Inspired by Emech's Mac thread I decided to look into other things in society that possibly make us dumber, and raise awareness for you on the forum. Surprisingly, we are surrounded now by technology and environmental factors that have this effect. Here's a list to discuss:
Never heard of this one.
Just iphones, not Android. FYI.
I wasn't sure if it was stupid people watching reality tv, or it was making them dumber. Maybe it's both?
Whatever. If bitches were smart to begin with they wouldn't mouth off to get if smacked off their face.
Every time I see a chick smacking gum I assume she's a tard.
Now why is it city folk think they are smarter?
Scary, as much as we like to travel.
Yep, goes with that big city living.
I'm calling bullshit on this one. Kids get beat cause their stupid to begin with.
Fuck me. I though stress kept you sharp.
100%. You're only as smart as the dumbest person in the room.
See: Big city living. You guys are tardbots.
Stop PM'ing me, you're making me dumber!
Where you at Kickboxer?
Poor diet affects a lot more than just weight.
In this case the Brits should be mega smart.
I believe in the Bible, so evolution doesn't pertain to me.
What the fuck ever.
These new kids shows will rot the brain. Nothing like the old school Animaniacs.
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Back in 2008, Nicholas Carr wrote an article for “The Atlantic” that sparked a national debate that rages even now. The title of the article: “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” So...is it? Short answer: yes and no. In July 2011, scientists at Columbia University announced that, thanks to Google, we now store less information in our minds. However, we're also better at remembering where information is stored, so your answer really depends on which skill set you value most.
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Sugar
According to scientists at UCLA, steady sugar consumption "slows the brain, hampering memory and learning" in as little as six weeks. And, according to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Americans consume 35 pounds of high-fructose corn syrup each year. You're still smart enough to do that math, right?
Never heard of this one.
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Smartphones
Well, technically it's not smartphones that are making us dumber. It's the thing the smartphone enables, which is chronic, relentless multi-tasking. Dr. Sandy Chapman, chief director for the Center for Brain Health in Dallas, says, "It's really keeping us at this distracted level, so everything that we're thinking about tends to be more quick, more minute, less synthesized, and that's what's making us dumber."
Just iphones, not Android. FYI.
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Reality TV
Everyone knows that you are what you eat, but did you know that you're only as smart as the television you watch? An Austrian researcher recently proved that subjects performed worse on knowledge tests after reading a story about a stupid person, thus proving that the media we consume directly affects our behavior. So unless you're watching reality TV shows about Nobel Prize winners, chances are good that your favorite guilty are making you dumber.
I wasn't sure if it was stupid people watching reality tv, or it was making them dumber. Maybe it's both?
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Wife Beating
Household violence doesn't just damage us emotionally—it actually lowers our IQs. A Boston University study of more than 1,000 pairs of twins showed that children exposed to high levels of domestic violence had IQs that were, on average, 8 points lower than unexposed children.
Whatever. If bitches were smart to begin with they wouldn't mouth off to get if smacked off their face.
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Gum
Chewing gum may double your pleasure but it cuts your smarts by half (give or take). A 2011 study at Cardiff University in Wales determined that chewing gum "impairs short-term memory for both item order and item identity." Chew on that, smartypants.
Every time I see a chick smacking gum I assume she's a tard.
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City Living
Two people go for a walk. One walks through a park, one walks down a busy urban sidewalk. At the end of the walk, who's smarter? Turns out, it's the person who walked through the park. In a real-life, large-scale version of this experiment at the University of Michigan, people who walked through the city had worse memory, poor attention and learning problems. In fact, just looking at a picture of a city produced the same effect.
Now why is it city folk think they are smarter?
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Jet Lag
Jet-setters, take note: when scientists at Cal Berkeley simulated jet lag in hamsters, they found that the hamsters produced 50 percent fewer neurons than normal and took longer to solve simple problems.
How do you simulate jet lag in a hamster? That’s another story for another day.
Scary, as much as we like to travel.
