I feel if clarification is needed, ask for it. It's far easier, don't you think?

The premise is that we're getting dumber because the dumber segments of the population are indiscriminately breeding faster, and there's probably some real truth to that.

IMHO eugenics is nothing more then manipulating science to push a political agenda....

And HG Wells believed in eugenics...

quote:

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Eugenics

Wells believed in the theory of eugenics. In 1904 he discussed a survey paper by Francis Galton, co-founder of eugenics, saying "I believe ... It is in the sterilisation of failure, and not in the selection of successes for breeding, that the possibility of an improvement of the human stock lies". Some contemporary supporters even suggested connections between the "degenerate" man-creatures portrayed in The Time Machine and Wells's eugenic beliefs. For example, the economist Irving Fisher said in a 1912 address to the Eugenics Research Association: "The Nordic race will ... vanish or lose its dominance if, in fact, the whole human race does not sink so low as to become the prey, as H. G. Wells images, of some less degenerate animal!"[43]

»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._G._Wells#Eugenics

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In fact the evidence seems to be that it's producing the opposite effect. Which makes sense -- the less that innate intelligence is a factor in survival, the less it's favoured as a genetic trait in evolution. So we can actually end up with factors like random mutation and genetic drift becoming dominant, and the intelligence in our neurobiological makeup regressing instead of evolving.

I don't fall for the appeal to authority logical error, which what dropping credentials as singular proof of being right is.

Is that really a bad thing though?

It is precisely because we are able to punch a few numbers on the calculator and get an answer to the most complex problem that will help us evolve, as now the people who excel in math and science can stop wasting time on doing long hand divisions or calculating thousands of equations as they can just make anyone do it for them and be able focus themselves on more important things that will improve science instead.

quote:

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The most striking thing about the study is that is reminds us that we are now smart enough to theorize that we are not as smart as we used to be. We have gathered evidence and used science to advance our understanding of ourselves to a level way beyond that of any person who lived 3,000 years ago, or even 300 years ago. We have all the same frailties as our ancestors – we are still violent, greedy and, sometimes, willfully blind to fact – but we are also more aware of the world around us than ever, we work harder to end wars than we do to start them, we believe in fundamental human rights and improving the lot of people less well off than us, we can decode DNA and search for the “God” particle, and we have developed and adapted to technologies that are continually making our lives richer.

No, we’re smarter than we used to be. A little more cynical too, but that’s not the end of the world.

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With those abilities you have options. Knowledge is power. Surveyors have GPS, but they still do it by rod. Why? Because sometimes GPS doesn't work where you are.

You can have a fancy calculator, but if you can't enter an equation in the correct order, it's useless. This is the foundation of knowledge.

Is that really a bad thing though?

Everyone no longer needs to be good at the basic things to survive....

While people might have been more capable and more jack-of-all-trades in the past, people like Einstein and Hawking would never survive in the past environment, and a result, we would be stuck at excelling in general things, and limiting our evolution to surviving only....

Go ahead.....ask any 12 year old kid to do long division without a calculator.

Plausible but false = specious.

This is one of the reasons why scientists (not science) continue to lose credibility by coming up with ridiculous theories like this one; for no other reason than to rise above the 140 character noise or get page hits. In that regard, such "scientists" continue to devolve into the infotainment realm: the medium is the message.

Go ahead.....ask any 12 year old kid to do long division without a calculator.

FaxCap

Or,

638
x983
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= ?

Prepare to wait a while.

Sounds like advocating eugenics....

"a clear-sighted view of important issues" like conquering? Enslaving? Crushing your enemies at all costs? Inbreeding?

I don't think people are getting dumber. I think the Dumb are just getting more attention and opportunity to congregate.

Would this be the Athens where democracy was invented, and was famous for its philosophers and much of the foundation of modern civilization? :uhh:

Secondly, what the hell does this report have to do with Germany or politics or sterilizations? Where is that being advocated? This is a typical example of a scientist reporting observations being accused of some nefarious conspiracy by someone who doesn't like his observations.

May I suggest: think first, write later.