The Dumbing Down of America

[mason55]

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well along the lines of google, you can now search online instead of using a card catalog, and in college, periodical search engines are wonderful tools for report writing.

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can't read a map because they have Tom Tom.

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Most people today can't write calligraphy because we have the printing press. Most people today don't know how to empty a septic system because we sewage systems. Most people today don't know how to care for a horse because we have cars.

What's the problem?

[mbillie1]

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Under the definition of OP Wikipedia is probably one of the worst things to happen in terms of requiring less brain power, but would you really argue that Wikipedia has dumbed down America? I have at least cursory knowledge on hundreds of topics that I might have never even heard of before Wikipedia. Anyone who doesn't go research things in scientific journals today wouldn't have 50 years ago, and some people who do now do it because they were exposed to topics through Google et al. Increasing the speed at which information is disseminated is never a bad thing.

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Agreed, but I think OP probably meant more like Blarg said - the decline of general ability to service ones own car (due to 50,000 cheapo chain mechanics) etc.

I will say frozen food, fast food and take-out places have seriously deteriorated the ability of the average person to cook. The more easy, lazy food options there are the less people are inclined to cook. I'd be willing to bet that at least 35% of the adult population in the US couldn't turn a grocery store steak, some grocery store potatoes and fresh green beans into food.

[mason55]

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Agreed, but I think OP probably meant more like Blarg said - the decline of general ability to service ones own car

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I guess we could take all the ECU stuff out and go back to 12mpg and no air conditioning like we had in the 70's...

As things advance then knowledge required gets more specialized. Society is a symbiotic relationship. Think in terms of comparative advantage in economics. Sure, I could learn to fix all the problems in my car, but I'm better at other things so I spend my time learning them. Some guy is better at fixing cars than me so that's what he spends his time learning. I'll write the software and set up his Point of Sale system and he can fix my car and we both are further ahead than if we each tried to do everything ourselves.

[mbillie1]

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As things advance then knowledge required gets more specialized. Society is a symbiotic relationship. Think in terms of comparative advantage in economics. Sure, I could learn to fix all the problems in my car, but I'm better at other things so I spend my time learning them. Some guy is better at fixing cars than me so that's what he spends his time learning. I'll write the software and set up his Point of Sale system and he can fix my car and we both are further ahead than if we each tried to do everything ourselves.

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Again I agree here. There are things that make people lazier and possibly dumber, but most social/technological progress does not fall into this category. Obviously if there is no need for me to know how to fix my car myself (and there isn't) then it would be a waste of time and money for me to learn how to do it. However I am sacrificing a certain amount of "basic knowledge" by neglecting to learn how to do X, Y and Z.

I mean barely anyone could honestly make butter or bread nowadays. That's not dumbing down, it's just not a useful skill for every individual to have anymore. But not being able to do rudimentary math or heat up a piece of meat to feed yourself seem more significant, although I suppose it's all really shades of gray.

[Tron]

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NEWSFLASH if your kid can sit and play Xbox 360 for hours at a time, they do not have an attention problem.

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How well do you understand ADHD and the criteria by which it is diagnosed?

[Paul B.]

mason owned this thread so hard.

[Rushmore]

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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]

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Sort of surprised nobody has said it yet, but...

The hideous Celebrity Culture generated by the U.S. over the past fifty years is almost certainly one of the major contributing factors to both the stupidity and the ugliness of America.

The need to emulate the people seen in films and on television is such a peculiar perversion that we're still trying to adjust to the affect.

If your goal in life is to be "just like" Tupac Shakur, Paris Hilton, James Dean, Daniel Negreanu, Ann Coulter, or Britney Spears, then you fail to aspire to be something that is a product of your own nature.

I imagine this would make us all definitively dumber.

[mason55]

Can we clarify what we're comparing the current "stupid America" to?

Are we comparing it to the early 1800's, when most girls didn't attend school and most boys stopped extremely early so they could help on the farm?

Are we comparing it to the industrial revolution, when kids were working in dangerous factories instead of being in school?

Are we comparing it to the 1970's, when the high school dropout rate was almost 4% higher than it is today?

The only thing that you can say America is "dumber than" is some countries today. But I'm pretty sure South Korea uses GPS Systems and Germany has Google and India* has celebrities (Bollywood).


*Not sure if you can even say that India is smarter as a whole because of the large rural population but I would imagine that's the perception in America

[KotOD]

The thing that I've noticed, mostly because I've been trying to hire a few entry-level people, is the lack of writing skills caused by instant messaging and text messaging. College graduates can't write in full sentences any more, let alone use correct grammar.

[econophile]

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


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all of these things are really awesome