Are people in unskilled jobs getting dumber?

You're just getting older, and starting to hate today's youth. It happens to every generation.
 
Your're dumb and this is the worst thread ever.
 
I see where TS is coming from. While shopping for dinner the other night it took nearly 2 minutes for the cashier to give us change the register already calculated for her. No exaggeration.

I mean really? Are we to the point that we can't even memorize simple coins?
 
seamus1979 said:
i got an llb (law degree)
im now an electrician
my brother has a degree in physics and computer science and he is an electrician as well
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I don't know what it's like in Europe. I consider electrician a skilled profession by the way.
 
Bolshevik said:
economics.

i got jobs easily when i was doing my undergraduate work, and in before i started graduate school. i had to quit my job though because there was no way i could keep working there and go to graduate school. since i started, i haven't had any luck though.
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good luck. Most of my friends/relatives who did econ stuff interned at banks(GS, JPMorgan, Lehman Bros, etc.) They paid really well too, as much or more than me. Hours were insane though, they said juggling that and school was tough.
 
ISWThunder said:
In the past, communities were smaller and you had less interaction with people outside your community. So instead of people wondering if all unskilled laborers are getting stupider, they had a better grasp on who in their community was stupid and could avoid them.

Now that everyone is in position to be in contact with everyone else, stories of stupidity travel much farther than they ever did. So instead of knowing that specific people are dumb, you wonder if everyone like them is dumb.

The reality is that job title is rarely dictated by intelligence. Obviously there are certain fields that require intelligence, but far more jobs require basic intelligence levels and experience.

In short, there are plenty of bums that read Nietzsche and bankers that watch honey boo-boo. There have always been stupid people and there will always be stupid people, but people used to be ashamed of stupidity. Now they embrace it openly.
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Personally, I believe what you said in bold is true for the middle portion of a distribution. I don't think this is true for the tail ends though, I've never met a smart fastfood worker or a dumb corporate attorney. I'm talking like the 10th percentile. Like REALLY unskilled, not midlevel marketing, sales, elementary school teachers, etc. I consider those skilled professions. I'm talking about professions like bus driver, customer support, retail, food service, etc. From personal experience, I found in recent years the percentage of idiots in those professions has dramatically increased. I'm sure most people who hold these jobs don't give a shit, but they still used to perform at their jobs.
 
Gervinho said:
Not true, education has never been less important than it is today. Having the right contacts is the most important thing in this current climate. Companies can easily train people if they want and if you know the right you will get the right training. My company is the perfect example where my boss brought in his brother, his brother in law and his cousin and all of them steadily moved up the scale and the company gave them alot of training to be good at their jobs
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read my followup post after that one to elaborate -or read any of my post history on this subject.

I am not referring to formal education -I am referring to continual education or "training" -If you are not continually growing and training and your position expanding -it is a problem -it means that your role can likely be automated and replaced at some point. and trust me -they are working on it.

I would agree that college education is less and less important today.

and everyone knows on here that the I have always emphasized that connections/contacts and work ethic are the most important factors for success -far more than talent or a college degree.

In fact talent is worthless in many positions -especially over a mediocre candidate whole can meet deadlines.
 
SevenSamurai said:
read my followup post after that one to elaborate -or read any of my post history on this subject.

I am not referring to formal education -I am referring to continual education or "training" -If you are not continually growing and training and your position expanding -it is a problem -it means that your role can likely be automated and replaced at some point. and trust me -they are working on it.

I would agree that college education is less and less important today.

and everyone knows on here that the I have always emphasized that connections/contacts and work ethic are the most important factors for success -far more than talent or a college degree.

In fact talent is worthless in many positions -especially over a mediocre candidate whole can meet deadlines.
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Really? It seems a bachelors is the new diploma. There are a lot of job postings these days that ask for a college degree even though it doesn't require it.
 
I feel like the economy is pushing the intelligence downward in the labour market actually. Most people around my age who are employed (that I know) seem to be pretty overqualified for their jobs.

Explains why my customer service was so fucking good this past holiday season.
 
