GREGSON Tibet People appear to be dumber because they have lost most of their curiosity and are more self centered in the U.S. than any country I have been. I have dropped many of my friends because they have not grown from lack of curiosity. The majority of the younger generation cannot carry on a conversation, have one word opinions, and have no tolerance for change along with being such poor vocabularies and none of them can spell or do simple math. The use of Facebook and Twitter has done no good to improve social skills, and I will go so far as to say that Americans now are typically physically unattractive as a result of their stupidity. The fact that Americans speak only one language, and horrifically at that, is an embarassment when I talk to African children in poverty speaking several languages and anxious to learn more. I avoid them unless I am stuck with some moron in a super market and have to explain how to bag my items three times. Mostly, they bore me as much as I must bore them. March 1, 2012 at 9:16 a.m.
"On an IQ test, the average person today would be 30 points above his or her grandparents, so we are not getting any dumber."
An IQ test today would also look much much different than it did for our grandparents. So would our curriculum. This isn't a particularly valid point, even ignoring the other shortcomings of the test. He notes himself later on that iq test scores differ more on a purely temporal basis as opposed to in terms of actual intelligence.
"The fact that Americans speak only one language, and horrifically at that, is an embarassment when I talk to African children in poverty speaking several languages and anxious to learn more."
To be fair, most americans speak only one language because they only really need to speak one language, and quite frankly there may be limited opportunities to put those other languages to use. On the other hand, when speaking to African children in poverty who may rely to some extent on outside help, would it be entirely surprising to suggest they might know more about other languages? However, I think there is something to be said for this notion that Americans are stupid. Living in the country myself, I present to you... Exhibit A. <--
I think far more disgusting than the fact that many americans only know one language is the notion some have of "learn the language or get out".
I would also like people to pause for a moment here. How is saying stuff like "these younger generations are so dumb" now any different from when our grandparents were saying it about our parents, or from when I say it about the people in high school now? For that matter, how is it any different from hardcore classic rock fans calling all the music today garbage. It's not like their parents weren't scandalized by their sensibilities as kids. When it comes down to it, we just think we know best. And for good reason, we do know best! We know exactly what music kids should be listening to... what shows they should watch and books they should read... We hold this notion that we get to decide what they do with their lives, yet are shocked when they seem to lack "curiosity"? And with good reason! We, who are scandalized by the changes that have come about with this younger generation... we, who fail to understand them, still know exactly what is best for them. Why wouldn't we?
They lack curiosity? Why? Is it all their fault through their own choices and decisions? Is it purely biological? Is it not their fault at all, rather that of the environment in which they were raised? More importantly, do they truly lack curiosity, or are they just curious about things we simply don't approve of? Parents these days seem to think their kids can do no wrong, yet society seems to think they can do no right. Who are you supposed to turn to when one worships the ground you walk on and the other spits at your feet? No wonder I'm physically unattractive as a result of my stupidity!
With regards to spelling and simple math, I'm not sure how old the commenter is, but... My mother can't do simple math, and is no spring chicken. I'd consider her highly intelligent, albeit somewhat neurotic. She possesses keen insight on a number of issues. She's just bad at math. So what? Lots of people throughout the generations have been bad at math. This is nothing new. The same holds true with spelling. Taking anecdotal evidence and trying to apply it definitively in a broader sense isn't evidence we're getting dumber. Such neolithic argumentative processes merely demonstrate that we're back and as dumb as ever.
With regards to speaking the language horrifically, not quite sure what's going on here. Maybe insensitivity to different dialects. Because if somebody doesn't speak proper english, it doesn't matter that their friends still understand them. It doesn't matter that they still get their point across. They are clearly stupid because they fail to meet some arbitrary academic standard set by those who have failed to take such circumstances into consideration. Clearly, there is only one proper way to speak a language. Or perhaps the commenter is referring to those Americans that really are just idiots. Commenter isn't clear on this point, and have seen it made both ways.
Commenter is correct that there is a lot to be said for the attitude with which we approach the world, others, and blah blah blah. However, commenter also seemed to lack curiosity as to own bias as well as the circumstances of those being ripped a new one. I would have preferred less "they're so stupid" and more "this is what you can do with the right attitude". Found it amusing that commenter chose to use USA as the barometer for whether or not people are getting dumber when half the world already seems to agree that USA is the dumbest nation around. Doesn't really address the question so much as single out the classroom reject and roast the hell outta them. Provides a lot to think about, but unfortunately does not provide much in terms of detail. Commenter often does not say why feel a certain way, and fails to provide examples. I'm missing this. Would rather the focus be on one point in far greater detail as opposed to just jumping all over the place.
Supermarket bit was awesome.
Enclosed in spoiler for rant.
Anyhow this reminds me of a natgeo article I read a while back about brain size, and how it has shrunk over the years (though recently has shown an increase in size again) and how one of the ideas as to why this shrinkage occurred is that we basically domesticated ourselves... which amused me. Because it did.
Some random questions...
