Do people really think we are more intelligent than those who lived before us?

Question

This is a quote from an atheist in one of the questions in the last thirty minutes and several others said very similar things-- "Don't you see? we don't need god anymore! we have brains!"

Do so many of us really think that because we have greater technology and more facts it makes us more intelligent than previous humans?

History is a pattern. Pride then fall... prosperity, pride then fall... prosperity, pride then fall... etc. One of the greatest examples: Rome.

To be educated does not mean you have become intelligent. It's how you use intelligence--to better mankind or to make yourself look smart. Some of the smartest people on earth never attended any type of school.

A FEW OF YOUR ANSWERS TREAT EDUCATION AND ITELLIGENCE AS THE SAME TRAIT... IT IS NOT.

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I'm Christian, I was questioning the quoted Atheists' logic

Answer 1

Simple answer - Yes, I believe that most people today think that they are superior in most ways to people who lived before us.

My answer - No Way! Our ancestors knew 100 times more about life than we do today. We know about technology, cynicism, drug use, put-downs, porn, sports, etc., etc., etc. But we know very little about how be happy, how to be successful, how to become the best we can be.

Learning history is supposed to teach us how to avoid the mistakes of the past. But if the teacher doesn't know how to learn from the past, how will the students learn?

Here's the secret to living a happy life:

Forget yourself and look for ways to make others around you happy. In the process, you find yourself and inner peace.

When you have inner peace, everything else will work out. You are able to accept the truth that God lives and loves you personally, and wants the best for each and every person who lives on the earth.

Answer 2

Let's say two friends, one reads
the news everyday, and watches the news.
The other
person has a history degree,
with not only
good grades, but knows history well,
and rarely reads the news.

So, is knowledge of current events of any
more or less value than knowing why Ireland
and Britain have always fought? That didn't
just happen in the 1980's, it was popular
journalism at that time.

But there is nothing wrong with education or
intellect. Is it okay to be a good wagerer,
or a good shootist, yet some stigma associated
with having intellectual skills. Why does my
friend who drives a car I can never buy have
a problem with me because I have more music
knowledge than him.
this is as far as I will take this question, because,
for one reason, I am working a lot harder to
answer questions than the majority.

Answer 3

Is there a lower common denominator to what we know as intelligence than pattern recognition? Isn't everything we've learned a derivative of our ability to catalog cause and effect, trial and error, etc.?

My point is, we have no greater capacity for intellect than our hunter / gatherer ancestors probably possessed. We are simply the beneficiaries of hundreds of generations of acquired knowledge.

I would argue that a truly intelligent individual is not intimidated by the prospect of God. An evolved thinker doesn't need to criticize someone with a different world view as intellectually inferior. Over confidence is counter productive to the very processes through which intelligence is acquired.

I'm often amazed at the emotional response provoked in otherwise smart people when the notion of God's existence is called into question. Often even those who have called upon their intelligence to reason God away have an element of faith in their position.

As your question points out, the patter of rise and fall impacts us all. Fortunately for the US, Rome wasn't destroyed in a day.

Answer 4

The people before us was smarter, but they just didn't have the technology that we have today. If it wasn't for them, then we wouldn't know how to advance what we know. People in the olden days worked hard with there minds and hands, I think causing them to be more thankful to God and the earth. We have taken over and the earth is angry, because we have dominion over it, set here to rule over it and we are killing it. Look at the animals, never read about mad cow's deceases in those days, look at the ocean, never heard of tsunami's back then, I believe when you meet a older person that has never have gotten any education and they can count better then the smartest graduate and can save money better than the hardest worker and yet does not have any worries. Yes they are smarter, because they paved the way for us.

Answer 5

intelligence does not equal education, fair enough, but think of it this way, we are better educated and have no less intelligence.
perhaps you misunderstood what that atheists said. we are better educated than those that came before us, and that's not a reference to the previous generation, it's more of a reference to the people of a century ago and before. back then, god was the only possible explanation to everything that happened because science was in it's infancy and not yet capable of explaining things. just about every god that ancient civilizations came up with was mostly to give a reason to what they could not understand. do we still need a god now to explain why the wind blows, or the sky does not fall on our heads?

greater technology and more facts do not make us more intelligent that previous humans, but it does answer a lot more questions, questions to which the best answer previously available was "a god must be responsible".

