Are people getting smarter or more stupid?

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Or smarter in some ways but more stupid in others...

Internet-savvy, but socially stupid.

In Texas, much stupider.

Are we talking knuckle-dragging stupid or just plaids-with-stripes stupid?

I've been worrying that there is a virus that makes people stupid since the late 1990s.

And that's why there are people refuse to believe in science but are 110% convinced satellites in space are keeping prayers from reaching god.

Or that vaccines are full of deadly chemicals that will kill you but have no problems with drinking, smoking, doing drugs, or eating tons of junk food.

Or why they believe every stupid ridiculous thing a celebrity says but never what a real doctor or scientist says.

Or that the world is flat.

Or that a certain former president is some kind of a god that will save the world.

Or that women were put on Earth only to be the cooks, maids and sex slaves of men.

Or that still being a virgin by the time you're 18 is worse than death.

Or that non-white people are deliberately trying to make white people extinct. (if white supremacists are so powerful and superior you'd think they'd have nothing to worry about)

Or that Covid 19 is a hoax and wearing masks is evil and satanic.

Or that Tide Pods are just like candy.

Or that you absolutely must be like everyone else instead of being yourself and they'll treat you like garbage if you don't fit in.

Or that adults with Asperger's or "mild" autism are nothing but self-entitled selfish brats who don't know how horrible it is having a child who has constant meltdowns, which they of course record for the whole world to see, and firmly believe the kid got that way because of vaccines. And make the kid go to ABA where they get a mouthful of hot sauce for harmlessly stimming.

Well, being so people rely on computers to do the thinking for them they can't think for themselves any more.

A bit like when we had a delivery once, there were two people in the delivery van and it was local, and our address wasn't hard to find. But after half an hour they phoned up and told us that the sat-nav couldn't find our address and so my mum had to give them the directions. When she put the phone down she sighed and ranted, "people these days, why can't they just use their brain instead of always relying on technology all the time?!" She was right, because it's easy to just look at the street signs.

Another time was when we had a leak in the ceiling, two different plumbers came out to try and fix it, but both seemed to miss what was causing the leak, because the little gadget thing they used wasn't detecting it. So all they did was scratch their heads and went again. So we (none of us having a clue about plumbing) all tried to detect it using our common sense - and we actually found where the leak was coming from, and it was really simple! You didn't need technology at all, you just needed a brain between your ears and the only gadget you may have needed was a flashlight.

This is why I dislike everything being digitalised. Yet people my age and younger, and Americans, seem to think computers are the most wonderful thing to have ever been invented.

Look at it like this: In the 1960's the manual that came with a new car had diagrams of the engine and how to do routine maintenance on it. Nowadays the manual with new cars only tells you not to drink the battery acid.

I don't understand the question.

Yes.

I remember an opening line in a book that went, "Back in a time when people knew less, but understood more". I don't remember the title of the book though.

Yep, laughable, ain't it?

At work we had to be trained to climb a small step ladder. How ridiculous is that? I used to climb ladders as a toddler on playground slides (much longer than a step ladder) and I didn't get trained how to do it.

I think it's because of all these lawsuits they have in place now. Yes, they ignore the more likely accidents and make a big fuss over accidents that may never happen.

Or like you're not allowed in abandoned buildings any more in case you hurt yourself and then whichever prick owns an unused falling apart building in the middle of nowhere might be sued.
I'm an adult, I am fascinated by abandoned buildings and so badly want to explore them, I know the risks and if I hurt myself then it will serve me right. I just hate rules and lawsuits!

And yet somehow todays manuals are much thicker!

When I was a kid adults thought we were going to be stupid because of TV and video games and rock music. And we turned out... oh wait.

I don't know if kids these days are much easier influenced or if they're just mollycoddled too much, but often when I read reviews of kiddies shows the parents are always complaining that the show is too realistic or too unrealistic.

There's this modern show for 4-year-olds that parents hate, because the kids in it are too well-behaved and the parents are too chilled and that their 4-year-old watching that isn't doing them any good in learning social skills. Um, it's a show for TODDLERS for Christ sake, what do these parents want? Unruly, naughty children setting fire to things and the parents swearing at each other? For a show to be aimed at small children it needs to be chilled and simplistic.

People are getting smarter, but not wiser.
People are getting smarter, but easily led into compounding their mistakes.
People are getting smarter, but accepting more false information as facts.
People are getting smarter, but more reliant on others' information rather than vetting it for themselves.
People are getting smarter, but more likely to default to and defend beliefs over science and social welfare.

I think people are getting smarter in general. We know more than we used to. I think we still need to do a better job at teaching critical thinking in schools, though.