Spinning off that "small brain" thread

Bobby Hamilton · Mar 21, 2012

I had a preacher once say that he thought society as a whole is not getting smarter. He even went so far to say as it's going the other way, somewhat rapidly.

He talked about different era's in the Bible, etc. Since then, I've heard other scholars say the same thing.

I wonder what your thoughts are. Obviously, today, we have huge advancments in medicine, technology, etc...but none of that would be possible without the findings of other generations. That people today aren't smarter, they're just adding to the puzzle.

What do you guys think?

preachinjesus · Mar 21, 2012

That's a hard question to answer well. There are aspects of knowledge that we are growing in and, if we were even able to give a general survey of the last 500 years you'd find mixed results. In terms of general knowledge I'd say (this is completely ad hoc) that we're gaining more knowledge than earlier generations. When it comes to specialized topics this is true cconcerning technological things, but less true of more general topics.

Knowledge is deeply subjective. I mean how many people in here would accurately answer questions like: "Who is the narrator of Moby Dick?" or "Who introduced Watson to Holmes?" those kinds of odd bits used to be considered well known. However I bet you more people can answer things like, "What was the profession of Tom Hanks' character in Philadelphia?" or "What is the setting for Downton Abbey?"

I doubt, however, anyone would say the general populance is less intelligent than populations 2,000 years ago, much less 1,000 years ago.

All this said, there is something I am becoming more alarmed about everyday: a new intellectual dark ages brought on by our devotion to all the gadgets and trinkets in our lives.

I fear we might be, as a worldwide people, slinking into a multi-generational brain-drain due to these things that do the work for us. We are becoming less intelligent and, ultimately, less productive...save for a elite class that accomplishes these things for us. Then they, in the end, dominate us.

Your question is good, just complicated.

Bobby Hamilton · Mar 21, 2012

Yeah, I hadn't really thought of it as much this way.

I really feel like what I would describe as "common sense" seems to become more and more void from people. And technology has made us lazy. Things we used to be trained to remember (small irrelevant pieces of info) no longer retain, because we know we can hop on google to look. I even read a study about how Husbands/Wives remember things for each other, and now that has diminished. Like a husband would be asked what date their kid got married, and he'd just ask his wife. Same thing with other stuff. We now no longer remember little stuff because of access to information.

I even notice it in my life to some degree. 10 years ago, I could've told you the starting offense and defense of every Volunteer Football team that took the field in the 90's. Backups, etc. Now I can't remember that from the team 2-3 years ago, because I know I can look it up just as fast.

preachinjesus said: ↑

That's a hard question to answer well. There are aspects of knowledge that we are growing in and, if we were even able to give a general survey of the last 500 years you'd find mixed results. In terms of general knowledge I'd say (this is completely ad hoc) that we're gaining more knowledge than earlier generations. When it comes to specialized topics this is true cconcerning technological things, but less true of more general topics.

Knowledge is deeply subjective. I mean how many people in here would accurately answer questions like: "Who is the narrator of Moby Dick?" or "Who introduced Watson to Holmes?" those kinds of odd bits used to be considered well known. However I bet you more people can answer things like, "What was the profession of Tom Hanks' character in Philadelphia?" or "What is the setting for Downton Abbey?"

I doubt, however, anyone would say the general populance is less intelligent than populations 2,000 years ago, much less 1,000 years ago.

All this said, there is something I am becoming more alarmed about everyday: a new intellectual dark ages brought on by our devotion to all the gadgets and trinkets in our lives.

I fear we might be, as a worldwide people, slinking into a multi-generational brain-drain due to these things that do the work for us. We are becoming less intelligent and, ultimately, less productive...save for a elite class that accomplishes these things for us. Then they, in the end, dominate us.

Your question is good, just complicated.
Click to expand...

Jkdbuck76 · Mar 21, 2012

Here's my $0.02:

While my grandparents complain that kids today do not know how to count change back, they don't complain when these very same kids fix their computer.

:tongue3:

preachinjesus · Mar 21, 2012

Common sense is a funny term. It suggests there is both something common in knowledge and that we can actively act in ways others would. Of course much of the lineage for the term arises out of Scottish Common Sense Realism (as we understand it today.) From that perspective there is a definite sense (haha) of epistemically rationality which some would expect to be common, or shared, yet which is, empirically, questionable.

It's an interesting conversation, albeit difficult.

Spinning off that "small brain" thread

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