Dumb And Dummer

             This just in: humans are getting dumber.

 According to a study published by the University of Amsterdam last year, people in Western countries have lost 14 IQ points on average since the Victorian age. Researchers, naturally, have attempted to find reasons for this alarming trend. Why should the average I.Q. of human beings be on such a long-term downward spiral?

Some “experts” believe that intelligent people tend to have fewer children than those less bright, and that the highly educated are deciding to have one or two kids…at the most. This, they say, naturally leads to subsequent generations being comprised of less intelligent people. This is a slippery slope to go down and stands more than a little liberal orthodoxy on its head. It is, in fact, a sort of reverse Theory of Evolution…survival of the dumbest, if you will.

That humans are dumber than they use to be does not surprise me. I’ve been watching them get dumber for years now, particularly the highly educated. My theory is composed of two parts. First, that P.C.-addled, close-minded colleges and universities have essentially stopped trying to impart knowledge in favor of promoting a perverted version of “social justice.” In doing so, they have dumbed-down their students, their student’s offspring…and, to some degree, the rest of us in general. Secondly, the mainstream media, social media, television and movies (sense a pattern), video games, etc., have turned many of us into beings that would be unable to live on our own, if thrown into the wilderness, devoid of appliances, even on a lovely summer day. Many have lost the ability to create, to think on their own, to ponder, to improvise, to tough things out if necessary, to be comfortable and confident in their own company. Or simply to reason.

 Many Millennials cannot tell time on an “old-fashioned” analog clock. Can’t write in cursive. Can’t figure the change due back to them if they purchase something with cash at the store. (I know, I know…cash? How archaic!). There are no more truly great works of fiction being written. Movies attempt to shock, not elevate. The mainstream media arrogantly highlight or obfuscate based solely on their biases, pumping out fake news stories even while calling those speaking the truth liars. Increasingly, we communicate by emoji: “Me sad.” “Me happy.” “Me horny.” “Me angry.” For those on the left, especially “me angry.” The “Twitter-verse” has no time for…verse.

We are getting dumber as machines are getting smarter. Artificial intelligence (AI) will soon surpass us. The “singularity” is approaching, perhaps a few seconds earlier than we expected due to our waning intellect.

Signs of our impending idiocy have greatly proliferated in the last few decades. The same folks who want to ban cigarette sales want to legalize marijuana. Islam is proclaimed the “religion of peace” as Christianity is roundly mocked. President Trump is considered a heinous misogynist while former President Clinton is the most respected living president. The same people who think those who question “man-caused” global warming should be imprisoned (“the science is settled!) tout the existence of 60-some-odd genders.