Is Society "Dumbing Down"?

mfceiling · 30-11-2013 09:18PM #1

Is it?

People more interested in the x-factor and any programme with the word "celebrity" in it.

Magazines spouting sh*te about girls who've put on weight - "is x pregnant", when the same girl has lost a bit of weight - "how you can get a body like x".
Showing pictures of z list celebrities who would turn up to to a bag of crisps opening.

A maths professor was on the radio during the week about society dumbing down. Kids now getting a prize for coming last. No more striving to get first, second or third when you get a medal for coming 26th. He reckons if you set the pass mark in exams at 30% you will get kids aiming for 25%.

Adults who now exclusively use text speak and don't understand basic grammar and spelling.

Kids who want to "be famous" when they grow up. Not even considering what they want to be famous for.

I think society is dumbing down personally speaking. A few years past, people were talking about jade goody being an inspiration. Why? I don't want to speak ill of the dead but the girl was incredibly dumb and showed sinister racist tendencies when she felt threatened by a prettier, more intelligent indian girl.

Time to maybe celebrate the people who are pushing the boundaries in science, maths, physics, biology, computers etc...

cloud493 · 30-11-2013 09:19PM

Yes. /thread

drdeadlift · 30-11-2013 09:20PM

Yes

Frosty McSnowballs · 30-11-2013 09:21PM

Yse

Seachmall · 30-11-2013 09:21PM

If they had X Factor 50 years ago people would have watched.

Society isn't dumbing down, we've just come up with more ways of expressing our stupidity.

wazky · 30-11-2013 09:21PM

Soictys nvr been smarters likke!!!1!

qo2cj1dsne8y4k · 30-11-2013 09:22PM

OMG like no

Fr_Dougal · 30-11-2013 09:22PM

Yes.

30-11-2013 09:24PM

I shoot birds at the airport.

Mint Aero · 30-11-2013 09:24PM

Yep

RayM · 30-11-2013 09:25PM

uh dunno lol

Gbear · 30-11-2013 09:29PM

I'm not sure it is dumbing down.

I just think that stupid people have more free time and disposable income and technology has facilitated selling **** to them more often - bad tv, bad music, etc.

kneemos · 30-11-2013 09:30PM

Stupid has an outlet

Pherekydes · 30-11-2013 09:30PM

Y u no lyk clebritee realitee tee vee shwz?

Serious answer: Yes.

Vincent Vega · 30-11-2013 09:31PM

Indubitably.

jjf1974 · 30-11-2013 09:31PM

From what I hear the x factor has lost a lot of viewers this year. I never really watched it as i disliked the way they showed weaker acts being ridiculed by the judges.The dumbest programe at the moment imo is that jungle nonsense.

Pherekydes · 30-11-2013 09:32PM

Pherekydes wrote: »

Y u no lyk clebritee realitee tee vee shwz?

Serious answer: Yes.

F U lyk dis post Jesus will answer ur prayerz lyk.#Jesussaves

thecatspjs · 30-11-2013 09:48PM

We can't all be as clever as you OP.
I'd say that people are smarter on average due to easier access to information. I'm sure there were a lot of extremely stupid people throughout history.

Banjo String · 30-11-2013 09:52PM

Stupid is as stupid does.

PizzamanIRL · 30-11-2013 09:55PM

Yes. I don't know what people's obsession is with celebrities. Most celebrities just see their fans as cash cows.

Saw something about one direction/justin bieber fans and all the rest of those type of people.
On twitter they send thousands of tweets begging for a 'mention/retweet or follow'. It's like they have little clans and they congratulate each other when one of them gets followed. They think the above celebrities are actually interested in what they have to say on twitter.

You know society is dumb when stories about celebrities getting married or being seen together make front page news

I just wasted 2 minutes typing about these people, time to stop.

Czarcasm · 30-11-2013 09:58PM

No OP, society isn't dumbing down.

You're just taking frivolous things far too seriously. I wouldn't base my opinion of society on the basis of the prevalence of idiocy on television and social media.

They're called attention seekers for a reason.

Damien360 · 30-11-2013 09:58PM

thecatspjs wrote: »

We can't all be as clever as you OP.
I'd say that people are smarter on average due to easier access to information. I'm sure there were a lot of extremely stupid people throughout history.

Just having information is not a measure of how smart you are. Your ability to use that information is the true measure.

Yes society is dumbing down . The media in the uk love an idiot and frown upon the smarter people. The current guy from celebrity get me out of here will be in huge demand when it finishes and doted upon for his stupidity.

Cienciano · 30-11-2013 10:00PM

It's a talent show. Same as Stars in their Eyes which was massive in the 90's, New Faces which was massive in the 80's, Opportunity Knocks which was big since the 60's.
People forget the crap that was on tv before and just remember the good stuff. Some of the best tv shows of all time were made in the last 10 years.

mfceiling · 30-11-2013 10:04PM

thecatspjs wrote: »

We can't all be as clever as you OP.
I'd say that people are smarter on average due to easier access to information. I'm sure there were a lot of extremely stupid people throughout history.

