Dumb Down

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Has the advancement of technology contributed to the decrease of intellect or in other words, are you “dumber” than you were 10 years ago because of spell check?

What prompts my question is a book I’m reading, okay skimming, entitled Dumbing Down. The authors have concluded that:

National intelligence is plummeting and our society is essentially a consumer’s society where leisure time is used, no longer for self-perfection or acquisition of more social status, but for more consumption and more entertainment.

The results? We have been dumb downed and the effects can be seen in every aspect of our lives, but not limited to, such as in education, politics, journalism, literature, film and religion.

From my every other chapter understanding of this book we are a people no longer challenged or required to think. We don’t read and we live in a simple, user-friendly, push button society. We spend an exhaustible amount of time engaging in or watching asinine, bizarre and third rate entertainment while being spoon fed deficient information.

I thought the book was a little harsh, but it did communicate some valid points.

Has spell check ruined my life? You’re darn right it has, I can’t spell worth a darn anymore and I refuse to learn another phone number when I can just program it into my phone. Whose fault is it? Mine. We all have to assume personal responsibility when it comes to the choices we make and how we choose to spend our time. If we are “dumb” as a result, we have no one to blame, but ourselves. Maybe.

Are being duped by “some deliberate commercial strategy, an active procedure with goals of its own rather than a passive experience?” What do you think?

What most people don’t seem to realize is that there is just as much money to be made out of the wreckage of a civilization as from the upbuilding of one. Rhett Butler

Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader?

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I do not watch the show, but I do catch clips of it and no, I don’t feel smarter than a 5th grader when it comes to answering some questions.  I was listening to a radio show today and they were talking about I.Q.’s and this got me to thinking about mine, so I did a quick search for an I.Q. test and came up with this site. http://www.iqtest.com/index.html

This site gives you 38 times questions you have to answer, the longer you take the lower your I.Q. will be.  I flunked out by not paying attention to this little tidbit.  When the test is complete you will have to enter your name, your age and your email address.  They will email you the results, if you want the Complete Personal Intelligence Profile or The Consciousness Exercises, you will have to pay $9.95.

 So here is the result of my I.Q. test. 

Dear Valerie Morrison,

Thank you for your interest in the test at IQTest.com.

Your general IQ score is: 91

I emailed the results to some friends who also emailed theirs to me.  One person had a 104, another had a 102 and someone had a 106, I believe.  One person didn’t take the test or either didn’t email her results.  I showed up with a 91.  LOL! They were shocked and one person said:

“Well that just proves that it is all *###* cause no way you are stupider than me.” 

Thanks for the vote of confidence Kat!

Next, I searched the internet to find out the meaning of the scores and this is what I found:

Descriptive Classifications of Intelligence Quotients
IQ	Description	% of Population
130+	Very superior	2.2%
120-129	Superior	6.7%
110-119	High average	16.1%
90-109	Average	50%
80-89	Low average	16.1%
70-79	Borderline	6.7%
Below 70	Extremely low	2.2%

I said since I was fooling around during the test and not giving it my attention, I would  take it again when I got home, just to be sure, not that it really matters. The result is posted below:

Dear Valerie Morrison,

Thank you for your interest in the test at IQTest.com.

Your general IQ score is: 110

Okay well that is a little better,  at least I am in 3 digit territory. Some of the questions were out of my range and I had to read them twice, but it was fun.

Are you smarter than a 5th grader?  Do you think IQ tests are biased?  What’s your opinion of I.Q. tests? Have you ever taken one?  If not, take this test, find out your I.Q. and post it here. I would love to know!

Read about the history of the I.Q. test here.