Why is society getting dumber?

Question

In the "olden" days children would be punished for speaking out against their parents/teachers. People didn`t play video games but instead spent time with their families. Many other changes have occured...these are just a few.
Why have our expectations lowered so dramatically? Why have we become ruder, lazier, and more sedentary? Why don`t we appreciate the goodness of what life used to be? You see it in the media and how people live their lives. I already know that advancing technology is a factor. What else could it be? Is there an underlying principle that makes humans less interested and productive as time wears on?

Answer 1

Values have shifted significantly. Wealth is power and secular society values the individual as opposed to the impact of these actions on the entire group and it's survival as a social structure.

Answer 2

Yes the fact that these days parents just usually go out and buy their kid anything they want without making them do any kind of work for it. I mean kids should cut the yard and be made to help out around the home. Video games are allowing kinds to stay in and play instead of getting outside and doing something like hid and seek, or other fun games that will promote better health and give them a little exercise. The fact that parents do not sit and teach their kids anything is a big factor these days. There are kids in high school and even adults, who do not know who the vice president is, the chief justice of the supreme court, and who their congressman and senators are. There is no reason for that! Parents need to take an active role in the lives of their children and get them up off their butts and make them do more things that are better for their health and will teach then about what is going on around them in this world. If this does not change God help us when the little rug rats of today grow up. Heck I bet we will still have to take care of them and we will be in our 80's. People have got to start taking an interest in what their children are doing and make sure they at least learn a few things.

Answer 3

I don't believe it's all to do with money as a lot of answers have indicated.... since the cavemen , we have, as humans, struggled to develop ways to help us in everyday life. They found how to make fire - to cook food, and give heat. Also, the wheel - it aided in transporting things. The only problem now, is that people are profiting from these "aids" to a point where it's being mass-produced and flooding the market and we have no choice but to either keep up, or fall behind. Our search for the "better" or "easier" has led us into this pitfall.

One thing, though, as far as the direction that Mel took it, with leaning towards abuse and such.....humans as a whole are prone to go to one extreme or another. Back in the day, so to speak, you did not discuss abuse. However, the people who are educating others about it today, and so called 'trying to stop it', are going to extreme. Those of us who were abused know the difference (or rather, should know) between abuse and discipline.

We just need to learn to moderate. Humans are not very good at doing that. Moderation is the answer to most of our problems. Just find a happy medium!

Answer 4

I think the root of today's problems actually go back to two key years of two prior generations: 1935 and 1969.

The generation which Rush Limbaugh refers to as the "Give me" generation was really born in 1935, when the Act of Congress was passed that essentially made president Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal" policies the law of the land. Some good things came of it, such as FDIC, child labor laws and the concept of a public school system. But, much of it went too far in that it created a kind of dependency on government -- to be ever larger, to impose forms of equality that are no more natural than the absence of oceanic tides. The negative side of the New Deal's legacy is evident in the way that the average American does not prepare for disasters such as the 9/11 attacks and hurricane Katrina. Everyone expects too much from the government in that sense. I think that 1935 was the year that people began to really see government as something that was supposed to force them to do what is right, and forcibly prevent them from doing what is wrong -- instead of choosing right over wrong.

Then, there was 1969, the peak of the 1960's "hippie culture." That was when the culture of questioning authority went too far. Viet Nam was a difficult and problematic War, but large numbers of long-haired people acted as if all you had to do to oppose evil was make a peace sign with your fingers with a marijuana joint between your lips. That generation is still around. They give all kinds of reasons why they oppose the War on Terror, but the true reason is that the job of commanding it has fallen on the shoulders of a Republican president and not a Democrat.

Answer 5

Dumber in some ways; smarter in others. The scary thing is that the 'smarter' we get is also getting us closer to self-destruction. Everything we create to make us more independent is causing us to lose touch with our humanness and admit our 'need' for each other. We were created to NEED each other - not to need technology and to get EVERYTHING done faster so we can have more quality time. If all of our world advances are meant to make our lives easier, then why do we seem 'busier' than we've ever been? Take a look at the way the Amish live (I'm not saying I want to live that way, but we could learn from their contentment).
I believe the root of the breakdown of society is due to society becoming more self-reliant and less reliant on God and his word. Kids don't know discipline and boundaries and empathy anymore because parents - correction: EVERYBODY is becoming more self involved and looking for the easy way out OF EVERTHING. The consequences for bad behaviour is too much trouble to discipline, so it doesn't happen. Instead of taking the time to LOVE, we pacify with TV, computers, food, artificial relationships (internet, etc.), drugs, work, toys, etc.

