Is the human race losing intelligence ?

Posted on Thursday, 21 February, 2013 | Comment icon

191 comments | News tip by: Professor T

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Some experts believe that we are becoming less intelligent and losing some cognitive capabilities.

Despite huge advancements over the last few thousand years, it seems that far from being more and more intelligent our minds may actually be declining. While controversial, there are grounds on which to base this idea. Geneticist Dr. Gerald Crabtre believes that adverse genetic mutations could be a prime cause of this and that in addition to affecting intellectual capabilities these could also make us less emotionally stable.

"I would wager that if an average citizen from Athens of 1000 BC were to appear suddenly among us, he or she would be among the brightest and most intellectually alive of our colleagues and companions," he wrote. "Furthermore, I would guess that he or she would be among the most emotionally stable of our friends and colleagues."

Despite our advancements over the last tens or even hundreds of years, some ‘experts’ believe that humans are losing cognitive capabilities and becoming more emotionally unstable.

View: Full article |

Source: Natural Society

Discuss: View comments (191)

<< Previous story
Bigfoot sighted along Neches River

Next story >>
Did twin asteroids wipe out the dinosaurs ?

Recent comments on this story

#182 Posted by Jinxdom on 17 March, 2013, 7:41

I do those things on all my free time.....but of course I don't really have all that much free time(I think we can all agree that we are losing time just for ourselves), but hey that's life

#183 Posted by Frank Merton on 17 March, 2013, 7:56

Good point, although I don't, so it's easy for me to look down on those who do. Trouble is it is not because of any excess of virtue in me, but an excess of boredom and dislike that keeps me pure.

#184 Posted by Jinxdom on 17 March, 2013, 8:10

It's like everything else, a matter of perception. Like text speak, I see is a more efficient way to write what you want. Using it on your cell phone to communicate instead of whole words is more intelligent then using the longest vocabulary words when you have a character limit. Any factor, that people said I can link some positive benefit to it, when it comes to intelligence. Intelligence is one of those things that will always boggle my mind because you can find it almost any where but it isn't very common, and not set to one distinct set of attributes, yet you will always know it ... [More]

#185 Posted by Lex540 on 25 March, 2013, 7:16

wrong conclusion from the right deduction but anyway its because the world's minds have become to lazy due to tech advancements

#186 Posted by Frank Merton on 25 March, 2013, 7:42

I don't think entertainments like computer games and TV have nearly the mind-numbing effect of poor nutrition and child labor, so we should over all be smarter.

#187 Posted by Andromedan Starseed 333 on 25 March, 2013, 20:25

yes i believe that and that is what is happening right now as a matter of fact too!!!always watching t.v and non sense.like for example Angelina jolie got a new nose job or just got a new baby from china or etc.really guys and people you call this news.or another example this and that just got divorced who gives a damn people.stop living the life's and watching the life's of others start living your for once watch and hear real news.i will tell this you won't hear real honest news from the mainstream media and etc.you people gotta watch alternative real honest news and... [More]

#188 Posted by Leona Lewis on 26 March, 2013, 13:11

The internet has helped us commuicate more efficiently. This new techonology has helped us do things at a quicker rate than before. That's true, but it has also made us lazier and more distant from people. I mean, am I the only person of my age that would enjoy talking face to face to someone or call them over the phone, then through text? Texting is annoying, it's impersonal as hell and it's just words on a screen, it can be misinterpreted so much. And plus, it's just a major pain for me. Bad things have happened to me because of texting. lol, uh, yeah. What's the point o... [More]

#189 Posted by Detective Mystery 2013 on 27 March, 2013, 3:33

Those are good points. Many people still prefer calls over texts. Facebook and Twitter can't replace outings and visits with good friends. One wonders if technology also lowers our emotional intelligence. It might impact how we communicate with people during conversations in real life. It might even impact our literary and verbal proficiency. For instance, they say that letter-writing is a lost art. Technology improves our lives in many ways, but it should never replace honest human interaction.

