I say this with complete humility and sadness, I do think Americans, on average, are becoming stupider. The combination of a possible pandemic effect, inequities in the educational system, rampant disinformation, the politics of anti-science, and an increasingly dumbed-down media all contribute. - ThreadSky

bill-comeau.bsky.social • 12 days ago

I say this with complete humility and sadness, I do think Americans, on average, are becoming stupider. The combination of a possible pandemic effect, inequities in the educational system, rampant disinformation, the politics of anti-science, and an increasingly dumbed-down media all contribute.

Reposted from

David Brooks hits the mark with this column 👇🏼

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/o...

Comments

davenewb.bsky.social•12 days ago

I read a study that each covid infection reduces IQ by 2-6 points, on average, depending on the severity.

bill-comeau.bsky.social•12 days ago

I'm uncertain about the extent time-wise and popn-wise. I am interested in pre-post vs control studies that extend to years past infections and not just severe illness cases. I do think there was cognitive damage (eg biobank) but harder to gauge longer lasting, broader population impacts.

davenewb.bsky.social•12 days ago

I was being only half-serious with my reference. But more broadly, I agree with your assessment. Maybe it's less about lower intelligence and more about emotions. Tough to say.

yulnative.bsky.social•12 days ago

It's more than dumbed down media. One can't ignore the huge influence Murdoch's Fox News has had on public discourse and the spreading of disinformation. I believe without such a network there would never had been a Trump presidency.

lisa234567.bsky.social•12 days ago

DONT U DARE ONLY BLAME FOX FOR TRUMP MSNBC AND CNN ALSO SHOVED HIM DOWN OUR THROATS FOR 10 YEARS

dontvotesplit.bsky.social•11 days ago

MSNBC still has dissenting voices, CNN not so much

But FOX has NEVER had dissenting voices and is engaged in active, continuous radicalization of its viewers

Shout all you want -they may be all bad but Fox has been a catastrophe for media literacy

erinislearning.bsky.social•12 days ago

All that as well as a me-first society that has a growing number of people who are uninterested in news, ignorant of all things global, and only worried about Pickleball and their next vacation (I am literally describing 8 years of conversations with my relatives in Texas).

some1else.bsky.social•12 days ago

Sadly, we have quite a following of the insanely gullible tRump supporters here in Canada as well.

rockymountaincat.bsky.social•12 days ago

I feel it's not limited to Americans. But having lived and worked in both US and Canada, I agree with the article, and I'm not often in agreement with Brooks. There are many factors I observed over my time there that largely boil down to demands on people's attention. 1/

rockymountaincat.bsky.social•12 days ago

Those demands on adults make parents exhausted and less attentive to the kids. They havent the bandwidth to inspire them, feed imagination and creativity with the help of books. So the kids are often effectively raising themselves, facilitated by the screens they turn to for answers and comfort. 2/2

maggiejean-2.bsky.social•12 days ago

Gee, thanks.

livinsimple.bsky.social•11 days ago

Rupert Murdoch has done more than almost anyone else to promote the dumbing down of America. Without Fox News it would not be in nearly as much of a mess.

The US system clearly has many innate issues, but Fox has exploited them to the max.

aptlyasked.bsky.social•12 days ago

You are correct. I enjoy a pet theory that the decline in education is deliberate. It is intended as part of a larger minority disenfranchisement program to ensure continued rule by a dwindling white minority, who's political ideologies align with the Republican Party.

1/

aptlyasked.bsky.social•12 days ago

The article could have further expanded on the subject matter. Column inches aren't as important on-line as in print media, however the brevity aligns with the lowering levels of literacy and limited attention span.

2/fin

penelopejmorrow.bsky.social•12 days ago

Excellent article, I’d even say required reading, but how many Americans are willing or capable of doing so?

chaparritarola.bsky.social•12 days ago

In Canada, to my horror, kids have barely studied geography, a sprinkle of Canadian & world history, only been assigned 2 classical literature books. Kids can barely name all the capitals of the province, 0 rivers & memorizing times-tables is “not needed”. You can’t rely on school systems alone. Sad

lv2spin.bsky.social•12 days ago

I wholeheartedly agree and the 🍊 moron’s plan to destroy education and healthcare and to restrict information will only further to dummy down the masses. Straight out of the fascist playbook.

brontesceptic.bsky.social•12 days ago

The mere fact American voters re-elected Trump to the Presidency amply confirms your proposition.

bill-comeau.bsky.social•12 days ago

In Canada I've talked before about the gap in university education between men and women. Many have said this is by choice but I'm highly skeptical. I believe there's a systemic element. Not that anyone needs a Uni degree to succeed or be intelligent, but it helps train minds and widens perspective.

lhamilton5555.bsky.social•12 days ago

I've found that people who didn't go to university are often equally intelligent to those who did. But attending university exposes folk to different viewpoints and info that they might not otherwise get and forces young adults to analyze and record which may not have occurred without university.

bill-comeau.bsky.social•12 days ago

There are also social experiences. Like for this kid, who only worked and played with white kids in a white town and then started sharing an apartment with a black roommate from Brooklyn and another roommate from Lebanon.

pettist.bsky.social•12 days ago

And the ability to critically think. We need to start teaching critical thinking skills in elementary school and teach it yearly until graduating high school. Not being taught that skill until university is a serious gap in our public education system.

millymia8.bsky.social•12 days ago

🎯
Plus, all those kids with repeat Covid infections are already behind where they should be

bevpr.bsky.social•12 days ago

Article thoughtful, but I think the continued absenteeism can be partly attributed to letting the pandemic rip. Lots of kids suffering with Long COVID, and letting a disease infect them 2-3 x a year is not good, on top of existing viral illnesses. Same with teacher and HCW shortages.

wokenojokewarrior.bsky.social•9 days ago

Agreed, but sadly, I think the same could be said of Canadians. We face some of the same factors, and are just as vulnerable to media and disinformation forces.

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