People are getting stupid-er or am I just getting older/wiser?

[Photoguy21]

11 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Have to agree with your points, and decades ago, things were discussed around the dinner table and so on, and young ones absorbed the information and knowledge therein, however now I have yet to see a family in a restaurant actually talking to one another, all of them being on their mobile phones or the like, and it makes me wonder what the forthcoming generation will actually be like.

 

As for your question about "when you couldn't school exams", well I remember it well and even in the 60s when I was taking my electrical engineering exams, we were only allowed to use slide rules, not that I would know how to use one these days!!!

 

However just as an aside, it's not just the younger generation, because I have friends around my age (in their 70s) who are gullible enough to believe and repeat rubbish that they read on various sites, and the Covid/vaccination/masks information they have forwarded makes me wonder if they were just stupid in the first place, or if they learned how to be that way over the years??

I am sure you wouldnt take long to get back into using a slide rule. I use to use one all the time back in the early 70's as an Engineering undergraduate. You would have been looked on as stupid if you couldnt use one.

[OneMoreFarang]

55 minutes ago, DaLa said:

I used to ‘help’ the assistants at 7/11 by offering a 1000 baht note together with 11.75 baht for an 811.75 baht purchase.

I’ve now learned this is a total waste of time. Problem is I nearly have 1 million baht in 25 and 50 satang coins.

 

Yes, exactly that.

 

And then that look on their face: This guy must be stupid. Why does he want to give me that small money. What an idiot! 

[Walker88]

I think the average IQ is dropping. So much knowledge is unnecessary, so people do not use their brains, and the brain goes fallow. It may no longer be necessary for a student to 'learn your tables', but that memorization aided the brain in areas other than simple memory or calculations, because people developed their own unique ways of doing arithmetic in their head. I suspect writing, rather than typing, also aided the brain, as writing involves thinking, coordination and spacial orientation (where to put loops, dot i s and cross t s). These things aid neuroplasticity.....neuron connections...which is the nature of intelligence.

 

I don't know if it matters than IQs are dropping, as in terms of discovery and invention, the Pareto Principle has always been at play, albeit with % much less than 20-80. The best and brightest will continue to shine, while the masses will devolve into troglodytes, largely redundant and unnecessary.

 

Also, since intelligence may be as much as 80% hereditary, and the brightest are having fewer children, the gene pool for intelligence is being diluted.

 

Perhaps most of the heavy lifting has already been done, and what's left to discover is knowledge that merely fills in minor gaps. Newton, Faraday, Maxwell, Einstein, Divac, Feynman and other noted scientists gave the planet the foundation for building just about everything we use today, as well as help us understand the nature of existence. What's left?  Better batteries? Nuke fusion? Linking gravity to the other forces? Finding the last few subatomic particles? All of those are incremental steps vs the quantum leaps made by the truly great thinkers.

 

Maybe we can afford to be dumber.

[Mac Mickmanus]

1 hour ago, DaLa said:

I used to ‘help’ the assistants at 7/11 by offering a 1000 baht note together with 11.75 baht for an 811.75 baht purchase.

I’ve now learned this is a total waste of time. Problem is I nearly have 1 million baht in 25 and 50 satang coins.

 

I was in a 7/11 recently and the till wasn't working and they had to use calculators to add up how much it cost , I put my four beers and bottle of water on the counter and said to her 270 Baht , so did the calculations on her calculator and shook her head and said "No, 230 Baht" . 

  I smiled at her and gave her 500 Baht  , she again did the calculations and gave me 270 Baht in change 

[OneMoreFarang]

15 minutes ago, Walker88 said:

I think the average IQ is dropping. So much knowledge is unnecessary, so people do not use their brains, and the brain goes fallow. It may no longer be necessary for a student to 'learn your tables', but that memorization aided the brain in areas other than simple memory or calculations, because people developed their own unique ways of doing arithmetic in their head. I suspect writing, rather than typing, also aided the brain, as writing involves thinking, coordination and spacial orientation (where to put loops, dot i s and cross t s). These things aid neuroplasticity.....neuron connections...which is the nature of intelligence.

 

I don't know if it matters than IQs are dropping, as in terms of discovery and invention, the Pareto Principle has always been at play, albeit with % much less than 20-80. The best and brightest will continue to shine, while the masses will devolve into troglodytes, largely redundant and unnecessary.

 

Also, since intelligence may be as much as 80% hereditary, and the brightest are having fewer children, the gene pool for intelligence is being diluted.

 

Perhaps most of the heavy lifting has already been done, and what's left to discover is knowledge that merely fills in minor gaps. Newton, Faraday, Maxwell, Einstein, Divac, Feynman and other noted scientists gave the planet the foundation for building just about everything we use today, as well as help us understand the nature of existence. What's left?  Better batteries? Nuke fusion? Linking gravity to the other forces? Finding the last few subatomic particles? All of those are incremental steps vs the quantum leaps made by the truly great thinkers.

 

Maybe we can afford to be dumber.

What a strange pseudointellectual post.

