Theory: Mankind is Growing Stupid

In today’s world society the most well educated classes of people of all races are having fewer babies while less educated people are breeding at a phenomenal rate. The assumptions are that educated people tend to be more intelligent and more responsible when choosing to have a child, and therefore choose to have a smaller number of children as compared to their less educated counterparts. If there is a genetic predisposition to intelligence from educated people as a whole, would it be safe to assume that the human race will digress because of less intelligent people breeding more often?


This is just a theory…….. don’t hate.

Comments?


(corrected subject)

[edit on 24-4-2007 by SkepticOverlord]

Our accepted notions on what `intelligence` constitutes are very narrow IMO, and pretty arbitrary to boot.
Everybody is good at some things and not so good at others. In a well balanced trading society this fact would become obvious. As it is, we live in societies that depend on concepts such as `intelligence` to maintain the status quo of some people(usually a minority `class`, `priesthood` or `family/ies`" exploiting the many, or in some cases, other societies, countries or groups of people.
Anyway, I`m more intelligent than you, and no, I`m Not offended. NUFF SAID??

[edit on 23-4-2007 by MistahBear]

Education doesn't mean intelligent. Some of the dumbest people I've ever met were supposedly well educated. Some of the smartest were the least educated. So education as a barometer of mankinds intelligence is overrated, imho.

Education simply means oppourtunity, nothing more. When your busy trying to feed yourself, learning to read is unimportant, knowing how to preserve fruits and veggies is...

Despite which, if your original supposition is correct, `intelligence` being a measure usually measured BY the most `intelligent`, then surely the few `smart` ones will simply have more `stupid` people to exploit to their own aims in the future?

Comments?

Some of the background for my reasoning comes from the fact that less responsible i.e. (less intelligent) people have many more babies than responsible people who choose a better time to have their children. If intelligence/responsibility and the ability to plan out ones actions ahead of time is a trait that is becoming of intelligence....then I would say that the world is growing stupider by the second.

Originally posted by seagull
Education doesn't mean intelligent. Some of the dumbest people I've ever met were supposedly well educated. Some of the smartest were the least educated. So education as a barometer of mankinds intelligence is overrated, imho.

Wrong, some educated, intelligent, people can do some pretty dumb things. But that does not make them "dumb." I'd say that given the fact that twenty percent of the population is functionally illiterate, and sixty percent of , at least the American population, has admitted to never having read a book, yeah, I'd say we are living in a society that has an intelligence deficit. Also, you must take into account what people call entertainment now a days as well. When it became the status quo to keep up with what's going on in the lives of celebrities, which I couldn't give a damn about, rather than sitting down reading something of substance, the intelligence quotient of the general populace went down the tubes.

The funny thing is, people seem to be getting dumber yet technology is increasing. I suspect that we are probably reaping the benefit of what others before us have accomplished.

[edit on 23-4-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

Originally posted by SpeakerofTruth

Originally posted by seagull
Education doesn't mean intelligent. Some of the dumbest people I've ever met were supposedly well educated. Some of the smartest were the least educated. So education as a barometer of mankinds intelligence is overrated, imho.

Wrong, some educated, intelligent, people can do some pretty dumb things. But that does not make them "dumb." I'd say that given the fact that twenty percent of the population is functionally illiterate, and sixty percent of , at least the American population, has admitted to never having read a book, yeah, I'd say we are living in a society that has an intelligence deficit. Also, you must take into account what people call entertainment now a days as well.

When it became the status quo to keep up with what's going on in the lives of celebrities, which I couldn't give a damn about, rather than sitting down reading something of substance, the intelligence quotient of the general populace went down the tubes.

The funny thing is, people seem to be getting dumber yet technology is increasing. I suspect that we are probably reaping the benefit of what others before us have accomplished.

[edit on 23-4-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

I agree with the SpeakerofTruth....good name.....anyways there are always exceptions to the rule, but if one looks at the total average, it would not be hard to argue that less intelligent/non-educated......as in those who have not graduating High school are having many more babies than those who graduated from High school and College.