I believe we need to bring the true meaning of love through Bible teachings and God's word back into the schools and into society. The misuse of sex in society to sell EVERYTHING is another downfall. We have taken sacred holy things, like marriage, and turned them into game shows on TV. That's our entertainment? Wow!
I better question my values.
God help us.

Answer 6

Advanced technology has created better communication which has led to better education. Many people have moved away from such ridiculous ideas such as racism and sexism. There has been a price though. People are beginning to accept others better but, accepting negative behavior has just been a part of that. Children should have probably more discipline than they do now. But, many times even now children have been denied basic human rights. They are better off now than they have been in the past. Child abusers now face jail. Years ago it was not like this. Children were viewed as property, like women.

Answer 7

People are afraid to correct their children because of all the abuse reports. So the kids get away with alot. Two have to work to make ends meet in a household which leaves kids to entertain themselves for hours playing games instead of studying.
Each generation is getting worse than the other, parents becoming lax in discipline and acting alot like kids themselves. Basically society has become very materialistic
opinionated. Everyone seems to be angry and expecting everything to be handed to them on a silver platter.
Their not dumber just more selfish and less tolerant of others around them. Always wanting something for nothing even if they have to steal it rather than work for it.

Answer 8

Because society didn't put up with it and if a child did something deemed "not appropriate" they were ostracized and made an outcast. Today so many parents that were raised in that society are just the opposite now. They want to be their child's friend. Give them everything they want, make them happy and wonder why they don't appreciate all the crap you give them. When you have nothing you appreciate what you do get. If you have always had everything you throw a whiney fit because you feel like society "owes" it to you. Or your parents "owe" it to you like it is some kind of right. We need to socialize our children teaching them to be responsible for their behavior. Do not parent by guilt. A parent that truly loves their child will hold them responsible. Now some people may argue that. I love my child so I give them what they want. If YOU make them happy by giving them what they want, even if you know it isn't what is best for your child is that not truly selfish?

Answer 9

We as a society are allowing it. We no longer value the advice of our elders. We let people who ( we know nothing about, except what is reported in those STUPID TABLOIDS) are sports figures, rappers, actors and actresses tell our children and us what is acceptable and the norm.
We as a society choose to ( and for many have to) spend alot of time away from their family.
Another sad fact of today is that people are always wanting to buy a bigger and better houses. Look at the homes that our grandparents had. They were 2, maybe 3 bedrooms that several people shared - no questions asked.
It is unfortunate because we ( the family ) are very spread out even in our own homes and the only "quality time" that is spent with our children and parents is in the car being shuffled from this lesson to that lesson!!
I remember singing songs when we went somewhere to help pass the time. Now the kids have "instant entertainment" ( in the form of movies, ipods, and their cell phone) so there is no need to interact with one another.
I was recently on a school (college) sponsored trip. I got to thinking about how sad today's society is. They are a gimme, gimme society used to INSTANEOUS GRATIFICATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a sad lot of fools we have turned out to be!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 10

Well, I'm 15 and in my opinion, yes society IS getting dumber. I hate it so much because there are many people such as myself who have great futures ahead of them and we're destroying it. Here's just a sample of what I think is wrong:

-Respect: Kids need to respect their elders and realize when the answer is no, it means "no". Yes, I know being a teen are hard times and there's gonna be times where you get mad, but you still need to respect the people who love you the best.

-Music: Oh, God, where do I start?!?!?! There used to be a time when music had meaning and made you think. Now pretty much everything is revolving around ca$h thanks to Coroporate America, who messed up all of it. But believe me, I think hip hop will make a rebirth, to like it was in the late 80's to mid 90's. There's only so many ways these rapperz can say how they floss and "throw some D'z".

-Personality: I think every teen I know has the same bland personality because they are only following the current fad, music, fashion, etc., thus making them uninteresting. I choose to be an individual, and I wish everyone would do the same. JUST BE YOURSELF; we all have something cool about us, let's take advantage of it.

And that's about all I think of now...hope I helped!

Answer 11

in the "olden days" children never spoke back to their parents because of the feudal culture. do you remember that back then women had a very low status? women were called the lesser sex, or the weaker sex. that's also part of the feudal culture. women were (and still are, in many countries) subject to their fathers, brothers, and eventually husbands and sons. i'm sure you don't want to go back to that period. society has somehow been 'democratized' (in its most shallow form)

society has become dumber because more people are illiterate than otherwise. in my country, to cater the needs of globalization, education is the least priority. the prices of products are high, the worker's wages are extremely low so most of the people can't afford to live, let alone be educated.

so even in the face of all these development, it still did not reflect in the lives of the people. maybe that's why you feel that society is getting dumber.