Are people generally getting dumber?

[Augustus]

And 'yellow journalism' -- sure, that's always been around, but just compare a newspaper written fifty years ago to a newspaper today, even one online. Newspapers, both physical and digital, have been shrinking and providing shoddier and shoddier journalism. They rarely publish local news (which is to say the news most likely to affect the paper's readers), preferring exclusively national and international news because it's easier to plagiarize from other papers/journals. Even the most inflammatory papers in the past bothered to write compellingly -- now many articles look like they've been composed by an AI.

Some newspapers are operating with 1/10th of the staff they had a couple of decades ago which means they do very little reporting.

They don't plagiarise national/international news, they get it from news agencies like Reuters or AP.

Much of the rest of their content comes from PR sources (can be up to 80-90% of some sections), writing up media releases or commenting on press conferences, etc.

Investigative journalism is very expensive (maybe even 100k+) and there is no way to recoup the cost based on clicks rather than paper sales. Meanwhile, opinion pieces and clickbait can generate just as many clicks and cost next to nothing.

This is simply a consequence of the economic realities of running a paper in the internet era where people are unwilling to pay for the news they consume.

 

[Vinayaka]

I think the nature of knowledge has changed, as has what we value in education. Science would an obvious example of shifting knowledge. The focus in education has shifted from a fact based curriculum to a problem solving one. Regarding knowledge, it's shifted from having the knowledge in your brain to knowing where to find it quickly.

Just as we might see a 100 year old test difficult, so too would students from 100 years ago see today's test as difficult.

 

[Jumi]

I think "the test" is actually multiple tests. If so, it's actually much easier than most tests we had in 5th grade or even late 4th grade... if it's one massive test then it's intimidating if you're not prepared for it.

 

[Jumi]

Eighth Grade (Grade 8) Biology Questions for Tests and Worksheets

Seems like in the US it's about the same as it was in our country, except we didn't have multiple choice questions anymore on 8th grade.

 

[SalixIncendium]

Article for reference.

I realize this is a fairly common and irritating sentiment; apologies.

I attend a private, relatively prestigious university. I feel that much of its prestige is overblown; there are many mindnumbingly stupid individuals who seem to be getting through it relatively well, and there are several professors who I firmly believe are less qualified to teach the classes they do than a reasonably bright high school student. Not to say there aren't fantastic professors here, but it's such a mix! Classes on literature, philosophy, or religion -- especially -- are tailored to fit the lowest common denominator; half the students here are functionally illiterate, and can barely express a coherent thought of any sort, let alone an interesting or halfway intelligent one.

It's easy to smugly proclaim that everyone else is a moron, but I'm not sure what else to think except that the general public is getting dumber. My emotions strongly influence my mood, and I've been anxious lately, so perhaps I'm overlooking something. But take media for an example. There is nothing genuinely good or original in mass media; whether in literature, cinema, music, or journalism, the quality is just bad. Examples seem unnecessary, but take Harry Potter, the Twilight series, the churn of superhero movies turned out ten times a year, pop, rap/hip-hop, country 'music', and, in the realm of journalism, its ongoing trend of becoming ever more dumbed down and substanceless (I'm a history major; ask any of us and we'll attest to this). There are five-minute Youtube videos on any subject you can imagine; take history, philosophy, or science. Invariably they're so simplified -- pandering to an audience with an attention span of five minutes -- they're either wrong outright or have so many details wrong or missing they make someone more misinformed than before they watched them. I have in-laws and acquaintances who think they've become experts on philosophy or history or politics because they've spent a fantastic amount of time watching these videos -- all the while I've never seen them pick up a book.

Anyway. Thoughts?

This completely went over my head.

 

[Revoltingest]

Liked this from the OP link

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But even for me, with a college education, this would be damn frightening exam.

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Such a test says little about intelligence, but much about what they've been taught.
I'll bet those kids living in 1912 would fail a test given today.....
- What was the name of the program of the Moon landings?
- Name 5 prime time cartoons.
- Name 5 allies in WW2.
- Name a useful technique when facing the blue screen of death.