Comments?

[edit on 23-4-2007 by BlueRidge]

I'd agree, somewhat. Stupid people having stupid little babies.. I see it all the time. the welfare mom who can't understand basic math or speak properly with 28 evil little podlings trailing her through walmart. I mean, look at the talk shows. on Maury Povich alone you've got all these incredibly stupid people who are breeding... "oh, Maury. I had sex with 28 guys in one night and I donno which one's mah baby daddah!"

I think part of the problem is both intellectual intelligence and emotional intelligence has just completely gone 'out of style'. Granted, it was never particularly sexy to be a brainiac, but these days it seems like any sort of intellect or sensitivity is just completely taboo. You've got celebrities acting like complete morons (see: Tom Cruise, Anna Nicole, Paris Hilton, etc, etc.), and rappers upping their 'street cred' by talking about how they abuse women and treat them like objects and how they want to murder people, and these are role models. It's no wonder people are getting stupider.

The thing is, I don't think it's so much genetic. I really think it's a choice. people choose to act stupid a lot of the time, and they pass it on to their kids by the way of raising them. Do you think a girl who gets knocked up in middle school, who idolizes Paris Hilton and whose never read a book by choice in her life is going to raise a child that's going to be a Nobel prize winner? she could have a child with the brains of Einstein and the way she raises him train him to act like an idiot.

So is human-kind getting stupider? generally speaking, yes. but I don't account it to anything Darwinian. I think it's nurture at least as much, and possibly more than, nature. You can teach a monkey to put on a condom, but you can have a genius IQ who thinks it's not manly or cool to wear one, and the idiot who's willing to be safe isn't going to breed as much as the genius who thinks it's uncool and chooses not to be. and this idiot-genius, who CHOOSES to be stupid, is going to have a bunch of little spawn, and though genetically he might pass his intellect to them, he's going to teach them all to be dumb as little bricks, squandering their intelligence, and watching entertainment tonight to keep up on the latest happenings in the life of Britney Spears.

just my two cents on the matter. I hope I didn't offend anyone-- I didn't, by any means, intend to bag on single moms in general (hell, I was raised by one), or people who choose to responsibly have a lot of kids, or who've been dealt a really crappy hand in life. Just a general commentary on our society and how people choose to be stupid, and train their children to do the same, regardless of inborn intelligence.

Originally posted by Nick Nightstalker

The thing is, I don't think it's so much genetic. I really think it's a choice. people choose to act stupid a lot of the time, and they pass it on to their kids by the way of raising them.

That's the disgraceful part about it. Information multiplies ten-fold every year, but looking at the average schmuck out on the street, you wouldn't know it. People can't use accessibility as an excuse. There is the internet, libraries, et cetera. People seem, at least to me, too busy trying to buy the Volvo and the 500 thousand dollar home to really care about their intelligence. What they don't know is that what they don't know isn't only going to hurt them in the future, it may destroy them.

[edit on 23-4-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

Let me elaborate on my argument some more. In the pre-civilized era of humanities existence the strongest and the smartest bred the most often while the stupid and the weak died (i.e pre-welfare). This is definitely not the case today where survival due to social supports and technology keep alive and perpetuate people that would have died out under the pre-civilized conditions. While it is unconformable equating humans to animals.....the only thing that makes us different from animals is a soul and a conscience. Please don't flame.....Free thought is why I'm on this website....

Comments?

ROFL

I agree with much of what has been posted here.

However, I do think that its a dangerous assumption to think that if a child is born to uneducated or so called stupid parents that they will grow up that way.

Yes on average it is more likely to be true than not. But you cannot make broad sweeping generalizations on this subject.

[edit on 23-4-2007 by etshrtslr]

Originally posted by BlueRidge
Let me elaborate on my argument some more. In the pre-civilized era of humanities existence the strongest and the smartest bred the most often while the stupid and the weak died (i.e pre-welfare). This is definitely not the case today where survival due to social supports and technology keep alive and perpetuate people that would have died out under the pre-civilized conditions.
Comments?