Where in my post did i say i was clever?

I'm not leading the way in physics, the arts or IT...

So answer me again where i stated that i was clever?

Rothko · 30-11-2013 10:05PM

I'm sorry. I don't understand the question.

thecatspjs · 30-11-2013 10:06PM

Damien360 wrote: »

Just having information is not a measure of how smart you are. Your ability to use that information is the true measure.

Yes society is dumbing down . The media in the uk love an idiot and frown upon the smarter people. The current guy from celebrity get me out of here will be in huge demand when it finishes and doted upon for his stupidity.

The point I'm trying to make is that I think people are generally smarter. Literacy rates are much higher that they were 100 years ago, and I would think that most people know more about the world too.

Just because someone likes reality TV does not make them stupid.

The vibe I'm getting from this thread is - 'People like things that I think are dumb, therefore they must be dumb'

Vurnon San Benito · 30-11-2013 10:08PM

As a wise man once said: "Society is dumbing down".

JustShon · 30-11-2013 10:10PM

As far as I'm aware, global average IQ levels are higher now than they ever have been. The reason society seems an awful lot stupider than it used to is because with the internet and the media's obsession with "reality tv" we're far more exposed to the stupidity than we would have been a decade or two ago. Used to be that an idiot never got heard because they're an idiot but now any idiot can start a blog and shout their ill-informed opinion to the world.

thecatspjs · 30-11-2013 10:14PM

mfceiling wrote: »

Where in my post did i say i was clever?

I'm not leading the way in physics, the arts or IT...

So answer me again were i stated that i was clever?

mfceiling wrote: »

Let me start by saying I'm clever

Is it?

People more interested in the x-factor and any programme with the word "celebrity" in it.

Magazines spouting sh*te about girls who've put on weight - "is x pregnant", when the same girl has lost a bit of weight - "how you can get a body like x".
Showing pictures of z list celebrities who would turn up to to a bag of crisps opening.

A maths professor was on the radio during the week about society dumbing down. Kids now getting a prize for coming last. No more striving to get first, second or third when you get a medal for coming 26th. He reckons if you set the pass mark in exams at 30% you will get kids aiming for 25%.

Adults who now exclusively use text speak and don't understand basic grammar and spelling.

Kids who want to "be famous" when they grow up. Not even considering what they want to be famous for.

I think society is dumbing down personally speaking. A few years past, people were talking about jade goody being an inspiration. Why? I don't want to speak ill of the dead but the girl was incredibly dumb and showed sinister racist tendencies when she felt threatened by a prettier, more intelligent indian girl.

Time to maybe celebrate the people who are pushing the boundaries in science, maths, physics, biology, computers etc...

Right there!

You didn't say it, it's just the vibe I got from your post. You sound like you think you are above all of the celebrity nonsense and look down on those who take an interest in it. Apologies if I misunderstood the tone of your statement.

Fukuyama · 30-11-2013 10:14PM

mfceiling wrote: »

Is it?

People more interested in the x-factor and any programme with the word "celebrity" in it.

Magazines spouting sh*te about girls who've put on weight - "is x pregnant", when the same girl has lost a bit of weight - "how you can get a body like x".
Showing pictures of z list celebrities who would turn up to to a bag of crisps opening.

A maths professor was on the radio during the week about society dumbing down. Kids now getting a prize for coming last. No more striving to get first, second or third when you get a medal for coming 26th. He reckons if you set the pass mark in exams at 30% you will get kids aiming for 25%.

Adults who now exclusively use text speak and don't understand basic grammar and spelling.

Kids who want to "be famous" when they grow up. Not even considering what they want to be famous for.

I think society is dumbing down personally speaking. A few years past, people were talking about jade goody being an inspiration. Why? I don't want to speak ill of the dead but the girl was incredibly dumb and showed sinister racist tendencies when she felt threatened by a prettier, more intelligent indian girl.

Time to maybe celebrate the people who are pushing the boundaries in science, maths, physics, biology, computers etc...

Content needs to be divisible by the lowest common denominator of society in order to maximise potential number of users.

Which is why we get low-level reality tripe pumped into newspapers, TV sets and radio stations.

It's still possible to actively seek out good stuff though. Piracy FTW.

mfceiling · 30-11-2013 10:16PM

thecatspjs wrote: »

The point I'm trying to make is that I think people are generally smarter. Literacy rates are much higher that they were 100 years ago, and I would think that most people know more about the world too.

Just because someone likes reality TV does not make them stupid.

The vibe I'm getting from this thread is - 'People like things that I think are dumb, therefore they must be dumb'

Right then, leave reality tv aside.

Explain why kids want to "be famous" without an idea of what they are famous for?
Why do Z list celebrities get spread over papers and magazines yet no one is interested in people involved in say, the Cern Project?

I don't care what other people are "in to"... i don't care if it is dumb or not.

Is Society "Dumbing Down"?

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