To think people are getting noticeably stupider

[CurdinHenry]

At every level of capability it just feels like the species is in decline

Definitely. People are getting thicker and more infantile by the year.

Given you’ve started this thread with no reasonable argument, I’m inclined to agree.

Yes definitely

@CurdinHenry have you seen the film “Idiocracy”?

100%. Although maybe its partly that social media just makes it more obvious and exposes us to people from a wider background than may have been the case previously so we become more aware of it.

Just reform voters IMHO..

Many people put less effort into thinking and expect instant answers given that it's often at our fingertips with Google.

The days of looking through the index cards in the library or going through the index volume of an Encylopaedia are feeling increasingly distant. It was slow and not the most up to date information, but it was reliable and some patience was involved. Knowledge had more value and was less "disposable"

I saw an archive video from the 1970s on Instagram where some little boys, probably age 8 or 9, were being asked why their football team lost. Their replies were so mature and eloquent compared to how kids would respond today, they were like little adults. They also had a crazy amount of self awareness ‘we lost discipline, we can play well individually but aren’t right as a team’

I think it’s been an increasing trend since the 90s

I have a new job dealing with members of the public and it shocks me how so many people are unable to cope with the modern world. And the sense of entitlement some people have.

That’s what I think - although if you look at how the average IQ increased over time, it seems logical that AI and other factors will in turn cause a rapid decrease.

well comprehension on MNs is often dire

The entitlement is insane! Breathtaking in some cases. I was once privy to an email where a parent who ‘couldn’t cope’ with picking her child up from school every day due to ‘chronic fatigue’, said ‘the teacher will just have to drive him home instead’

Yes, you heard me correctly. Never ever have I wanted to fire off a spur of the moment, home-truths email like I did just then.

I agree with you but it would have been nice if you had elucidated a bit.

The internet is poisoning us intellectually honestly. Modern era lead in the water pipes. I know people who let ChatGPT write their bloody text messages.

They walk among us, my friends. They walk among us...

People do seem less able to assess the quality of the information they find. Again, though, perhaps that’s just social media showing us people that we wouldn’t meet in the wild.

I remember seeing an “influencer”, an expat European in Dubai, with partner and kids in the car as the bombs began to fall. She asked ChatGPT of all things to tell her which direction they should drive 🤦‍♀️

I can’t stand a lot of the adverts on tv; dominoes, Andrex, pepto bismol to name but a few, that seem to think we’re all thick and enjoy inane crap. Same with government messages, that are so basic and infantilising because that’s clearly what works! When did this all start changing?

I think we can have a rose tinted view of the past. I find it strangely comforting to read history and learn about all the stupid things people did back in the good old days.

I think fundamentally people haven’t changed. Technology has obviously changed which changes behaviour and perceptions.

Lack of reading comprehension has definitely increased.

Yes, I've just been discussing it with my business partner...I repeat myself daily, it's written down, it's so simple but every day we get the same questions from people. Staff saying we need X, despite the fact there's a full box at their feet than hasn't yet been opened, they just need to move their head slightly to one side

I post on SM and tag our location, plus write the town and postcode at the top and numerous questions about where we are - this week I replied with the postcode and he asked 'where's AB12 3CD?' I mean, he's presumably messaging me off a device with map access. Sometimes I think I'm being pranked, then I remember that a lot of people are stupid...

Aren’t most government ads usually about basic things? Decades ago they had ones about the benefits of seatbelts and about washing your hands etc.

Proving OP's point. No critical thinking.

Yes definitely, not me though I get smarterer by the day.

I seen a repeat of bullseye from 1970s and one of the low level questions was about the Iranian government ministers. I can't imagine that appearing on tipping point 😄

And if it did - I wouldn't have a scoob 🤣🤣