Well, when one examines the social issues in the world today, it's no wonder that the intelligent aren't producing as much offspring. Also, it has to be realized that the intelligent are more aware of issues than those who would be deemed less intelligent are.

1) Over -population.

2) The increasing plausibility of having to set up communes in order to even be able to survive.

One also must keep into mind that it's not prudent to bring a child into a world that is so racked with disparity and sorrow.

the test will be who survives when it all falls apart, those will be the "smart" people, if you can do quadratic equation in your head but not bait a hook who is really smarter?

( I also explain a great deal in my signature )

Originally posted by thedigirati
the test will be who survives when it all falls apart, those will be the "smart" people, if you can do quadratic equation in your head but not bait a hook who is really smarter?

( I also explain a great deal in my signature )

I can guarantee you, that the 60% of the population that has never read a book, isn't likely to survive, regardless if they "know how to bait a hook" or not.

"Stupider"?
Are you sure you wouldn't rather make your point by saying "...more stupid"?

Puts me in mind of a great t-shirt, reading "Your Retarded!"

Here is a chart of the expected IQ from now to 2100




As one can see, there is general decrease in the average IQ of the world citizenry. Here is an article to go along with the chart: Decreasing IQ

Any questions?

[edit on 23-4-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

I don't disagree, I just think that it's nurture as much as nature when it comes to stupid people multiplying in greater numbers. Society today largely encourages ignorance and stupidity, so it's no surprise that stupid people are multiplying, regardless of their actual intellectual ability.

I know some very smart people who act very, very stupid because they want to fit in. They can be smart when they want to be, but the problem is.. your brain is a muscle. if you spend years pretending to be stupid and not really exercising your mind by thinking, then you start to GET stupid too, and then you aren't pretending.

The problem is that society today largely encourages men to be violent, misogynistic thugs, and women to be pretty decorations on their arm. People act stupid because they think they're supposed to. It's cool to drink your face off and act like a jackass and be completely insensitive to the plight of other people and the world at large. It's not cool to care about others, read, educate yourself beyond the bare minimum, or think deeply on important matters.

I think in a society that encouraged intelligence and knowledge, we'd see a lot less stupid people, because they'd be trying to 'fit in' by acting intelligent. I'm not arguing that genetics plays a role, but I think that by and large, increasing stupidity in the human race is taught, not inherited; of course exceptions do exist.

But I agree with the basic point-- stupid people, whether they're actually stupid, or just have been taught to act that way, are more likely to breed because they don't think about the consequences of their actions, or see the world at large around them, and are less likely to be smart and use protection when having sex.

On the other hand, a lot of smart people aren't willing to have kids at all because they realize that the world is overpopulated, and a pretty horrible place to bring a kid into anyway. I just wish more people who wanted kids would adopt and help out a kid that's very much in need and very much unwanted instead of spawning another stupid little podling needlessly.

ok, some pretty convincing arguments face me here, the video? ROFL indeed!!

But, if you folk really believe that the world is to be over-run with `stupid` offspring, then surely it is our `intelligent` peoples` duty to reproduce as much as possible to ensure survival of the `IQ` genes and to counteract(or control) the growing numbers of `dumb` ones??
If that`s not an excuse to go out there and F*** as many librarians as possible ungloved or unoestrogenically moderated, What Is?
Maybe even without their explicit consent, considering then that we are `smarter` and more `capable` than them... it`s surely in their best interests(whether they agree or not), and for the good of all. Enduring Freedom!!
[edit on 23-4-2007 by MistahBear]

[edit on 23-4-2007 by MistahBear]

[edit on 23-4-2007 by MistahBear]

[edit on 23-4-2007 by MistahBear]

[edit on 23-4-2007 by MistahBear]

Two quick thoughts:

First. the word 'Stupid' carries some mean-spirited weight.
Secondly, intelligence and character don't necessarily go hand in hand.

Just be careful what you ask for...