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Why Are Young People Getting More Stupid?
32 Answers
Studies are showing that young people in Britain are dumber than previous generations. Scientists say that the deterioration could be down to changes in the way maths and languages are taught, or to a shift from reading books to spending time on television and computers. Either way, it appears that there are those who are desperate to point out that it's the TESTS that are wrong (of course) and not that the younger generation, (addicted to technology and a intellectually-starved culture), that are becoming more stupid. What do you think? I'd be interested to hear from more experienced members, and not the young and outraged.
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Answers
Well you'll hear from me whether you like it or not I'm afraid. lol For what it's worth I tend to agree actually, that younger people are tending to be less savvy and able to do things without some guidance other than common sense, but I do think a lot of that can be out down into the way that society as a whole has changed which is down to your generation not ours....
11:45 Tue 04th Sep 2018
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Well you'll hear from me whether you like it or not I'm afraid. lol
For what it's worth I tend to agree actually, that younger people are tending to be less savvy and able to do things without some guidance other than common sense, but I do think a lot of that can be out down into the way that society as a whole has changed which is down to your generation not ours.
People are coddled and babied, offered no responsibility, given no leadership opportunities and generally treated like children, then chucked out and expected to be able to operate in the same way that say people in (1939 has been mentioned this morning) could. that's never going to happen because people worked earlier then got married earlier then, were given more responsibility as a children and thus were able to handle the fundamentals of life far better.
The tendency to want people to pass exams in effect learning things like parrots has diminished society as a whole. Education is wonderful but there will always be people who are good with their hands, that's normal and right. The fact we no longer value them properly leads us to test everyone's value by IQ alone, and that's foolisg, not everyone can become a brain surgeon.
For what it's worth I tend to agree actually, that younger people are tending to be less savvy and able to do things without some guidance other than common sense, but I do think a lot of that can be out down into the way that society as a whole has changed which is down to your generation not ours.
People are coddled and babied, offered no responsibility, given no leadership opportunities and generally treated like children, then chucked out and expected to be able to operate in the same way that say people in (1939 has been mentioned this morning) could. that's never going to happen because people worked earlier then got married earlier then, were given more responsibility as a children and thus were able to handle the fundamentals of life far better.
The tendency to want people to pass exams in effect learning things like parrots has diminished society as a whole. Education is wonderful but there will always be people who are good with their hands, that's normal and right. The fact we no longer value them properly leads us to test everyone's value by IQ alone, and that's foolisg, not everyone can become a brain surgeon.
IQ is not a good measure of intelligence for two reasons...The first is that it only tests what it tests...you get people who score poorly on IQ tests but are chefs, artists, physicists, musicians and so on. Secondly IQ tests can be learned. Someone who enjoys doing similar sorts of puzzles or who has deliberately prcaticed the test or the same kind of test, will do better than someone who has never seen anything like it before. I would suggest that alternatively, certain skills that were important no longer are and these are being dropped for new ones.....like reading an analogue clock face.
I'm not sure that not having a high I/Q means that you are stupid.Smart phones and pocket computers have led to the younger generation not having to work things out as did those of a bygone era.As I/Q tests are based on that ability to work things out it is probable that modern technology has led to lower results in those tests.
taken from the science alert article
"Another possibility is that IQ tests haven't adapted to accurately quantify an estimate of modern people's intelligence – favouring forms of formally taught reasoning that may be less emphasised in contemporary education and young people's lifestyles.
"Intelligence researchers make a distinction between fluid and crystallised intelligence," one of the study's authors, research economist Ole Rogeberg explained to The Times.
"Crystallised intelligence is stuff you have been taught and trained in, and fluid intelligence is your ability to see new patterns and use logic to solve novel problems."
The implication here is that it's not us that is at fault: it's IQ tests.
But until scientists exploit some of their fluid intelligence to make a major breakthrough in what's really going on here, we – and our lower IQs – may never know for sure."
"Another possibility is that IQ tests haven't adapted to accurately quantify an estimate of modern people's intelligence – favouring forms of formally taught reasoning that may be less emphasised in contemporary education and young people's lifestyles.
"Intelligence researchers make a distinction between fluid and crystallised intelligence," one of the study's authors, research economist Ole Rogeberg explained to The Times.
"Crystallised intelligence is stuff you have been taught and trained in, and fluid intelligence is your ability to see new patterns and use logic to solve novel problems."
The implication here is that it's not us that is at fault: it's IQ tests.
But until scientists exploit some of their fluid intelligence to make a major breakthrough in what's really going on here, we – and our lower IQs – may never know for sure."
I think it’s unfair (and probably incorrect) to say that, generally, young people today are “stupid” or “thick”. I think the problem they have stems from the way they were taught (both at school and by their parents). Older people were taught to think for themselves, overcome problems by using their loaf. Today’s youngsters rely mainly on technology to “tell them what to do” and when it either doesn’t of behaves inappropriately they are stumped.
