Given the glut of 24/7, 365 news outlets, we are all “informed”.
Each of us can carry a conversation – with varying degrees of accuracy – about the state of the economy, the effects of recent weather catastrophes, and the reasons Disney’s live-action “Snow White” crashed and burned worse than Tesla stock.
We live our lives a mere click away from being wiki-experts in every subject. Information these days? Is cheap, and available in spades.
By and large, this is a good thing. Much of human history has been marked – and marred – by the power of information: who has it, who has access to it, and how to keep it out of the “wrong” hands.
Because knowledge? It’s a powerful thing.
And a slippery slope.
And a double-edged sword.
And a veritable cornucopia of other well-worn clichés.
Yes, in today’s marketplace, most folks have unlimited access to storehouses of information. And, as information is the building block of knowledge, you might make the assumption that we – the beneficiaries of all that information access – would be the most knowledgeable of all of the generations of our species.
Hahaha.
Nope.
Unfortunately, recent research is finding that, despite carrying little computers in our pockets that allow us access to all of the known information on Earth, human beings are becoming increasingly information illiterate – unable to ingest complex data and parse nuance from content.
That’s right! As a quick (and ironic, given the circumstances) Google search will tell you: by statistically measurable metrics, human beings are getting dumber.
In one of several studies marking the downward trend (reported by the Financial Times under the title, “Have humans passed peak brain power?”) findings show that, regardless of age, people nowadays are finding it more difficult to concentrate – a necessity when it comes to deciphering complex data – and are losing the ability to reason and problem solve.
Additional studies have documented the same. According to those, human beings reached peak brain power sometime in the 1970s.
And we’ve been on the decline ever since.
Theories given for the losses include changes in education systems, changes in nutrition, and, perhaps predictably, heaping helpings of media consumption and technology use. Some studies have found that even the presence of a smartphone in the room can be so distracting as to negatively impact cognitive ability.
For much of human history it was believed that access to information was the key to combatting ignorance. But if these repeated findings are any indication, access is not enough. (Indeed, unfettered access may even be contributing to the problem as, along with the many drawbacks of technologically acquired instant gratification, the internet is also awash with data that is misrepresented, mis-analyzed, misguided, or even gasp! completely untrue.)
Hell, it’s even possible that these many studies mangled their data and that humanity is just as smart – or just as stupid – as it ever was.
Which, if you know anything about history, is really saying something.
Note: This is an opinion article as designated by the the category placement on this website. It is not news coverage. If this disclaimer is funny to you, it isn’t aimed at you — but some of your friends and neighbors honestly have trouble telling the difference.
Erin Greer
Erin Greer is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in digital, print, and television mediums across many publications. She served as managing editor for two national publications with focuses on municipal governments. She resides in Columbus.
