Are people getting dumber? (discrimination, college, adult)
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I think the average IQ is going up....definitely true in much of the world. Big time. But it does require good public policy.
Of course, as the IQ goes up, the standards are adjusted....being as they are often scored in a relative manner.
The problem in the US is ignorance (lack of experience and education), not exactly the same as being dumb. We might call it being clueless...so many people do not seek intellectual stimulation or knowledge. A country which wastes its potential in this way is not headed properly into the future.
Also, mass communication and the internet have put all of us in touch with these "dumb and dumber" masses, whereas before most of us didn't run into them as often.
Yes. The dummying down of America has been happening the past 20 years or so IMO
Were you alive in the seventies?
Edit: I just checked out your profile, and clearly you were, but I note that your response to favorite book is "What's a book?" Interesting response for someone who is critical of others' intelligence & knowledge.
Last edited by randomparent; 05-04-2018 at 10:21 AM..
If you are talking about "getting dumber" in the context of succumbing to political correctness, then many people probably are.
Can you explain what you mean by political correctness? Sometimes I find myself thinking that denigrating an act as political correctness is simply an excuse to be obnoxious with impunity. It is generally a good thing to behave as if other people's feelings matter.
It's education.Curriculum has been watered down to accommodate certain ethnic groups. I went to a Parochial School for 9 years and transferred as a sophomore to a public school in the mid sixties.The math I received as a Senior was taught to me in 3rd grade Parochial.Finished the math book in a week and was given a study hall instead so I could sleep. ;0)
It's education.Curriculum has been watered down to accommodate certain ethnic groups. I went to a Parochial School for 9 years and transferred as a sophomore to a public school in the mid sixties.The math I received as a Senior was taught to me in 3rd grade Parochial.Finished the math book in a week and was given a study hall instead so I could sleep. ;0)
Anecdotally, I would offer that transitioning our kids from a parochial school to a public school after a cross-country move proved that the parochial school was far behind. Private schools are not universally good or bad. You need to be selective and ensure that you're getting a superior academic program.
Most serious real science finds a 40-60% correlation between IQ and genetics. Years ago, when life was really brutal, you had to have smarts to survive and provide for your family. It was a matter of life or death. Only the highest-IQ people made it through. Now with advances in technology, medicine, social welfare nets, this old calculus no longer really applies, fortunately.
So, I would say that the average human alive today has a lower IQ than those of earlier generations.
If you look at regions, those countries with the highest IQs (East Asia, Europe...) have the lowest birth rates, while those with the lowest IQs (sub-Saharan Africa) have the highest birth rates. So, this would affect average human IQ.
Along with survival rates is training. DH and I were in a discussion regarding parents not allowing their kids to be frustrated. IMO, frustration leads to learning how to solve a problem. Kids today are so over scheduled and programed. An adult is always in control of their every move.
Not so long ago, kids were allowed to have free time to learn from other kids and resolve their own differences.
I believe society is growing less intellectual....
keep the federal government out of schools....that was our first mistake....
The government has been involved in public ed in the US sicne the mid-1600s, though.
If "the government's" involvement were they key element in dumbing things down, this would have been the case from early on.
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