Is intelligence a good thing, and if so, why? Do you think there is such a thing as too much intelligence? Only after answering these questions must we ask ourselves this... what the heck is intelligence?
Spoiler
stance may or may not be strongly exaggerated. My family, college, and driveway take no responsibility for anything stated above (but it is all their fault). All views discussed may have been previously disseminated by a hypoallergenic chihuahua, but this is perfectly normal. Don't be alarmed.
Edited by 0100111101000111, 03 March 2012 - 10:25 AM.
Looks like a duck? Tastes like a duck? Walks like a duck? It's a panda!
...
oh darn.
About people getting dumber its mostly spoken about americans its not possible to put them all together, since everyone if different
curiousity kills the cat! well, I really think more people belive that
... Some random questions...
Is intelligence a good thing, and if so, why? Do you think there is such a thing as too much intelligence? Only after answering these questions must we ask ourselves this... what the heck is intelligence?
...
Its not always good, because it can make us aware about bad things that we cant change and ppl will probably be broken while trying.. but on the other side, just because we cant now does not mean that generations after us wont be able to so it depends
and intelligence can be used to create things
I think intelligence is something which I cant describe...
Edited by 666Shinigami666, 03 March 2012 - 02:24 PM.
There are two rules for success: 1. Never tell everything you know
Yah, highschool has a lot stupid people in it, Can't exactly say i'm smart though. I think overage? Also people who think they are smart does not mean they are really smart. They are probably one of the dumbest XD
Well from what i can see in high school, there is far more dumb people than intelligent ones.
It depends what you mean by dumb... But i have a lot of friends who don't know proper grammar >.<
depends what you mean on intelligent because you know their are people who can only retain basic knowledge just to get by high school and its not like they are dumb its just the best of their ability can give them people decide to be dumb by not trying and intelligent people give it their all and another 100% to get their place in the end its all about effort
Well from what i can see in high school, there is far more dumb people than intelligent ones.
It depends what you mean by dumb... But i have a lot of friends who don't know proper grammar >.<
depends what you mean on intelligent because you know their are people who can only retain basic knowledge just to get by high school and its not like they are dumb its just the best of their ability can give them people decide to be dumb by not trying and intelligent people give it their all and another 100% to get their place in the end its all about effort
they're average, i wouldn't say that about someone who i knew couldn't do it no matter what
What ppl lack is the effort to do things, and facebook doesnt help.
I don't think that being good at school and have good grades mean being intelligent. I know a lot of people whom I consider intelligent that don't have such good grades and other people that have good grades that I find stupid, but maybe it's too subjective.
It's easy for that generation to talk, they had the whole moon landing thing that inspired the world to become what it is today
We no longer have any drive to be like the people our parents dreamt of
Also, it's pretty pretentious to call somebody stupid just because you read a few more books than them..
The guy that wrote that sounds like a asshole, it's true that Americans live in a bubble, but I don't appreciate some pompous prick shining his uneeded opinion
That whole argument about us only speaking 1 language is arbitrary
Many countries have 2 or 3 primary languages that you end up learning.
This is completely unecessary, languages in the end of the day just divide people, if the world spoke 1 language, things would be a whole lot different, even in the bible 'god' made people working on a tower to heaven all speak different languages so they were unable to work together, same principle exists today
This has to go into a whole discussion of how we defnie intelligence and we can only properly lay out this topic with a series of accurate statistics and studies....
I don't want to ruin people's fun here but I can't say this is much of a serious discussion........at all.
But I'd like to point out that this topic is riddled with stereotypes (of both sides) so maybe we can start with that
such as that technology has decreased people's need to develop proper mental skills
I've seen some RSA videos that go into this topic and they were fascinating. You can look up their channel on youtube.
"Once you label me you negate me." - Soren Kierkegaard
Every person has his own priority. Being up to date with fashion, new videogames, comics, exercising, socializing and etc. That's pretty much what shapes us to be. I think.
I think that many have an affinity towards intelligence, however, not all people choose to pursue that path.
This has to go into a whole discussion of how we defnie intelligence and we can only properly lay out this topic with a series of accurate statistics and studies.... I don't want to ruin people's fun here but I can't say this is much of a serious discussion........at all.
But I'd like to point out that this topic is riddled with stereotypes (of both sides) so maybe we can start with that such as that technology has decreased people's need to develop proper mental skills
I've seen some RSA videos that go into this topic and they were fascinating. You can look up their channel on youtube.
This must be one of the most retarded posts I've seen this month. Are you serious? You can't be.
If you name something you're claiming it (discourse as I have been told,I think?Sorry teach!). There is no ignorance or intelligence until we say something/someone is ignorant or intelligent. As Shakespeare said in Hamlet: "Why then 'tis none to you; for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." Everything is in the mind....
I don't think we're getting dumber with every successive generation. It's much more likely that out attention spans are getting shorter, thereby making it easier to lose focus. It's like in the past where you have people just a few subjects but know them very well; now we have people who knows a lot of subjects but is only "knee-deep" when it comes to familiarity (Horizontal vs Vertical Learning).
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