Am I wrong... or are people becoming stupider?

[LuckyTheDog]

Maybe it's just because most of my interactions today have been with Verizon Wireless employees and the people behind the counter at Tim Horton's. But... wow...

[Honeycombe8]

1. You mean like people who think "stupider" is a word?

Sorry...couldn't resist.

Sometimes I think people are more stupid than they used to be, but sometimes I think not.

[A Simple Game]

15. My dictionary thinks stupider is a word, have you checked your lately?

So does the DU spell checker.

[ashling]

30. You just worry about your own lately

And keep your lately to yourself !

[A Simple Game]

39. I hate when I do that! n/t

[Honeycombe8]

40. I haven't checked my lately for years. nt

[Honeycombe8]

41. I stand corrected. But I won't use it...I was taught in school that's not proper grammar.

I guess it's true that people have gotten stupider!

[A Simple Game]

44. I use it all the time when talking about a row of Republicans.

Stupid, stupider, and stupidest. Start at either end.

[Aristus]

2. Stupid people out-reproduce smart people.

The aggregating cultural stupidity is the subject of a film all its own, "Idiocracy".

Don't watch it; it's the most depressing comedy ever...

[fizzgig]

19. it's a documentary

[Jamaal510]

3. Everybody is intelligent in their own way,

even with regards to being stupid.

[pinboy3niner]

5. You may have a point

Some people seem to be BRILLIANTLY stupid.

[ashling]

33. Some are even

perfectly stupid

[freshwest]

4. Avoid large crowds. IQ is divisible by the number of people. The more, the dumber.

Until it's like watching cheap robots somedays...

[Paulie]

6. Just remember average is the arithmetic mean

So 50% are stupider than average.

[Loryn]

7. Dang!

I didn't know there was gonna be math.

Sheesh.

[pinboy3niner]

8. What, you didn't get Big Dawg's memo?

[GoCubsGo]

34. Wrong

50% are stupider than the median. The only time 50% are stupider than average is if the population that is being sampled is normally distributed.

[Paulie]

35. Right!

I gots it mixed up.

How's this; the scary thought is, and what the OP suggests, is the mode for our population?

[GoCubsGo]

36. Hey, it happens to all of us.

Yeah, it's scary. Where I live, it's skewed toward the "stupider" end.

[Grateful for Hope]

38. The mode is sometimes a scarier stat than the mean or median

Good point.

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. Stanford geneticist says humans evolving into dumber species

A Stanford biologist says the loss of natural selection has allowed “genetic mutations” that makes us less capable than our ancestors.

In a study recently published in the journal Trends in Genetics, Dr. Gerald Crabtree argues that human intelligence peaked at the time of hunter-gatherers and has since declined as a result of “genetic mutations” that have slowly eroded the human brain’s intellectual and emotional abilities.

The argument, which lends weight to the controversial hypothesis that human intelligence is determined by genetics as opposed to the environment, is based on the notion that a large pool of genes must be functioning at full capacity to optimize intellectual and emotional behaviour.

According to Crabtree, “intelligence” genes were fully functioning in the days of hunter-gatherers, as humans were forced to think critically and creatively to survive. But the shift to agriculture and urbanization, he said, weakened natural selection and opened the door to genetic mutation.

“I would wager that if an average citizen from Athens of 1000 BC were to appear suddenly among us, he or she would be among the brightest and most intellectually alive of our colleagues and companions,” he said.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2012/11/13/are_humans_getting_dumber_one_us_biologist_thinks_weve_got_nothing_on_huntergatherers_of_old.html

[cliffordu]

13. Couldn't agree more.

[RILib]

10. you are not wrong

the country is sinking under the weight of idiots.

[csziggy]

11. Could that be why we have sinkholes?

Local concentrations make for localized ground sinking?

[olddots]

12. either other people are getting more stupid or you're getting smarter .

In my case I'm wicked pissa retarded .

[Gravitycollapse]

14. Humans are actually becoming more intelligent.

[ConcernedCanuk]

26. IQ does not equate to being smart.

.
.
.

I know some with IQ over 130, and behave like idiots.

"intelligent" does not = smart

ponder it

[Gravitycollapse]

28. I said people are becoming more intelligent.

Not "every single person on earth is super smart and totally never acts like a fool."

[talkingmime]

16. You are not wrong.

[datasuspect]

17. our idiots are our greatest natural resource

[benld74]

18. Back in the 80's I told my wife,,

It's pervasive and slowly moving across the country and there isn't a damn thing anybody can do about it.

[warrprayer]

20. Hurr Durr

... Glugg

[Tuesday Afternoon]

23. and derp. derp. derpity.

derp.

[warrprayer]

24. hurr

[Archae]

21. Of course. Just look at the lineup for CPAC.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

22. no. you are not wrong.

the level of incompetency in the work force continues to amaze and astound me on a daily basis.

[ConcernedCanuk]

25. You are not wrong

.
.
.

no text needed here

[ConcernedCanuk]

27. Short answer -YES!

.
.
.

[JonLP24]

29. I often times

get nervous in social situations and make mistakes due to me being nervous therefore I come across stupid.

Ordering something at the cash register can be the scariest thing for me sometimes.

On edit - I'm smart enough to realize it is ridiculous to fear such things but I can't do anything about it most of the time.

[Ikonoklast]

31. You are wrong. It's a numbers thing.

People aren't getting more stupid, it's that there are more stupid people out and about, so you notice them more.

And since stupid people tend to reproduce more than non-stupid people, making a bunch of little stupids, the future is looking pretty bleak.

[SEMOVoter]

32. Even Yellow Dog Knows it....

I accept the original hypothesis that people are indeed stupider.

I suspect the frequency and intensity of stupid has increased over time, but I haven't seen any data to support this. Also, I live in Missouri where there is one meth related accident for every 3,300 in state population, so my perception of stupid could be biased due to saturation. Of course those meth accidents could be due to a de-emphasis on science in Missouri or just natural selection.

This would be such a fun science fair project.

(Fact sources: Missouri state population [1], Meth accidents by state [2])

[1] "List of U.S. States and Territories by Population." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Mar. 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_population>.

[2] "BuzzFeed." BuzzFeed. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2013. <http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/fascinating-map-of-where-meth-lab-accidents-happen-in-the-us>.

[Posteritatis]

37. Meh. People *always* think everyone around them (except for them) is getting dumber. (nt)

[CBHagman]

42. You are wrong.

Good sense, bad sense, knowledge, ignorance -- it's all part of the human condition, and there's no reason to believe people are less sensible and less informed nowadays.

As for your comments on the doughnut shop and wireless employees, what's with the generalizations?

[LuckyTheDog]

43. I had a bad day. I was venting.

But yes, I did encounter some massive stupidity.

[Bake]

45. They're becoming more stupid ...

In deference to one of the posters above ...

True is true, though.



Bake

[TrogL]

46. I've given up on Tim Hortons

Their menu is incomprehensible and they never get my order right.

[GoneOffShore]

48. Friend went into a Tim Hortons not too long ago wearing a faux fur coat.

Looks like a real fur.

This was the exchange:

"That's a really nice coat, eh. What is it?"

"It's a Northern Orlon. Very warm."

"A Northern Orlon, eh? I'll have to get my boyfriend to buy me one of those."

[cliffordu]

47. Well, DUH.....

[siligut]

49. Certain aspects of life are becoming more difficult/complex

This is due to outliers having influence over areas that we now work with everyday.

Plus, as stated above, some people reproduce more.