A very simple but daft example occurred to me a few weeks back. I went to a pub on a Sunday evening. They do selected wines for a tenner on Sundays but as well as this I had a voucher for a 25% discount of food - NJ has to be careful with the pennies :- ). The voucher had the usual conditions “cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer…etc). I duly went to the bar, ordered two meals and a bottle of £10 wine, handing over my discount voucher. This then followed:
Bargirl: “Oh I can’t accept the voucher”
NJ: “Why not?”
Bargirl: “Because you’ve already had one offer with your wine. The till won’t let me do it”.
NJ: “Fine. Just cancel the whole order”.
She did so and prepared to walk away.
NJ: “Hang on, I haven’t finished!”
Bargirl: “Oh sorry, I thought you were going”
NJ: “Why on Earth would I be going?”
I re-ordered the meals, successfully proffered my voucher and paid the reduced balance.
NJ: “Thanks. Now I’ll have a bottle of Chateau Bilgewater and two glasses, please”
Bargirl: “That’ll be £10 please”
NJ: “You see, it can be done. You don’t always have to do what the till tells you to do!”
Bargirl: “Yeh thanks. I’d never've thought of doing that”
A silly example I know. But at her age of around eighteen or nineteen (and a lot earlier than that) my “till busting” strategy would have been the first notion to cross my mind because I was taught to overcome problems, not to suffer from them. And I think that (among many other areas) is where a lot of young people have been badly let down by this country’s education system.
A very simple but daft example occurred to me a few weeks back. I went to a pub on a Sunday evening. They do selected wines for a tenner on Sundays but as well as this I had a voucher for a 25% discount of food - NJ has to be careful with the pennies :- ). The voucher had the usual conditions “cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer…etc). I duly went to the bar, ordered two meals and a bottle of £10 wine, handing over my discount voucher. This then followed:
Bargirl: “Oh I can’t accept the voucher”
NJ: “Why not?”
Bargirl: “Because you’ve already had one offer with your wine. The till won’t let me do it”.
NJ: “Fine. Just cancel the whole order”.
She did so and prepared to walk away.
NJ: “Hang on, I haven’t finished!”
Bargirl: “Oh sorry, I thought you were going”
NJ: “Why on Earth would I be going?”
I re-ordered the meals, successfully proffered my voucher and paid the reduced balance.
NJ: “Thanks. Now I’ll have a bottle of Chateau Bilgewater and two glasses, please”
Bargirl: “That’ll be £10 please”
NJ: “You see, it can be done. You don’t always have to do what the till tells you to do!”
Bargirl: “Yeh thanks. I’d never've thought of doing that”
A silly example I know. But at her age of around eighteen or nineteen (and a lot earlier than that) my “till busting” strategy would have been the first notion to cross my mind because I was taught to overcome problems, not to suffer from them. And I think that (among many other areas) is where a lot of young people have been badly let down by this country’s education system.
Children don’t learn life lessons any more, everything is dumbed do n for them.
When I started secondary school, the first item we made in Metalwork(yes, that’s what it was valued then, not D&T or Material Fabricating or some other such gobbledygook) was a toffee hammer. Part of the process was to drill a hole. When I asked young Chilm about similar experiences he looked at me blankly before explaining that if they were making anything similar they all lined up at the drill whilst the teacher made the hole for them.
To me, forgetting to take the chuck key out(drill or lathe) then have it whizz past your face was a life lesson because it made me ensure I didn’t do it again!
Hey-ho.
When I started secondary school, the first item we made in Metalwork(yes, that’s what it was valued then, not D&T or Material Fabricating or some other such gobbledygook) was a toffee hammer. Part of the process was to drill a hole. When I asked young Chilm about similar experiences he looked at me blankly before explaining that if they were making anything similar they all lined up at the drill whilst the teacher made the hole for them.
To me, forgetting to take the chuck key out(drill or lathe) then have it whizz past your face was a life lesson because it made me ensure I didn’t do it again!
Hey-ho.
Why oh why are young people all dumped into one category? I'm sure in the dim and distant childhoods of some posters on here, there were the bright kids and the dim kids in their classrooms, not everyone could do their times tables and some left school at 14 without being able to read!!
Children and young people are taught different skill sets these days to cope with life how it is and is going to be, not how it used to be. They do different types of problem solving, things some can only imagine, things that make me glaze over. Most, even the dimmest can get around a smart phone quicker than their parents, and basically who needs to be able to work out the price of 25 apples at 33p each when a machine will do it for them -and a machine that they have the ability to programme and design new apps for?
Children and young people are taught different skill sets these days to cope with life how it is and is going to be, not how it used to be. They do different types of problem solving, things some can only imagine, things that make me glaze over. Most, even the dimmest can get around a smart phone quicker than their parents, and basically who needs to be able to work out the price of 25 apples at 33p each when a machine will do it for them -and a machine that they have the ability to programme and design new apps for?
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