Are humans getting dumber?

>>35903014
Yes, OP, you are proof positive

Ta-da

>>35903014
Smarter, actually. It's just that the dumb ones now look more dumb by comparison.

The trends have only been pointing further upward as far as human intelligence goes from the beginning of our species. Nowadays people in the US feel that people are becoming less intelligent for a couple possible reasons:
>the so called "dumbing down" of America
American media seems to ever favor those who are terrible examples as the center of attention, particularly in the reality tv section. The "cash me ousside" girl is only the latest example of that. People like her and Honey Boo Boo, shows like the Bachelor/ette and Toddlers and Tiaras all show off shallow idiots as the main focus of their shows. Perhaps the original creators of the shows intended for them to be more like animals at a zoo than actual role models, but that's not the effect it had on the more gullible and already less intelligent part of our population. That mixed with shallow, trivial news media coverage of actual real life events has led to some people eating those ideas up and making a lifestyle out of it, and the numbers are only growing due to the positive feedback loop between ratings, viewer demographics, displayed media and viewer count.
>the bipartisan split of the American people, and the dehumanization of opposing parties
This one is pretty obvious even just comparing online communities like 4chan and Tumblr. Neither of our two major political alignments will admit that both sides have shortcomings, and neither side even considers the other valid. Even among the right and left themselves there are distinct "factions" that won't listen to each other either. This is partially due to steady cultural migration to places and communities that hold the majority of your own beliefs, and partially due to biased news casting (e.g. CNN/FOX, HuffPost/Breitbart, etc). This divide is only going to get worse in the coming months of Trump's presidency. In addition to unrest and even violence, this divide also has the effect of opposing views being seen as stupid or uneducated.

>>35903014
Yes, we are becoming lazier, dumber and too dependent. Blame technology

>>35903538
Ok Grandpa

I realize this comment is not original

>>35903014
Yeah and it's not hard to figure out why.
>economy still shit
>less money in general
>money is a major cause of stress
>stress has been proven to lower iq
>society is also way more stressful for a host of other reasons
That's why people spend years of their lives with video games and/or internet. Because it's the cheapest form of escapism.