 

"So much knowledge is unnecessary, so people do not use their brains, and the brain goes fallow."

Really?

 

"Perhaps most of the heavy lifting has already been done, and what's left to discover is knowledge that merely fills in minor gaps. Newton, [...]"

 

I wonder if Newton thought that sometime in the future Einstein will come. I am sure he didn't think there is nothing to discover anymore.

 

Today we have so many discoveries and inventions which nobody ever dreamed about. Just think about the internet and especially the WWW and mobile phones and apps. Nobody missed all that before it was invented.

 

I don't know what the future will bring but lots of intelligent people will make it better.

[chacha boom]

Don't worry, it's just America spreading its wings. Oh, the sweet smell of freedumb!

[StreetCowboy]

On 9/18/2022 at 1:56 PM, stoner said:

ok not to be a total jerk here but in a thread where we are talking about people getting stupiderer you go on to tell everyone you are sitting on like 30k usd in coins. ahhhhhh

 

 

Everyone needs somewhere to sit

[StreetCowboy]

As I get older, I think the people around me are getting denser and dafter.  My grandmother told me that forty years ago, but I was too dense and daft to understand.  I expect I will have to go into a Home soon as well.

[473geo]

On 9/18/2022 at 12:51 PM, DaLa said:

I used to ‘help’ the assistants at 7/11 by offering a 1000 baht note together with 11.75 baht for an 811.75 baht purchase.

I’ve now learned this is a total waste of time. Problem is I nearly have 1 million baht in 25 and 50 satang coins.

 

You complicate things, most machines now the assistant enters to purchases, enters payment 1000 and the machine informs the correct change, swift and easy 

Your efforts slow the process down because the assistant must now add up your payment, check it, then enter it into the till 

 

[DaLa]

3 hours ago, 473geo said:

You complicate things, most machines now the assistant enters to purchases, enters payment 1000 and the machine informs the correct change, swift and easy 

Your efforts slow the process down because the assistant must now add up your payment, check it, then enter it into the till 

 

Good point. However 'slow the process down' ?  In Thailand ? My experience here, easily confirmed at Immigration, is that most processes and services are designed to do exactly that.  Exception being anything to do with food.

 

The other problem whilst I accept there is a time element to adding up, are you suggesting someone working in a shop doesn't recognise the denominations of the money they are taking?  Or admitting that despite record numbers of people going to university youngsters cant perform simple arithmetic.   Finally  how does does one relieve themselves of  accumulated change if they never use it in a transaction?

[Lemsta69]

17 minutes ago, DaLa said:

Good point. However 'slow the process down' ?  In Thailand ? My experience here, easily confirmed at Immigration, is that most processes and services are designed to do exactly that.  Exception being anything to do with food.

 

The other problem whilst I accept there is a time element to adding up, are you suggesting someone working in a shop doesn't recognise the denominations of the money they are taking?  Or admitting that despite record numbers of people going to university youngsters cant perform simple arithmetic.   Finally  how does does one relieve themselves of  accumulated change if they never use it in a transaction?

I doubt that what you do slows the process down by a significant margin. like you said, what else do you do with the loose change except maybe dump it in one of those questionable charity boxes?

 

at any rate, other customers hold up the line in the Seven. paying with wonky cards, stuffing around with showing their membership card, topping up their SIM card but forgetting their bloody number*

 

pointless worrying about it, it's way she goes. jai yen yen and all that.

 

*guilty as charged Your Majesty ????

[DaLa]

42 minutes ago, Lemsta69 said:

I doubt that what you do slows the process down by a significant margin. like you said, what else do you do with the loose change except maybe dump it in one of those questionable charity boxes?

 

at any rate, other customers hold up the line in the Seven. paying with wonky cards, stuffing around with showing their membership card, topping up their SIM card but forgetting their bloody number*

 

pointless worrying about it, it's way she goes. jai yen yen and all that.

 

*guilty as charged Your Majesty ????

Couldn't agree more , plus I like it slow at my age! The point being made about the cashier being taxed by having to add up the amount tendered also fails with this scenario:

 

Cost of goods 810 baht so I proffer 1 x 500 baht, 2 x 100 baht, 2 x 50 baht and 1 x 20 baht. Look of terror and /or confusion on the cashiers face.

 

Quite simply I agree with the point the OP  is making and anyone that doesn't witness that in daily life is probably part of the  problem, or alternatively one of the women that have a bag full of discount coupons in Top's supermarket.

[DaLa]

On 9/18/2022 at 12:56 PM, VinnieK said:

Dude..come on.

Are you pocketing the copper coins? 

Melting them down. Spot price today is 650.65.

[richard_smith237]

On 9/18/2022 at 2:19 AM, VinnieK said:

People cannot answer simple questions such as 'Where is the Panama canal'. ???????????????? Or where is the Queen of England from..????

You’ve been watching too much TikTok.... 

 

So, to answer your question.... Are people getting ‘stupid-er’ ??... well they may be losing their grasp of English... Are people becoming less intelligent ???... No, but some people are watching dumb s#it and projecting that everyone else believes it !!!! 

