It's official the human race is starting to de-evolve

[Jadzia]

Seriously as I get older the "younger" generation seems to be getting shallower. I learned to weld when I was very young, by the time I was 14 I knew more about cars than most adults, and I could do some elaborate BASIC programming on my old Commodore. Now you try to engage someone in conversation beyond TV or Video Games you are "so totally gay."

I agree with you Pleocostomos

I've never really thought of it as shallowness, but have tended to place to blame with those who provide the mental stimulation for the younger generations. The topic I normally raise at this point is youth-oriented television. It's nothing like it was when I was little. It used to be innocent and light hearted, and many programmes would have lovely stories. Nowadays it's just a mindless montage of flashes and lasers and explosions and stuff rising up out of the ground... And there's lazytown.

To me, it has a similar 'feel' to the attitudes you're hearing from youngsters. This is the sort of thing they've been raised on. It's what they know as entertainment. It doesn't have story or depth. It's mindless yet captivating. It's just a blast of sensory stimulation, not general mental stimulation. Modern FPS and MMORPGs computer games are of the same ilk: Mindless yet captivating, rote inducing games.

In short, modern entertainment doesn't inspire. It doesn't point to the world outside of itself.

 

[Roshi]

Anyone seen the movie Idiocracy? It appears to be coming true.

Yes I have. And a close friend of mine is like that neuroses-filled, upper class chick who refuses to have babies because it's not the right time or has to find Mr Perfect...
I fear the survival of the dumbest...

 

[Trekker4747]

Pfft. Kids haven't learned shit until they know how to subtract by adding!

 

[trekkerguy]

Technology doesn't make people stupid.

Infact some of the most technologicly inclined countries(no not the US)
have some of the brightest people in them. The difference is they
focus on teaching people how to use those technologies to the fullest
where countries like the US continue to pound pencils and text books
down the throats of students.

 

[MIB]

Eh. Personally, when it comes to "intelligence studies" I'm often very apprehensive toward lending it much credence. One reason for this is because we don't even have a solid definition of just what "intelligence" is. While we nevertheless try to come up with a solution to that problem, the result is that one of the leading theories states that people tend to have up to eight distinct types of intelligences, each specializing in different fields (and shown to operate in different parts of the brain). To make matters even more complicated studies have shown that IQ levels are far from fixed and can vary by several points depending on how much sleep one has had, the time of day, and even one's mood. The IQ test, such as it is, doesn't account for any of this at all. Which makes it, in my humble opinion, pretty much worthless. That 2 point drop they're reading could just as easily be explained with the fact that teenagers don't get as much sleep as their counterparts 30 years ago did. Or perhaps that got a more irritable bunch this time around. Or maybe they had a few more people who were inclined more towards the abstract intelligences as opposed to the purely logic based ones.

Now beyond that, I would agree that these days kids are certianly lacking in basic reading and math skills (But then studies have shown that for years.) However, I'd agree with those that have said that this is more of a social problem than a technological one. And of course, the scale of this problem varies greatly depending on where you live. Even in this glorious age of cheap calculators for example, I still had to learn how to do basic arithmetic in my head and algerbra on paper at the very least. During my cashiering job, it became a game for me to take a very brief moment to calculate the tax of the subtotal (to the cent) and add it as fast as I could in my head before hitting 'enter.' Usually the patrons were quite amused when I managed to tell them their correct total before the machine would. The calculator doesn't really come in to play unless I'm having to crunch trig functions or something else that's laced with sin, secent, and tangent symbols.

With that being said, I also tend to agree with RAMA that kids in general do tend to be more savvy than most people give them credit for. They might not be able to diagram a sentence like their peers from 30 years ago could, but if I had a nickle for everytime I saw a young kid having to help an adult with some of the most basic tasks regarding, for example, digital technology, I'd be one rich individual indeed.

 

[Trekker4747]

Yeah, showing a middle aged man how to operate blackberry is *so* much more important than diagraming a sentence.

My SiL was taking a writing class a couple of months ago. I read some of the other student's papers she had to read and critique as part of it. Those things read like and were formated like some of the worst e-mails you've ever seen.

But, hey, those kids can probably program a DVR like no one's business!

 

[Amaris]

Your post SeerSBG is exactly what I'm talking about. Getting wrong answers motivated me to TRY AGAIN until I got it right.

The spell-checker has had an opposite effect on me. It's a game now to see if I can get as few red-lines as possible.

