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I've joked around that Americans have gotten dumber and chalked it up as confirmation bias when I encountered stupidity. I was astounded by those videos where people ask college kids basic general knowledge questions and they don't know basic stuff like what countries make up North America, or how many planets there are. I chalked these up to the content creators picking and choosing particularly stupid kids or editing the videos in a skewed manner.
But it seems the data is evident of an alarming trend: people are actually are getting dumber.
American literacy and numeracy rates have fallen in recent years. 54% of Americans read below a 6th grade reading level. 21% are illiterate.
This video mentions changes in the education system and phone usage as well as a lack of tech/media literacy.
One of the most annoying trends for me is the lack of literacy on social media. You could post say, the sale of your used bicycle clearly outlining the model and price, and you'll still have people asking you what model it is and how much it is. I see a trend of people not knowing how to take a second to read the description. I would say this isn't just an American problem, but a global phenomenon since everybody in the entire planet is hooked on social media now.
I've talked about before how it seems like the younger generation doesn't know how to use the technology in their hands either. With each subsequent generation, the new generation loses skills of previous generations but the trade off is that become more tech savvy. But this new generation seems like they don't even know how to be tech savvy either. Other than tik tok and asking chat GTP things, they don't seem know that their phones can access a vast wealth of information. I've had younger people ask me stuff that could be easily found on google. I expected that I would have to teach my grandmother how to use her phone, but not 20 year olds.
People also seem to rely on AI for answers more and more instead of researching stuff on google. When I went to college, reading wikipedia was considered the lazy route, but now kids can't even do that and want chat gtp to give them easy to digest answers. The problem is that AI still gets a lot of stuff wrong and with the lack of critical thinking these days, people may just going to believe whatever AI tells them.
I'll note that another factor is that now google likes to give you answers generated by AI and/or sponsored content, which might take more effort to filter through than in the past. A lot stuff is also blocked by a paywall which doesn't help.
I know it's cliché of older generations to rag on the new generation for becoming stupider, lazier, weaker, etc. but I am starting to think the new generations are fucked. I used to think newer generations would be at least intellectually smarter, have more critical thinking skills, and be more tech savvy, but I am not sure that is the case now. Kids play outside less now, people are less connected to nature, more socially awkward, they read much less, get stuck in intellectual echo chambers online, become addicted to social media and less capable of researching information on their own. The new generation does seem to be getting lazier and weaker but without the tradeoff of tech savviness and critical thinking skills.
What do you guys think?
TLDR version because reading is hard:
1. Literacy and numeracy rates in the US have gone down due to issues in the education system.
2. People are addicted to their phones and social media.
3. People have shorter attention spans to read or pick up details even if they're clearly stated.
4. People have less critical thinking skills - online echo chambers.
5. Reliance on AI - less tech literacy.
6. People have overall less practical/real world skills on top of having less soft skills like critical thinking and social awareness.
7. We're just getting stupider/less capable in every dimension.
But it seems the data is evident of an alarming trend: people are actually are getting dumber.
American literacy and numeracy rates have fallen in recent years. 54% of Americans read below a 6th grade reading level. 21% are illiterate.
This video mentions changes in the education system and phone usage as well as a lack of tech/media literacy.
One of the most annoying trends for me is the lack of literacy on social media. You could post say, the sale of your used bicycle clearly outlining the model and price, and you'll still have people asking you what model it is and how much it is. I see a trend of people not knowing how to take a second to read the description. I would say this isn't just an American problem, but a global phenomenon since everybody in the entire planet is hooked on social media now.
I've talked about before how it seems like the younger generation doesn't know how to use the technology in their hands either. With each subsequent generation, the new generation loses skills of previous generations but the trade off is that become more tech savvy. But this new generation seems like they don't even know how to be tech savvy either. Other than tik tok and asking chat GTP things, they don't seem know that their phones can access a vast wealth of information. I've had younger people ask me stuff that could be easily found on google. I expected that I would have to teach my grandmother how to use her phone, but not 20 year olds.
People also seem to rely on AI for answers more and more instead of researching stuff on google. When I went to college, reading wikipedia was considered the lazy route, but now kids can't even do that and want chat gtp to give them easy to digest answers. The problem is that AI still gets a lot of stuff wrong and with the lack of critical thinking these days, people may just going to believe whatever AI tells them.
I'll note that another factor is that now google likes to give you answers generated by AI and/or sponsored content, which might take more effort to filter through than in the past. A lot stuff is also blocked by a paywall which doesn't help.
I know it's cliché of older generations to rag on the new generation for becoming stupider, lazier, weaker, etc. but I am starting to think the new generations are fucked. I used to think newer generations would be at least intellectually smarter, have more critical thinking skills, and be more tech savvy, but I am not sure that is the case now. Kids play outside less now, people are less connected to nature, more socially awkward, they read much less, get stuck in intellectual echo chambers online, become addicted to social media and less capable of researching information on their own. The new generation does seem to be getting lazier and weaker but without the tradeoff of tech savviness and critical thinking skills.
What do you guys think?
TLDR version because reading is hard:
1. Literacy and numeracy rates in the US have gone down due to issues in the education system.
2. People are addicted to their phones and social media.
3. People have shorter attention spans to read or pick up details even if they're clearly stated.
4. People have less critical thinking skills - online echo chambers.
5. Reliance on AI - less tech literacy.
6. People have overall less practical/real world skills on top of having less soft skills like critical thinking and social awareness.
7. We're just getting stupider/less capable in every dimension.
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