[Mac Mickmanus]

On 9/18/2022 at 12:19 AM, VinnieK said:

People cannot answer simple questions such as 'Where is the Panama canal'. ???????????????? Or where is the Queen of England from..????

Not to mention all the dare-devil type videos going on with disastrous results 

What they do is :

Ask 100 people the same question and they just show the five people who got it wrong on a video

[roger101]

The answer is that they are not getting more stupid it's just that you are getting more observant.

[Lacessit]

As an elderly person, I consider my knowledge base is shrinking as knowledge expands way beyond my comprehension. Younger generations have mastered skills that leave me floundering.

Having said that, I think I have acquired sufficient wisdom to know my limitations, and stay within them.

IMO in any generation, there are about 5% of people who make a difference, and about 30% who should not be allowed to vote.

Most of the stupidity I observe has a basis of belief, not fact. Trump supporters, climate deniers, anti-vaxxers, and the majority of Russians in Russia, take a bow.

[xylophone]

Not 100% related to the thread, but close.........I remember a wiser older guy some years ago who said that there was a difference between wisdom and knowledge and he quoted thus: – "knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit: wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad", or words to that effect.

 

I don't think it was his original saying, but it does help sort out the wisdom/knowledge conundrum for some people.

[473geo]

4 hours ago, DaLa said:

Couldn't agree more , plus I like it slow at my age! The point being made about the cashier being taxed by having to add up the amount tendered also fails with this scenario:

 

Cost of goods 810 baht so I proffer 1 x 500 baht, 2 x 100 baht, 2 x 50 baht and 1 x 20 baht. Look of terror and /or confusion on the cashiers face.

 

Quite simply I agree with the point the OP  is making and anyone that doesn't witness that in daily life is probably part of the  problem, or alternatively one of the women that have a bag full of discount coupons in Top's supermarket.

I'm quite good at maths but if I was on a 7/11 salary, with deductions for mistakes, I think I would check and double check 

In my professional life I often devised self audit processes, not so easy in 7/11 I suspect hence the checking with calculator ????

 

[thaibeachlovers]

I don't think stupidity is increasing per capita, but as the population grows there will be more of them.

[GammaGlobulin]

If the person who posted this post wishes to find people of intelligence, far more intelligent than Harvard undergrads, then he/she should book a flight to PNG. 

 

I could reference this observation with a valid academic citation. But, why bother? 

[1FinickyOne]

1. They are shooting too many radio waves through the air, especially now w/cell phones and it is screwing w/people's brains

 

2. something toxic in the water

 

3. something toxic in the air. 

 

4. all of the above. 

[1FinickyOne]

On 9/19/2022 at 10:35 PM, StreetCowboy said:

I expect I will have to go into a Home soon as well.

But whose home? 

 

This is why we lock our doors at night, I guess. 

[Mac Mickmanus]

4 minutes ago, 1FinickyOne said:

1. They are shooting too many radio waves through the air, especially now w/cell phones and it is screwing w/people's brains

 

2. something toxic in the water

 

3. something toxic in the air. 

 

4. all of the above. 

Is that a Phil Collins song ?

[1FinickyOne]

On 9/18/2022 at 3:14 PM, chacha boom said:

Don't worry, it's just America spreading its wings. Oh, the sweet smell of freedumb!

( o )

[ChrisKC]

Fortunately. there are no stupid people on this forum!

[SmokeandIce]

On 9/17/2022 at 11:03 PM, Photoguy21 said:

Since most of the younger generation spend most of their time on Tik-Tok it is hardly surprising that they are as thick as two short planks.

If it isnt on Tik-Tok or similar app then they have no idea.

Just out of interest who, on this platform remember when you couldnt use a calculator in school exams? (I was going to say how many can use a slide rule but I know it wouldnt be very many at all).

Do you think knowing what a slide rule makes you smarter than others ?  It just makes you older than most. I don't think you are correct in putting people down who have never been exposed to a slide rule, they are just from another generation.  No better, no worse.

[allanos]

A New Zealand researcher, 

Dr James Flynn, discovered, a number of years ago, that, over the past approximately 5 000 years, IQ's have increased generation on generation, and not the other way around. The finding has become known as the Flynn Effect.

 

Possibly, the proof can be found even at a modern-day tribal level.

 

Not so very long ago, an American Indian would say "How"!

 

Today, he asks "Why"?

[Photoguy21]

20 minutes ago, SmokeandIce said:

Do you think knowing what a slide rule makes you smarter than others ?  It just makes you older than most. I don't think you are correct in putting people down who have never been exposed to a slide rule, they are just from another generation.  No better, no worse.

No but do you think such child like comment makes you smarter?

[Tropposurfer]

On 9/18/2022 at 10:33 AM, Tarteso said:

I know the answer to the questions;

 

 

1.-  Panamá

2.-  England

✌️ 

Show off ! Are you a member of Menser or what lol ???????????????? !