Dare to Ask: Dumb and dumber? Try overloaded

By Phillip J. Milano

The Florida Times-Union

Question

Are people getting dumber? I’m referring to lack of common sense or awareness. Things that used to be out of the ordinary (inattentive drivers, shoppers with no clue about others’ carts, people unprepared for transactions, etc.) are now commonplace. — Brad, 32, Provo, Utah

Replies

Yes. — Roxanne, Illinois

“Dumber” isn’t a word. You just proved your question. — Matt, 22, New York

People seem more self-absorbed and unwilling or unable to consider how their actions affect others. Is it perhaps that as we have access to more information, we become “numb” to reality? — Glenda, 23, Australia

Society has coddled those people who would have been wiped out by evolution. — Jen, 31, Atlanta

I think people are gettin stupider. I think lots of blame lies on the parents, and also with society. I mean, when i was younger, i got to go outside and play wherever i wanted, and i knew not to talk with strangers. These days parents wont let their kids go far because of kidnappers are more abundant then when i was younger. Parents play an awesome role with this also. I mean when your kid is caught plagerizing (spelling) do you let them know what they did was wrong, or do you go [gripe] at the school? With these factors and many more, you do that math. — Alex, 19, Houston

Expert says

We could’ve cleaned up Alex’s reply, but we didn’t want to dilute its relevancy and all.

Those of us who are less dumb than others (i.e. we’ve dumped “Jersey Shore” for “Dance Your Ass Off”) already know that people are actually getting smarter. The “Flynn Effect,” named for researcher James R. Flynn, refers to people’s IQs as measured by standardized tests having increased an average three points per decade since the early 20th century.

So if we’re not surrounded by more morons, what’s causing the lack of common sense Brad’s noticing?

California psychologist Debra Moore said we’re all dealing with a ton more stimuli, which may account for some of what’s going on.

“We’re splitting our attention. All of our senses are being bombarded,” said Moore, who’s spent nearly three decades treating patients with inattentiveness or ADHD. “There are more visual stimuli, more signs, blinking ones, the radio is on, phone is ringing, the TV is on,” not to mention smart phones and websites competing for more of our time.

When our senses overload, there’s more room for error, stress and irritation.

“Our circuit breakers have too much load on them, and our brains haven’t evolved enough for it,” Moore said. “With a different framework like that, especially for younger people, what was once  considered rude no longer is. … We need to reset the circuit breaker and turn off some of this stuff.”

And with that, she very politely had to stop.

“Glad we talked, but I’m in a bit of a rush … just like what we talked about!”

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Phillip Milano, author of I Can't Believe You Asked That! (Perigee), moderates cross-cultural dialogue at Y? The National Forum on People's Differences. Visit www.yforum.com to submit questions and answers. Send general column comments to phillip.milano@jacksonville.com. You can also hear his podcasts.