Is society being 'dumbed' down? What is causing this, and what will happen to our future?

Question

Even though science/technology has exploded in the last 100 years - which has been the most significant molding factor of the present characteristics of our society, why has the public's understanding lagged lately? It seems people are losing their basic, fundamental skills. We could regress, or at least split into two different societies, maybe?

Answer 1

It is to insure there will always be enough of the working class and lower class to guarantee the support system for the upper class.

Answer 2

To ensure that YOU are not as dumbed down as the rest of society:

Prophecy by Robert Kiyosaki

Read and enjoy.  Think about how you will best handle the next 4 years.  What you choose to do in the next 4 years will probably make or break your financial future.  People think that the middle class is dissapearing, and that there are three levels to our society: rich, middle class and poor.  By 2012, there will be three levels: Richest, rich and very poor.

read the book, plan your financial future, don't allow the fact that you haven't learned it up to now stop you!

http://www.amazon.com/Rich-Dads-Prophecy...

Answer 3

...My take is this: the liberal elite, who wish to control this country and everyone else (and put people under laws which they themselves do not follow) is using the public school system and "higher" (?) education (aka secular colleges and universities), who are heading the charge when it comes to dumbing down the population.

...Among other things, those who have been "dumbed down" are easier to manipulate and control, and $5.00 to a doughnut says their votes can easily be wrestled away from them without much thinking on their part.

...A liberal doesn't want you to think critically or even think; just vote for them, support them, re-elect them, and follow them, while they redistribute your wealth and tax you to death.

Answer 4

Society is being dumbed down on account of the growing majority of people who have TVs, computers, and other forms of media, including technology such as iPods, Robotics, and other "home-improvement" devices. These things make us dependent on the very culture we built around ourselves for security, and makes us oblivious to any kind of raw, earthy knowledge that Neandertals had. We think we are too special to have instincts. I don't think we should split into two different societies, only try to enlighten the soggy, holed up minds of people that spend their days watching a screen, or playing with some fancy gadget. That is the only way we, as a thoughtful, compassionate human race can survive without totally disappearing into the giant mass which is technology.

Answer 5

No it isn't.

Averag IQ has been on the rise -- due partly to improvd nutrition, partly to early exposure to intellectual enrichment.

This idea, that people are getting dumber, is not new. It's based on an unrealistic idea of how smart most people were in the past, and a denigration of how smart people are now (often based on things like slang -- which has always been around).

A couple of years ago, I read an article about a quiz given a large sample of Americans in the '50s. I was AMAZED at how many items that are now common knowledge vast majorities then got wrong.

There are a lot of things that people used to know that most now don't, because we don't NEED to know them (how to milk a cow -- not many people need this skill, for instance).

It will be intresting to see the next gneration, raised with this tremendous tool, the Intrnet, where any knowldge you want is a few clicks away.

You're focusing on skills people used to need, and ignoring all the skills people know have, that no one used to have.

No, we're not regressing, quite the opposite.

The dangr of splitting into two different societies is a world one, that already exists -- the poorst nations don't have the advantages of the rich (including technology and education, not to mention nutrituion).

But this one society? Less split now than before.

If you look at what past generations enjoyed as entertainment, how many could read, what the writing of the majority looked like (not just these things about the smartest people, but about everyone), we're smarter and more sophisticated now, as well as having more and a higher level of skills.

Txt-speak notwithstanding.

We're also more adaptive and tolerant of change than we've ever been, due to the increasing rate of change.

Answer 6

Yes..design..http://www.deliberatedumbingdown.com/

Answer 7

i think we are following a downward spiral, sped up by our own technological advancement - i mean, kids don't need to know how to spell anymore - there's spellcheck. and people have no need to learn basic fundamental learning skills cause now someone else can do that for you, or a computer can help you out. books are no longer needed, heck, even normal social relationships are subsided by chats and such...so yeah, thats progress for ya, lol