#190 Posted by Zaphod222 on 8 April, 2013, 10:21

Internet and whatever other technologies are temporary. What matters long term is the human gene pool. And with the less intelligent breeding more and the more intelligent breeding less, it is obvious that we are slowly receding. There really is nothing to argue. This will continue until there is a paradigm change.

#191 Posted by Mikko-kun on 8 April, 2013, 20:28

I dont think "but hey that's life" is the solution.

View all 191 comments on this story

Please Login or Register to post a comment.

Forum topics in this category

Modern Mysteries, New Age & Prophecies

If every human that existed jumped at once

Time Traveller Mystery Solved!

Name Some "Famous" Missing Objects.

Crop circles are not the work of hoaxers

Mathematical Proof of the Existence of Satan

Georgia Guidestones Historic Mystery

How Close Is Doomsday?

World's oldest man dies aged 116

Afghan U.S Cargo Plane Mystery Solved :Video

Plane crash may be related to forced landing

Hairy Blob “Creature” Appears in NY street

mysterious booming noises across Cornwall

Neighborhood and street level ley line maps?

Other recent forum topics

Science & Technology

3D printing replaces 75% of man's skull

Salt Sugar Fat

New Human Body Part Discovered

Philosophy and Psychology

Are risk takers more important than others?

The man who needs to paralyse himself

Suicide is NEVER the Answer !

Conspiracies & Secret Societies

Bin Laden death photos will NOT be released

911 inside job - for what?

Who Killed Princess Diana?

View: Discussion forum

Other news in this category

World's oldest man dies aged 116

Posted 6-12-2013 | 14 comments
Jiroemon Kimura was not just the oldest living human but also the oldest human being that ever lived....

'Top secret' D-Day orders emerge

Posted 6-8-2013 | 3 comments
A set of top secret orders for naval captains during the D-Day landings have turned up in an attic....

Mystery aircraft causes stir in Quincy

Posted 5-12-2013 | 259 comments
Residents have been reporting aircraft doing loops over the city all night, every night for two weeks....

How will humans become extinct ?

Posted 4-24-2013 | 69 comments
If we were to become extinct in the forseeable future, how exactly would such an event come about ?...

How close is doomsday ?

Posted 4-8-2013 | 59 comments
With all the talk of the cataclysm lately, is there a way to determine when the world will really end ?...

Is Boudicca buried underneath a car park ?

Posted 4-1-2013 | 16 comments
The warrior queen's final resting place is unknown, but archaeologists are confident they can find it....

'Fairy circles' mystery solved

Posted 3-30-2013 | 17 comments
Mysterious grassless rings appearing in the South African desert are believed to be made by termites....

Woman 'dies' for 45 minutes

Posted 3-27-2013 | 22 comments
A woman whose heart stopped for a full 45 minutes stunned doctors by going on to make a full recovery....

Mystery over seal pup found in a forest

Posted 3-25-2013 | 15 comments
Authorities in Sweden have been left confused after a seal pup was discovered in the middle of a forest....

Dead prawns litter Chile coastline

Posted 3-21-2013 | 22 comments
Authorities have been left baffled by thousands of dead prawns that have washed up in Chile....

Hindenburg mystery solved after 76 years ?

Posted 3-5-2013 | 26 comments
Scientists believe they have explained what caused the Hindenburg to explode back in May 1937....

Mystery light forms circle of fire

Posted 3-3-2013 | 31 comments
Authorities in Australia have been left baffled following the formation of a mysterious circle of fire....

Missing plane raises Bermuda Triangle fears

Posted 2-22-2013 | 35 comments
The plane carrying Vittorio Missoni and five others disappeared without a trace last month....

Man killed by spontaneous combustion ?

Posted 2-20-2013 | 32 comments
Officials are puzzled over the mysterious incineration of a 66-year-old man in Sequoyah County....

View: More news in this category