Answer 6

No, I think we are in fact much less educated than the generation before us. We may look down on them for only having an 8th grade education, but if you looked at the McGuffey readers or spellers from even just the 1800s we'd quickly realize that most of our college graduations do not know half of that stuff. Then don't even begin to get me started on practical information that people in this generation know nothing about - in just agriculture and farming alone. If we went through another depression this lazy pampered, technologically advanced, generation would be in great danger, because they wouldn't know the first thing about providing for themselves. We are a generation of knowledge (intelligence), but no wisdom. Full of fools who think they don't need a God and can be self-sustaining without Him. It's so sad, because we have so much to learn from prior generations, but instead we look back and think they were somehow 'dumber' than us, because they lived in less luxury. I assure you this generation could never had the intellectual fortitude to imagine the amazing republic that was once created here and all the nuances that were thought through and covered, too bad we haven't even tried to maintain it. So, my answer is no, no, no, no, no - we are not smarter by any stretches of the imagination!

Answer 7

According to the Idian scriptures,the Vedas,there is a constant cycle of evolution of society,which spreads over million of years,through history.With the most sophisticated instruments,scientists can only speculate about such civilisations of the past.
Many lies have been written concerning history of mankind.Christian church,who monopolised knowledge since 2000 yrs,wish to date creation only 6000 yrs ago!
Evolutionists also try to explain creation by explosions,primordial soup,changing the theories every year,and putting away the idea of a Supreme Controller.
But the Vedas have records of past civilisations much in detail,and there talk about outer space vehicles,and other dreadful weapons,much more advanced than the present nuclear ones.
What about the mysteries of civilisations of Mayas,Incas,Egyptians,and remnants of other past civilisations that history dont talk about?
We shouln't be too proud of present techniques and social order these days as,according to many observers,a terrible catastrophe can happen,through nuclear warfare,and the destruction of natural living,by biotechnical engineers.Globalisation is ruining 50% of the planet and poverty is rampant,while a very small percentage of enjoyers are super rich!
However,on the opposite,Divine way of life is being practiced by those who follow the advice of the sages of the Vedas,and protecting environment,all creatures,morality,health,and so pleasing God,who will protect them.This is real intelligence! Not manipulating Nature in a demoniac way as well as populations,just for money.
When leaders are throwing bombs over civilians,or doing other sinful activities,they are ignoring the law of Karma:in time they will have to suffer same!
The wise avoid such actions,knowing of the terible consequences in future.This is intelligence..
So, if you wish to know more plse go to the links mentionned and contact me if you wish.Your question is quite intelligent!

Answer 8

People have changed tremendously in the last 3 centuries. I recently read an article for my English class. It was talking of "Old Leisure". How in the old days, people just liked leisure. Watching the sunset. Enjoying their own plants. Sitting around on the front porch on a warm day doing nothing. And it also mentioned how now people want to be doing stuff, they want to be busy all the time. Now we always have something we desire and it wasn't like that before. That is what the article said. The thing it shows is that people have truly changed throughout time.

And yes we are definitely more "intelligent" by your definition of it now. Today we have a lot more knowledge which we all try to use to better the world. We have knowledge of DNA, of Global Warming and a bunch of other stuff that can save us. And so we are definitely better than before. Our minds are much more advanced and store much more information. We are definitely better than those who lived before us, and I am speaking of those who are NOT in our immediate past.

Reading other answers, I have noticed that other people are speaking of the average person's understanding of the world. The average person is pretty damn stupid to be honest. It is sad. We have to consider the higher classes of intelligence, because that is what I think it should be measured by. By the knowledge we contain and store, and by the amount of people who store so much knowledge in themselves. The fact that other people don't want to try is their problem.

Answer 9

Actually, we are smarter. There was a MASSIVE leap in the evolution of the human mind during the industrial revolution.

Now, with the internet opening things up, and the world becoming more globalized, information spreads around the world in seconds, and is available to so many. The people of ancient times, or even a few hundred years ago did not think in the same way we do now. So, yes, we are far more intelligent.

Answer 10

There are alot of people that truly believe that we are getting smarter. Yet, I think, we are morally going down the tubes. Things that used to be strictly forbidden, we are now being told we must accept. God hates pride. Just because someone 'thinks' he/she is smart, doesn't make it so. Pride falls before destruction. Hopefully, these intelligent people will believe when they see it.