HAS TECHNOLOGY MADE US LAZY?
People Be Getting Dumber
If the proliferation of neck tattoos does not convince, then consider the research of Bernt Bratsberg and Ole Rogeberg. A study by the two Norwegians shows a decline in IQ, a reversal of the Flynn Effect that witnessed scores on intelligence-measuring tests consistently increasing for much of the 20th century.“For the 1962–1975 Flynn increase period, the model estimates a 0.20 (95% uncertainty bound: 0.11, 0.29) average annual IQ point increase within families and a 0.18 (0.14, 0.21) increase across families,” the study explains. “For the 1975–1991 decrease period, we estimate a 0.33 (0.26, 0.40) annual IQ point decline within families and a 0.34 (0.30, 0.38) decline across families.” Considering that the numbers indicate an IQ point drop every three years or so, the decline appears precipitous rather than glacial.
Though the article appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences limits its focus to Norwegian males, it points out similar results occurring within other populations in the industrialized world. The decline of IQs within families indicates an environmental culprit rather than a genetic one, but the researchers do not reveal any specific malefactor, e.g., the premiere of The Gong Show suspiciously occurring right as scores began to decline.
Stupid is the new smart.
Observe the habits of travelers. In subway cars, on airplanes, and on buses, passengers once passed the time by reading newspapers, magazines, and books. Now they check social media, play video games, and text. SMH. The percentage of Americans reading — Gallup now counts “listening” to a book as reading and an unfinished book as reading a book — not a single book in a year doubled from 8 to 16 percent from when Gallup first polled Americans on their reading habits in 1978 to the last time they did so in 2016. Gallup spun its findings as “Rumors of the Demise of Books Greatly Exaggerated” largely on the bases of older Americans reading more.
Even citadels of the book glean the wrong message from Fahrenheit 451, with educators and librarians finding it more as inspiration than a cautionary tale.
Schools around the country replace libraries with media centers featuring screens instead of books. The principal of Manhattan’s Life Sciences Secondary School destroyed the books in her school. “They made an announcement that they were getting rid of the books because they were antiquated and outdated, and we should be using new technology,” a teacher told theNew York Post in 2017. “I hid some of my books to prevent them from being taken.”
The American Library Association (ALA) hosts National Gaming Day, one of the world’s largest video game tournaments, every fall. The ALA reasons that “libraries are about much more than books.” To that end, libraries increasingly lend video games and become much less about books.
Culturally, the regress appears literal. Time travel through the channels and watch reboots of Dynasty and Hawaii Five-O. This week, ABC aired classic episodes of All in the Family and The Jeffersons reenacted by “celebrities” (a word that surely captures the stupidity zeitgeist better than most). The silver screen, heretofore the more highbrow of the two media, dives more deeply in the shallows. Remakes, sequels, and films based on old comic-book characters represent all but one of last year’s top-grossing films. Hollywood relies on brands rather than originality.
The way people amass knowledge takes on a Cliff Notes quality. We search internet indexes for information devoid of context. We amass facts but not knowledge — and certainly not wisdom. The way we gather information tends to anesthetize rather than stimulate thought and imagination. Apart from increasingly using passive media, we favor, in ways far more dramatic than in the past, sources that reinforce rather than challenge our beliefs.
This environment reflects a less literate, intellectually-curious population. In many ways, it also makes for one.
If only we were smarter we would know that we are dumb.
Also might like:
Is technology making us dumber or smarter? Yes
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. -- Plato (429-347 BC)
"FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM AND LIBERTY"
and is protected speech pursuant to the "unalienable rights" of all men, and the First (and Second) Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, In God we trust
Stand Up To Government Corruption and Hypocrisy
Knowledge Is Power And Information is Liberating: The FRIENDS OF LIBERTY BLOG GROUPS are non-profit blogs dedicated to bringing as much truth as possible to the readers.
Knowledge Is Power And Information is Liberating: The FRIENDS OF LIBERTY BLOG GROUPS are non-profit blogs dedicated to bringing as much truth as possible to the readers.
NEVER FORGET THE SACRIFICES
BY OUR VETERANS
Note: We at The Patriot cannot make any warranties about the completeness, reliability, and accuracy of this information.
Don't forget to follow the Friends Of Liberty on Facebook and our Page also Pinterest, Twitter, Tumblr, Me We and PLEASE help spread the word by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.
LibertygroupFreedom 
The Patriot is a non-partisan, non-profit organization with the mission to Educate, protect and defend individual freedoms and individual rights.
Support the Trump Presidency and help us fight Liberal Media Bias. Please LIKE and SHARE this story on Facebook or Twitter.
WE THE PEOPLE
TOGETHER WE WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Join The Resistance and Share This Article Now!
TOGETHER WE WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Help us spread the word about THE PATRIOT Blog we're reaching millions help us reach millions more.
Help us spread the word about THE PATRIOT Blog we're reaching millions help us reach millions more.
Please SHARE this now! The Crooked Liberal Media will hide and distort the truth. It’s up to us, Trump social media warriors, to get the truth out. If we don’t, no one will!
Share this story on Facebook and let us know because we want to hear YOUR voice!
Facebook has greatly reduced the distribution of our stories in our readers' newsfeeds and is instead promoting mainstream media sources. When you share with your friends, however, you greatly help distribute our content. Please take a moment and consider sharing this article with your friends and family. Thank you
◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈
Share this story on Facebook and let us know because we want to hear YOUR voice!
Facebook has greatly reduced the distribution of our stories in our readers' newsfeeds and is instead promoting mainstream media sources. When you share with your friends, however, you greatly help distribute our content. Please take a moment and consider sharing this article with your friends and family. Thank you
❦❧❧❦❧❦❧❦❧❦❧❦❧❦❧❦❧❦❧❦❧❦❧❦❧❦❧❦❧❦❧❦
For you see, the world is governed by very different personages from what is imagined by those who are not behind the scenes.
Coningsby: Or The New Generation And, The governments of the present day have to deal not merely with other governments, with emperors, kings, and ministers, but also with the secret societies which have everywhere their unscrupulous agents, and can at the last moment upset all the governments’ plans. — Benjamin Disraeli, Speech at Aylesbury, Great Britain, September 10, 1870
◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈
No comments:
Post a Comment