The Dumbing Down of America

[Big Steve]

What products out there make people use less brain power?

Examples:

Calculator instead of Pen and Paper
GPS Navigation instead of a Map
Spell Checker instead of a Dictionary

What are some others?

Big Steve [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[mbillie1]

Facebook

[roaaahhh]

calculator instead of pen and paper?????????
granted if your doing multi tables on one instead of your head you might functionally retarded but a graphing calculator has been one of the greatest upgrades in higher math education in a long time....

you want dumbing down of america, go with google, spell check, mtv, and social networking.

[mbillie1]

I assume Steve meant calculator for things like basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, division.........

[Big Steve]

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I assume Steve meant calculator for things like basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, division.........

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yeah basic [censored] like 6*7=42 etc. Not the 4th prime of [censored] for calculus.

Big Steve [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[BillNye]

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yeah basic [censored] like 6*7=42 etc. Not the 4th prime of [censored] for calculus.

Big Steve [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

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ya, im sure thats what u meant... thats why u said calculator instead of PEN AND PAPER. Cuz tons of people use pen and paper for 6x7 [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[mason55]

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you want dumbing down of america, go with google

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google makes it incredibly easy to find information. instead of having to go to the library and search through books, it allows information instantly. i am definitely way smarter because of google and I imagine that most people are as well. i know lots of people who aren't the brightest bulbs in the drawer but are still use google to look up lots of things they dont understand. in fact, google might be even more useful to those people. and it's not like someone who is too lazy to google would have gone to the library in the past to look it up.

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spell check

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spell check allows people to see the correct spelling of words. whether or not people actually learn after getting their words corrected is up for debate, but i'm sure some sink in after seeing them corrected and it allows people to produce works without misspelled words, something that will only increase people's ability to spell.

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social networking.

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how in the world does social networking make people dumber. if anything it exposes people to people with differing viewpoints who they might not meet if they were just hanging out with a small group of friends. it also allows people to keep in touch with those they might have lost touch with.

i think your examples are awful.



edit: I just saw the post actually asked "what makes people use less brain power" how is using less brain power related to the dumbing down of america? if anything, allowing people to learn with less effort is a good thing and will encourage people to expand their horizons and learn new information [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[vhawk01]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
you want dumbing down of america, go with google

[/ QUOTE ]

google makes it incredibly easy to find information. instead of having to go to the library and search through books, it allows information instantly. i am definitely way smarter because of google and I imagine that most people are as well. i know lots of people who aren't the brightest bulbs in the drawer but are still use google to look up lots of things they dont understand. in fact, google might be even more useful to those people. and it's not like someone who is too lazy to google would have gone to the library in the past to look it up.

[ QUOTE ]
spell check

[/ QUOTE ]
spell check allows people to see the correct spelling of words. whether or not people actually learn after getting their words corrected is up for debate, but i'm sure some sink in after seeing them corrected and it allows people to produce works without misspelled words, something that will only increase people's ability to spell.

[ QUOTE ]
social networking.

[/ QUOTE ]
how in the world does social networking make people dumber. if anything it exposes people to people with differing viewpoints who they might not meet if they were just hanging out with a small group of friends. it also allows people to keep in touch with those they might have lost touch with.

i think your examples are awful.



edit: I just saw the post actually asked "what makes people use less brain power" how is using less brain power related to the dumbing down of america? if anything, allowing people to learn with less effort is a good thing and will encourage people to expand their horizons and learn new information [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

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Agreed. I think that dictionary.com and Google are probably the two most important tools I have to get smarter, at least in the sense that the OP means. FWIW, I don't really think being able to do 6*7 off the top of my head relates to any meaningful intelligence, nor does spelling words correctly, but assuming thats what he's talking about, google FTW.

[DirtyDiggs]

Mason et all,

There is nothing inherently bad about the calculator, google, wikipedia etc. They are useful tools and have made my life better.

[ QUOTE ]
I just saw the post actually asked "what makes people use less brain power" how is using less brain power related to the dumbing down of america? if anything, allowing people to learn with less effort is a good thing and will encourage people to expand their horizons and learn new information

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This is where I disagree with you. A large percentage of information garnered through the above stated means is reguarded as "disposable" by much of society. When its immediate, directly-tangible usefulness to the person has passed, it is discarded. I believed that older methods of gathering the same knowldge was more likely to result in its synthesis in to our overall cognitive ability.

This is not a lament and I'd have no desire to return to doing long division by hand. (I'm actually only 26, but was often restriced from using it until advanced math. Catholic Schools) But I was using more brain activity in doing it than entering keys in a calculator. All resources you mentioned are a huge time saver and it is inevitable that we'll continue to progress in that direction, but they will result in the dumbing down of America if that lost mental riguer isn't refocused. I think this occurs for the majority of the industrialized world.

[Blarg]

I'd bet many people can work things out on calculators that they have no hope of working out without one, at least in any reasonable amount of time. In that case a calculator is not merely a shortcut.

Big Steve, I'm thinking of this thread in terms of Paradise Lost, in a way.

In that vein, I'll contribute: working on your car. Used to be common and a huge money saver and great way to increase practical knowledge, even leading to career for some. Now that so many cars have computers and have their engine compartments built so tight that it's very difficult to change your own oil, it makes more sense to just know nothing and let the pro's do it.

I'd also posit pop psychology making people think they can't discipline their own kids and keep them from running around like wild animals, because it might cause the boogeyman to leap out of the closet and warp their kids' minds or something. We rely on experts and pseudo-experts way too much for even elementary things, and regarding kids, can easily feel like well-studied experts without having a clue or any control whatsoever on what's happening in our own families. We decide to feel good about trying, not about results.