TheGauntlet7 said:
Really? It seems a bachelors is the new diploma. There are a lot of job postings these days that ask for a college degree even though it doesn't require it.
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thats because so many people have them that the value has been watered down -the value is not there for the cost

but now with online education and tremendous resource access, and industry certification many employees are going 180 -taking younger, motivated candidates, and train them and grow them to avoid the entry pricepoint, over estimate of self worth, and lack of loyalty or focus that comes from the Generation Y/Next college grad.

with the economy still tanking I'm not reallr certaine how this shakes out now accross the board -because I can hire a really experience older graduate for the same money I used to pay a complete newbee entry position.

fucked up world!
 
HillRaiser said:
I feel like the economy is pushing the intelligence downward in the labour market actually. Most people around my age who are employed (that I know) seem to be pretty overqualified for their jobs.

Explains why my customer service was so fucking good this past holiday season.
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indeed, drive thrus are sweet right now, but actual intelligence has so little to do with success.

success is more about relationships and motivation. -talent and smarts are largely overrated from an employer standpoint.

I had the false persumption as a child that my talent and intelligence would land me my career and sustain me.

However, sadly (in a sense) my career successes in the last 10 years (after a lost decade of sitting around having potential and being very talented came to very little) has been my ability to make friends and connections and my motivation to outwork the next guy.

This is not something they really taught when I was in school -It was always -"You are a great and natural artist or musician or are very smart -so you will make something of yourself one day" -Which is a lie and somewhat irresponsible of teachers to say that -as I reflect now.

You have to work very hard and make many friends.
 
Short answer - yes.

People with some intelligence are generally going to college or trade schools these days. Back in the day, fewer people went to college so you'd find more smart people in unskilled labor jobs.

Or you're just getting smarter?
 
panamaican said:
Short answer - yes.

People with some intelligence are generally going to college or trade schools these days. Back in the day, fewer people went to college so you'd find more smart people in unskilled labor jobs.

Or you're just getting smarter?
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This post makes a lot of sense. A college degree is pretty much required for a white collar job these days, which wasn't true before.
 
This is more of an American thing from why I've seen. Lots of lazy people who don't give a hoot about their low paying jerbs.
 
SevenSamurai said:
indeed, drive thrus are sweet right now, but actual intelligence has so little to do with success.

success is more about relationships and motivation. -talent and smarts are largely overrated from an employer standpoint.

I had the false persumption as a child that my talent and intelligence would land me my career and sustain me.

However, sadly (in a sense) my career successes in the last 10 years (after a lost decade of sitting around having potential and being very talented came to very little) has been my ability to make friends and connections and my motivation to outwork the next guy.

This is not something they really taught when I was in school -It was always -"You are a great and natural artist or musician or are very smart -so you will make something of yourself one day" -Which is a lie and somewhat irresponsible of teachers to say that -as I reflect now.

You have to work very hard and make many friends.
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I think unless you're talking about multimillionaire success, relationships have very little to do with it. Just to make six figures, it's mostly smarts and hard work. Think about it, by professions, who makes the most? engineers, corporate attorneys, patent attorneys, investment bankers, doctors. Most of these people got to where they are from smarts and hard work. Substituting relationships for intelligence is not sustainable to them.

I know this isn't going to prove this, but amongst me and my friends, the majority of us make six figures but noone had a relationship to get a job. We did it by going to school and applying like the rest of the schmucks out there.
 
SevenSamurai said:
indeed, drive thrus are sweet right now, but actual intelligence has so little to do with success.

success is more about relationships and motivation. -talent and smarts are largely overrated from an employer standpoint.

I had the false persumption as a child that my talent and intelligence would land me my career and sustain me.

However, sadly (in a sense) my career successes in the last 10 years (after a lost decade of sitting around having potential and being very talented came to very little) has been my ability to make friends and connections and my motivation to outwork the next guy.

This is not something they really taught when I was in school -It was always -"You are a great and natural artist or musician or are very smart -so you will make something of yourself one day" -Which is a lie and somewhat irresponsible of teachers to say that -as I reflect now.

You have to work very hard and make many friends.
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Dad?
 
I had a medical receptionist that had to call for backup to get help with taking 10% off my bill. I was sitting there and she had a computer and a calculator in front of her, but she had to call for backup because she "gets confused with percentages".
 
Desdinova said:
I had a medical receptionist that had to call for backup to get help with taking 10% off my bill. I was sitting there and she had a computer and a calculator in front of her, but she had to call for backup because she "gets confused with percentages".
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Another good example. Was she at least hot?
 
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