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Poor Ventilation
Excess carbon dioxide is doing more than wrecking our climate—it's also making us stupid. Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley Livermore slowly increased the amount of CO2 in a poorly ventilated room while college students attempted to solve a series of complex, strategic problems. Not surprisingly, the more CO2 in the atmosphere, the more mistakes the test subjects made. So the next time you're feeling slow, crack a window.
Yep, goes with that big city living.
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Whuppings
Not one but TWO wide-ranging studies* have proved conclusively that spanking children lowers their IQs and gives them post-traumatic stress disorder. "The more spanking, the slower the development of the child's mental ability. But even small amounts of spanking make a difference," says Murray Straus, professor at the University of New Hampshire and author of one of the studies.
*University of New Hampshire in 2009 and University of Manitoba in 2012.
I'm calling bullshit on this one. Kids get beat cause their stupid to begin with.
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Stress
A Yale University study has found that stressful situations "can reduce the number of connections between neurons in the brain and impair the ability of managing tense events in the future." And chronic stress only exacerbates the effect.
If that news stresses you out, relax. Behavioral therapy, like yoga and meditation, can help repair the damage.
Fuck me. I though stress kept you sharp.
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Meetings
The phrase "governed by committee" is synonymous with mediocrity for good reason. "Group settings can diminish expressions of intelligence, especially among women," according to a study from Virginia Tech. So the next time you feel like a company meeting is making you brain dead—you're probably right.
100%. You're only as smart as the dumbest person in the room.
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Air Pollution
Car exhaust, second-hand smoke, smog, factory emissions...the list of common air pollutants is long and depressing. And all of them are making us dumber. Researchers at Columbia University found that the more air pollution children are exposed to, the lower their IQs.
Speaking of which, when’s the last time you changed your air filter?
See: Big city living. You guys are tardbots.
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Emails
The bad news: If you compulsively check your email, you may be making yourself dumber. Researchers at the University of California recently proved that constant email stresses us out and reduces our ability to concentrate.
The good news: All you have to do to get smarter is to wean yourself off of it. Test subjects who limited email time or went without had lower blood pressure and better recall.
Stop PM'ing me, you're making me dumber!
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Weed
Back away from the bong, junior. This may seem like a no-brainer, but Duke University researchers have found that smoking marijuana consistently from adolescence causes "neuropsychological decline broadly across domains of functioning, even after controlling for years of education." The scariest part? Even after test subjects quit using, their IQs never recovered.
Where you at Kickboxer?
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Fast Food
Thinking about grabbing some Happy Meals for your hungry little ones on the way home? Think again. Children who regularly eat fast food will grow up to have lower IQs than those who regularly eat freshly cooked meals, according to a study from Goldsmiths, University of London.
Poor diet affects a lot more than just weight.
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Fluoride
This one might leave a bad taste in your mouth. According to the journal “Environmental Health Perspectives,” children with high levels of fluoride in their drinking water “have significantly lower IQ scores than those who live in low-fluoride areas."
In this case the Brits should be mega smart.
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Evolution
A Stanford University researcher named Gerald Crabtree recently posited that human intelligence may have peaked back in caveman times, and that it’s all been downhill since then. The cause? Our survival no longer depends on it.
“A hunter-gatherer who did not correctly conceive a solution to providing food or shelter probably died…whereas a modern Wall Street executive who made a similar conceptual mistake would receive a substantial bonus and be a more attractive mate.”
Ouch.
I believe in the Bible, so evolution doesn't pertain to me.
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Fox News
Here's some fuel for your partisan fires: two separate studies* have found that "Fox News viewers are significantly more misinformed than consumers of news from other sources" such as MSNBC, “The Daily Show” or NPR.
*University of Maryland in 2010 and Fairleigh Dickinson University in 2011.
What the fuck ever.
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Sponge Bob
Big Bird may be even more awesome than we suspected. In a University of Virginia study, children who watched nine minutes of SpongeBob, "had impairment in their executive function compared with children who were assigned a drawing task and those who watched educational television." Remember that come pledge-drive season.
These new kids shows will rot the brain. Nothing like the old school Animaniacs.
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