To think people are getting noticeably stupider

[CurdinHenry]

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

Literacy rates in recent years look quite concerning. 1 in 6 (18% / 6.6 million people) adults aged 16 to 65 in England have very poor literacy skills.

Too much social media, lack of proper reading and critical thinking, it's scary.

Stupider?
Or more stupid?
Or was that a joke?Like Pedant's Corner instead of Pedants' Corner.

TAAT?

Or a coincidence that you posted this moments after randomly laying into me for having poor comprehension on another thread because I pointed out that a phrase which you took issue with on OP's post, and quoted twice with quotation marks, didn't actually form part of her post at all, which was about something quite different (as everyone else understood)? If so, the polite thing to do would have been to continue the conversation on that thread.

FWIW I do agree that things like attention span and comprehension are falling. There was an interesting book on this I read a while ago, linking it to the near-ubiquitous use of smart phones and constant stimulation. You might enjoy it - The New Dark Ages, The End of Reading and the Dawn of a Post-Literate Society (by James Marriott - I think it was also serialised in a few long read articles).

However, sometimes a feeling that no-one around you understands you might be a sign that the call is coming from inside the house.

Do you not believe in the medical condition (which many people have, those with cancer, MS, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome etc.) given your use of inverted commas or is it just the apparent sense of entitlement you have an issue with? The latter is fine, the former you need to read up on the condition.

Yes, for sure. The sense of entitlement too, the ability to think for themselves, to problem solve every day issues and to consider others around them is declining rapidly. I can only blame social media tbh.

And why did people get so rude after covid? It was like the polite switch turned off.

In decades past, you had people who were informed and people who were uninformed (not necessarily unintelligent but more apathetic to current events, so didn't seek out information).

I don't think there are necessarily fewer well-informed people today, and many of them probably have far better access to a good information sources.

People who in year's past would have been too apathetic to seek out information, though, are now passively exposed to misinformation and disinformation through social media.

Social media also drives polarisation, which can lead even generally well-informed people towards partisan sources and points of view.

I'm not sure that's the same as increased stupidity, but it's certainly a tremendous net negative.

I would have chronic fatigue if I lived off Monster energy and vapes.

I don’t think it’s all lost - DD is a teen and very aware that you shouldn’t believe everything you read and she certainly distrusts social media (and mainstream media!!). At her school they are teaching them to critically evaluate sources rather than just believe them - as they did when I did GCSE’s but it’s just different sources now. She’s also decided she won’t use AI because of the environmental impact and will do her own research.

She can also be a bit of a doughnut but it gives me hope for her generation!!

I think they just have more places to let you know.

50 years ago people were interacting with a fraction of the people we all are now. It's a blessing and a curse.

On the flip side, a lifetime of feeling stupid (I was never book smart - more arty) I now feel positively genius compared to many people I deal with daily.

So even if I am face palming often, it's quite good for the confidence! 😁

Perhaps it's worserer than that.

Yanbu. I'm relieved when it's called out tbh. Intelligence seems to be despised.

If you
Think about it high achievers tend to have few or no children so in the scheme of things this was inevitable.

I notice that Private Eye, after prolonged and inconclusive correspondence on the issue, now calls it Pedantry Corner.

I blame Michael Gove and his ‘who needs to listen to experts’ - since then it feels like people’s feelings are more important than facts and people who do know better are shouted down

I work with a lady, maybe in her late 50s, only a bit older than me. She cannot fathom how to drive an unfamiliar route; didn't know you could find out if a jar of spread has nuts in by reading the ingredients; is utterly hopeless with tech, apps, websites etc. She's very competent in her particular area but outside that, ko chance.

Definitely. Just today I discovered that my boss (late 20s and university educated) honestly thought the way to describe someone who has gone missing with no notice was "a wall" rather than awol. When I queried it she said she had never understood why it was called "a wall" maybe it was something to do with the phrase "talking to a brick wall".

Yep.

Including some teachers, nurses, other clinicians, and undoubtedly most senior non clinical NHS managers. Unless I've just been exceptionally unlucky in my almost twenty years behind the blue and white.

I honestly don't know where they're all coming from but basic education is in the gutter and common sense has taken the century off.

Dunno where the Walking Dead franchise got its original ideas from....

I find people lack critical thinking skills. They often can’t see another point of view from their own and lack the comprehension skills to analyse information. I feel this has got worse with the rise of social media and misinformation.

My SIL is heavily into conspiracy theories. She’s not well educated, left school with no qualifications, but spends hours ‘teaching’ us about the latest thing she’s read online.
I was lectured for hours about vaccines when I had my babies. When I offered counter points of view I was dismissed.

(The irony is my spelling and grammar is terrible as I am extremely dyslexic.)

This is nonsense. High achievers in monetary terms tend to have more children, not fewer. Every (medical) consultant I know has minimum three. Posh, well off people generally have more. As do very poor people. And, aside from that, the reasons people become high achievers are mainly to do with opportunity, as in they have had lives littered with it. I don't think that as a species we are becoming genetically less intelligent just yet. I think it's environmental changes (social, technological, cultural), that mean we're no longer properly nurturing the perfectly fine brains our babies are still born with.

You don't actually vote Reform or Restore right??

😂

I definitely agree the sense of entitlement is getting worse.
It’s usually those who contribute the least to society who expect the most too.
I find it laughable when members of the public think I actually care whether they access certain services. I really don’t.

Agree with this!

Or that think not getting exactly what they want is an actual human rights breach.