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Devolution of the Human Race

M

Magnegross

peepee ding dong
I just watched Idiocracy again today, and it got me to thinking: Are we steadily becoming a less intelligent society as humans? Factors such as medical advancements that keep the population increasing and diluting the intellectuals in our world suggests that it could in the mid to far future.

Is our reliance on machinery and our human nature to put the least effort possible into every task quickly having a negative impact other than obvious ones such as obesity?

Discuss your view on the intellectual society (increase or decline) of the world here.

Frankly, the concept frightens me.

Oh, and don't give me any answers like "We're making so many technological advancements today," because that's a small figure of the world's population actually working towards this.
 
Ioneos

Ioneos

old geezer
I don't think humans in general have become more unintelligent (I mean, kids these days are taking math classes 3 or 4 years earlier than their parents used to) but many people these days are relying too much on technology to do things for them. Hardly anyone does division by hand, they just use a calculator on their phone. Besides, it takes great minds to engineer these technologies that make us lazy.
 
K

kaiser soze

Reading ADWD
Well, let's be frank, not everyone across history had a high IQ. For every name in the history books there's a million nobodies. You can argue that the world is actually getting smarter because of the worldwide increase of literacy rates and access to better education and job opportunities in the Third World.
 
Y

YaDunGoofed

#TYBG
Look at how many deaths over Black Friday. People are animals. And what BB19 said. Society is crazy dependent on electronics.

Cursive used to be essential. If they don't teach it, how will the adults sign a form? Print their name twice?
 
L

Ludwig

Well-Known Member
I don't know how intelligent people used to be, but most of the people that live now are idiots.

YaDunGoofed said:
Look at how many deaths over Black Friday. People are animals. And what BB19 said. Society is crazy dependent on electronics.

Cursive used to be essential. If they don't teach it, how will the adults sign a form? Print their name twice?
Click to expand...

I write my signature with normal letters. Cursive is too difficult.
 
C

ConeOfSHAME

Noob Skater
If you say that cursive used to be essential, at some schools in New Zealand (where I live), children have an early lesson. Besides, it used to be about dripping ink. That doesn't happen with pens
 
G

Guardianofthesea

Banned
Plausible theory, with the amount of idiocy I encounter daily on the Internet!
 
P

pokemonjeff

interested trader
Well, in the idea of devolving, we are in fact doing it. Due to medicines and such, natural selection is no longer taking place, which means we can't get any better naturally. Its not that we're reverting or anything, its just that everything else is evolving around us.
 
M

Magnegross

peepee ding dong
I think of it as the intelligent people are becoming more intelligent while the general average population is become less intelligent. The gap is becoming larger.
 
E

Excitable Boy

is a metaphor
kaiser soze said:
Well, let's be frank, not everyone across history had a high IQ. For every name in the history books there's a million nobodies. You can argue that the world is actually getting smarter because of the worldwide increase of literacy rates and access to better education and job opportunities in the Third World.
Click to expand...

I believe (as in, I heard it from someone who heard it from someone who heard it on NPR) that humans are getting smarter at a rather rapid rate. Average schmucks today would be near-geniuses a hundred years ago.

YaDunGoofed said:
Look at how many deaths over Black Friday. People are animals. And what BB19 said. Society is crazy dependent on electronics.

Cursive used to be essential. If they don't teach it, how will the adults sign a form? Print their name twice?
Click to expand...

There were probably equal amounts of crazy deaths 2000 years back or whenever. Given how much the human race has expanded, we can afford to lose some dolts here and there. We've got, what, seven billion, and growing ever faster.

Cursive is essential. That's why it's still taught. I can sign my name in cursive.
 
Ioneos

Ioneos

old geezer
a person said:
I believe (as in, I heard it from someone who heard it from someone who heard it on NPR) that humans are getting smarter at a rather rapid rate. Average schmucks today would be near-geniuses a hundred years ago.
Click to expand...

Ah yes, but there are people today that would be of average intelligence back then. As Magnegross said, the gap is becoming larger.
 
L

Ludwig

Well-Known Member
a person said:
I believe (as in, I heard it from someone who heard it from someone who heard it on NPR) that humans are getting smarter at a rather rapid rate. Average schmucks today would be near-geniuses a hundred years ago.
Click to expand...

1. Science wasn't a lot behind 100 years ago.
2. If comparing even further back, the main difference would be the amount of knowledge and that wouldn't make one a genius. The deductive ability is what makes one an (academical) genius.
3. Deductive ability is mainly genetic and humans that live today isn't genetically very different from 1000 years ago.
 
Ioneos

Ioneos

old geezer
Ludwig said:
1. Science wasn't a lot behind 100 years ago.
Click to expand...
100 years ago, we didn't have TVs, computers, phones, or a lot of things that we take for granted today.
2. If comparing even further back, the main difference would be the amount of knowledge and that wouldn't make one a genius. The deductive ability is what makes one an (academically) genius.
Click to expand...
Yes, and that is true that real geniuses can think for themselves, but today's people do just that. Many great ideas come up due to natural thought process, likely due to the mental stimulation people are influenced by.[/QUOTE]
3. Deductive ability is mainly genetic and humans that live today isn't genetically very different from 1000 years ago.
Click to expand...
Actually, deductive ability is influenced by the ability to think, something that has been much more common due to the higher standard of intelligence we hold ourselves to.
 
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