With me and spelling, when the little red line pops up, the spell checker is wrong. I still pride myself on correct spelling. It was all those spelling bees I won.

J.

 

[TheBrew]

The stupider people are, the easier it will be for me.

 

[RedFenix]

Even if true, this isn't "de-evolution;" we are continuing to adapt to our changing environment.

Evolution is not some kind of engine designed to produce what we recognize as intelligence, after all.

QFT.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Yeah, we might just have a generation or two left at best before the world sinks into total chaos...

http://www.anxietyculture.com/antisocial.htm

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=408989

http://www.mediahell.org/mediascaremongering.htm

The one constant of the future that can be predicted with any certainty is that the previous generation will complain about the decline of the next.

I'd say to lay off the kids, but they're just going to grow up and say the same thing, so screw 'em.

 

[Davros]

This was all forseen by the visionary music group DEVO.
Here is their Devolutionary Oath

1. wear gaudy colors or avoid display
2. lay a million eggs or give birth to one
3. the fittest shall survive yet the unfit may live
4. be like your ancestors or be different
5. we must repeat!

 

[Deckerd]

The stupider people are, the easier it will be for me.

And all the smart ones. Cream rises to the top.

 

[John Picard]

See I always found out and learned stuff because it was fun. Whatever happened to such a simple thing?

Well in the vernacular of today's sexuality-conscious youth "that's totally gay."

Humor aside, learning isn't instant-gratification. High video-game scores, bragging that you banged that chick, drinking soooooooo much last night... Those are real and tangible things... here and now and in the moment. Acquiring facts and figures on something that interests you, actually going out and taking a walk to see if you can spot that particular type of butterfly mentioned in the book... Those are irrelevant.

At least these are the types of people I encounter in my daily life, either in my travels to and from work or when I have to deal with my sister. Seriously, if learning is "so totally gay" then why are you even IN University at this point?


Seriously as I get older the "younger" generation seems to be getting shallower. I learned to weld when I was very young, by the time I was 14 I knew more about cars than most adults, and I could do some elaborate BASIC programming on my old Commodore. Now you try to engage someone in conversation beyond TV or Video Games you are "so totally gay."

I would like nothing more than to get hold of someone at a young age and get them interested in something other than themselves.

Armed with a few basic hand tools, my 14-year old can almost completely dismantle an old Volkswagen in a Saturday afternoon. My retired neighbor makes custom knives and sells them at shows. He's been teaching my son all of the jargon (who knew each part of a knife has a name?) and how to operate the drill presses, lathes, and other machines. His first knife is 8" overall with some beautiful etchings on the blade. I've shown it to many people who are dumbfounded and beyond disbelief when I tell them he made it.

 

[Emher]

See I always found out and learned stuff because it was fun. Whatever happened to such a simple thing?

Well in the vernacular of today's sexuality-conscious youth "that's totally gay."

Humor aside, learning isn't instant-gratification. High video-game scores, bragging that you banged that chick, drinking soooooooo much last night... Those are real and tangible things... here and now and in the moment. Acquiring facts and figures on something that interests you, actually going out and taking a walk to see if you can spot that particular type of butterfly mentioned in the book... Those are irrelevant.

At least these are the types of people I encounter in my daily life, either in my travels to and from work or when I have to deal with my sister. Seriously, if learning is "so totally gay" then why are you even IN University at this point?


Seriously as I get older the "younger" generation seems to be getting shallower. I learned to weld when I was very young, by the time I was 14 I knew more about cars than most adults, and I could do some elaborate BASIC programming on my old Commodore. Now you try to engage someone in conversation beyond TV or Video Games you are "so totally gay."

I would like nothing more than to get hold of someone at a young age and get them interested in something other than themselves.

Well I'v pretty much been an outsider ever since i was like 11 or so, so I don't react so much about it anymore. Sadly it's become a almost accepted fact that people are idiots, especially my generation.

As for the "so totally gay" responses, I'm secure enough in my sexuality that I'd say "Oh my God you soooo right! And cuuuuuuute...say why don't we go anywhere private..." And then laugh loudly as the insecure twit ran away screaming

 

[SeerSGB]

See I always found out and learned stuff because it was fun. Whatever happened to such a simple thing?

Well in the vernacular of today's sexuality-conscious youth "that's totally gay."

Humor aside, learning isn't instant-gratification. High video-game scores, bragging that you banged that chick, drinking soooooooo much last night... Those are real and tangible things... here and now and in the moment. Acquiring facts and figures on something that interests you, actually going out and taking a walk to see if you can spot that particular type of butterfly mentioned in the book... Those are irrelevant.

