longer hold an interest in anything more you have to add.

Edited by Beckys_Mom
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I'd like to add that I never had interest in anything you ever had to say ^_^

I will be loosing lots of sleep over that

Edited by Beckys_Mom
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Damn it...I was gonna say something along the lines of "ppl aren't getting less smart, yadayada".

But then i read the comments Xetan made and now im forced to review my point..and I think the researchers should add "Ppl are less intelligent and more douchebaggy to cover up their dumbness."

Anyway, I don't think humanity in general is dumbing down, but I do think many are less challenged. Which can lead to a path where you force yourself, perhaps unconciously, to dumb down to cope with existing. Dead end jobs aren't really helpful for example.

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I believe people's intelligence levels are becoming more divided. The drooling ignoramuses are getting dumber as they let technology replace thought, memory and critical thinking. On the other end of the spectrum, people find ways to use technology to further intellectual pursuits and share them across communities.

One problem I see in teenagers (admittedly in a small local and online sampling) is a lack of understanding "how" things work or come to be. They can find an answer to anything on Google quickly, but don't understand why it is the answer.

In the general population, I see an overwhelming lack of curiosity or interest in figuring things out without being told how to do it (from TV, media, internet, their friends, etc.)

Edited by Purplos
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well, there seems to be more idiots nowadays then there was before so we probably are getting less intelligent

Edited by majin nemesis
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Could be,Has anyone seen who we elected to office?Those people could be less intelligent Heck were all being dumb down by the government,Education in this country is a joke.we used to be number one then we went down hill fast,But if you look at Mexico ,,now there is a country that does not care about it's own people but they are not that far behind us,They might have already past us. in Education. It's like we don't care what we teach our youthmThe youth today is full of disrespect and like Taun said we have lost our goals/focus on what we need to.

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we are all programmed anyway i dont watch tv theres to much bull**** on it and with all the **** in our foods drinks we probably are going dumber but who knows eh

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