At least these are the types of people I encounter in my daily life, either in my travels to and from work or when I have to deal with my sister. Seriously, if learning is "so totally gay" then why are you even IN University at this point?


Seriously as I get older the "younger" generation seems to be getting shallower. I learned to weld when I was very young, by the time I was 14 I knew more about cars than most adults, and I could do some elaborate BASIC programming on my old Commodore. Now you try to engage someone in conversation beyond TV or Video Games you are "so totally gay."

I would like nothing more than to get hold of someone at a young age and get them interested in something other than themselves.

Armed with a few basic hand tools, my 14-year old can almost completely dismantle an old Volkswagen in a Saturday afternoon. My retired neighbor makes custom knives and sells them at shows. He's been teaching my son all of the jargon (who knew each part of a knife has a name?) and how to operate the drill presses, lathes, and other machines. His first knife is 8" overall with some beautiful etchings on the blade. I've shown it to many people who are dumbfounded and beyond disbelief when I tell them he made it.

One of the things me and the wife argue about is my admant stance that our son take a trade class in highschool when he's that age. I don't want him leavnig school with just book-smarts, I want him to know how to do physical work an appreciate the value of labor.

One of few things I wish I had done back in my day was stcuk with a trade class long enough to get a certification in either welding or electircal/plumbing (in my voca. class electrical and plumbing were the same course). As it was, once I graduated I said "fuck it" and never followed up.

Your post SeerSBG is exactly what I'm talking about. Getting wrong answers motivated me to TRY AGAIN until I got it right.

The spell-checker has had an opposite effect on me. It's a game now to see if I can get as few red-lines as possible.

With me and spelling, when the little red line pops up, the spell checker is wrong. I still pride myself on correct spelling. It was all those spelling bees I won.

J.

It's amazing how "dumb" the spellchecker in MS-Word or other office software can be. I've had to edit my .dic file-- ontop of building customs so much-- that it isn't even remotely close to OEM.

 

[Neeka Keet]

Pfft. Kids haven't learned shit until they know how to subtract by adding!

My mother taught me that when I was a kid. They don't seem to teach that in school and it's invaluable for doing calculations in your head.

 

[Kaziarl]

Yeah there is really no reason to develop your mental skills. Calculator gives you the answers at the touch of a button, Internet knows everything for you, just ask Google... no need to learn proper drafting skills because CAD programs can make anyone a drawing expert... Accounting software makes it so much easier to figure your business now and so much easier to pull scams on the tax department...

Its not so much going to school to learn a skill anymore it's more going to school to learn the latest software package that will do everything for you while you sit back and bitch about the final play of the Super Bowl.

In defense of people my age group (say, 18 to 25), most of the people I know actually do go out and learn the basics before using the programs you mentioned. I took a drafting class in highschool, and that was on paper with the drafting table and everything. When I got to use the AutoCAD or CADkey, I excelled at it, but me and 30 other students per semester knew the basics too.

 

[hellsgate]

SeerSGB: *lmao* Yeah, no shit. And these nimrods that glom onto Mommy, Jesus, And Daddy until Mommy & Daddy get tired of sacrificing every chance for a kid-free romp in any given part of the house or welfare cuts them off or both. No job, no savings, just "I like being ruled by fear." No trying to get "shared accomodations" with friends, no attempts to suck it up & deal with the fact you might NOT be able to be "pure until marriage" if a guy likes you & tries to get you to share the bills. No job? No problem. Can't I just max out my credit card on my first apartment?

These days, its more like "wait until you're teetering on the edge of menopause before you venture out of your parents' basement, get a burger-flipping job until something better surfaces if/when Mom/Dad foot the bill for training at a trades school of some kind, get a vasectomy, get your tubes tied, get on a three-month-hormone-shot, realize what a diaphragm or a condom is." In the meantime, end-up homeless due to over-use of student loans you can't pay back & credit problems that exaggerate the problem or five kids after welfare cuts you off & Mom n' Dad get tired of you constantly sticking your hand in their face for every little thing, too.

In addition to the fact all the baby-mommas / daddies have started comparing notes and gotten wise to your act, too and refuse to return your calls or pick-up when you buzz their intercom.

 

[DragonLady]

I think it started when Jerry Springer hit the airwaves.

THe human race have been de-evolving for quite some time. Everything is being dumbed down, education especially. Interesting that someone finally noticed.