Humans May be Becoming Less Intelligent

are coded for by thousands of genes makes them 'fragile'...WALOOB!
D'uh? No... code on one gene would make it fragile, coding on many probably gives a fair bit of redundancy.
Sheesh.
Although maybe his proved his own assertion that we are getting less intelligent...well at least he is. I expect he has his entire pension pot with one company to make it 'less fragile'?
Del

Ten-four, good buddy!

The theory of "Idiocracy" .....

I looove that movie...well, the main idea of it anyway.

There is an element of truth to that movie.

The fact that much of our society is becoming more stupid by the moment has nothing to do physiolocially. It has to do with the fact that so many people are so careless of what they put into their brains, i.e. reality shows, Simpsons, Big Brother, Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, news, lousy music, and the list goes on and on.

I don't hardly ever watch the boob tube so I don't know if any of these shows are still on or not. If they're not, there is probably a bunch of other mindless drivel that people soak up. They then wonder why they don't get good results in life; in their relationships, their finances, their faith, etc. "Garbage in, garbage out!"

People need to spend more time reading high value books that challenge them to think about new ideas, processes, new information of history, great people who accomplished great things.

It's no wonder people then turn around and vote the way they did, to the detriment of this great country of ours. They aren't challenged at all, by themselves or others to do great things, things that will leave a legacy 100 years from now.

If intelligence and emotional capability are being lost it makes sense to blame your parents. It is a long standing human trait to find someone else to blame. The USA election is a classic example.

I think we should all be happy enough to admit that it may well be self induced to at least some extent by what we choose to put in our brains and our stomachs.

BAB.

GI-Go, Garbage in, Garbage out.

There is a reason they don't teach discernment in schools. A dumb population is easier to lead.

In the short term this makes the ones running the show easier, but in the long run, well, "stupid is as stupid does sir!"

As for the election One for big business, one for big government, none: of the people, by the people, for the people.

As the government so the people. Our best are not running the show. Just the ones willing to be sponsored by corporations.

$2 billion spent on just the presidential race, most of that in the swing states. The people I know voted for the least damage not because there was a winner.

So one shouldn't be surprised if other nations are shifting into the overtaking lane, then?

europium,

I think you nailed it. It is something that takes decades to do and if the people are kept "happy" (Government handouts, entitlements) never notice what has happened. If all of these changes were done in a short time people would have revolted. Most people only look at a window of a couple of years. The changes are small but continual in this window.

But is it government or big business?
You only have to look at the food industry, willing to pay lip service to cutting down on 'fat' whilst piling in tons of sugar plenty of profit and an obese population.
Del

I dont' know if we should go out and put all the blame on the food industry. One can enjoy a sugary beverage or high calorie treat every once in a while. It's the people that don't understand "moderation" in enjoying these things.

For example, Five Guys is awful for you, there is no question; however, if you were to go once in a month or so, it won't instantaneously make you obese. Last time I went, I witnessed an individual buy himself two double bacon cheeseburgers, a large fry, and a large beverage. I don't know if any of you have ever been to five guys, but the large fry alone has 1,500 calories. I can comfortably split a small one with two of my mates. In the time it took me to finish my single patty with 1/3 a small fry, I witnessed this gentlemen polish off everything (with two refills on the soda).

Is it Five Guys fault that this individual didn't have the restrain to order a "normal person" meal? It's not like they can tell him "no, you're too fat for all that" (and if they did, can you imagine the media backlash!). Heck, all the restaurants around here have to have the calories in everything posted clearly. You'd think that someone would be bright enough to think "hey. Maybe 5,000 calories are too many for lunch..."

Yeah but there is all the hidden sugar in foods labeled as 'healthy'...not to mention the crap fed to school kids.
I don't have an axe to grind, just try to balance the "It's all the governments fault"
After all you can only buy what's on the shelf specially if you are a low income household.
I don't s'pose Mit Romney would be eating crap...
We had a politician over here spent a week living on benefits to see what an easy lifestyle choice it was... he changed his tune by the end of the week and admitted it was pretty grim and a heck of a struggle.

Give a kid the choice of fresh fruit salad or a doughnut, guess which he'll eat?
Del

I believe that government and big business are one in the same. All tied together by money/power. The big business puts people in government with their money. People who will cater to them.

I know that we need to watch out for ourselves with our health/food intake. But, I think we are constantly barraged with junk food advertising. How many kids want the happy meal but it doesn't even taste that good?

Did you know the largest size drink you could get at McDonalds in the earliest years was 8oz? Now it is around 40 plus oz.

Government in New York just forced a reduction of the maximum sized soft drink for all restaurants in NYC.

Source

It's my foolish optimism that has me thinking that maybe people are starting to catch the trends of what is causing obesity and are working to try to offset it. A big catch 22 of the whole food industry vis. government debate is: we want the government to step in and make us eat healthier, but we don't want the government to tell us what to do. So, how do we find a balance?

That is just it, Now its expected to have the government make decisions for us, because we are incapable.

An excellent example of our decline that we can't do this ourselves.

Has anyone seen my 'Free' cell phone I received from the government?

^{Oh wait, I don't have a free cell phone from the government, I'm the one buying it for our growing number of unfortunates that also happen to be overweight.}

I don't think there will be a stop to the increasing obesity. Most people drive to work, sit at a desk. Eat/drink unhealthy foods. Drive home. Maybe pickup fast food on the way home. Spend a little time with the kids. Watch TV and surf the internet. On the weekends they are busy running errands and driving the kids around. The calorie intake is going up while the activity level is going down. If/when people get tired of being obese they will spend money to lose weight making someone else rich. But, if they don't permenately change things they will be on a cycle of losing/gaining weight.

I think what will eventually happen is that obesity will be the new normal and be accepted by most people. The pharmacuetical companies (heart disease and diabetes) and junk food companies will get rich.

That's the frightening future that Disney's Wall-E predicts:

You are correct about the cycle though, unfortunately. It's just easier to sit around and eat less healthy foods (I myself have found myself buying Hot Pockets for those days where I just want to stick something in he microwave).

My go to response regarding this is "education", but I've seen quite a few of the programs in place in schools (my brother is a middle school teacher) and they try really hard to get students to take the stairs, eat vegetables as snacks (replace potato chips with baby carrots), etc. etc. [sigh]

<pessimism>

Maybe everyone is just getting really lazy / don't care...

</pessimism>

The Wall-E movie really hit home when I saw it for the first time.

Good response,

It is the excepted change that occured. I recall growing up, that going to McDonalds was a treat that my parents give to us, when we went shopping....usually Christmas shopping, So if we went to McDonalds 6 times a year, That was an event. And we enjoyed it and wished we could have it everyday, which brings us to be careful what you wish for.

Look at the statistics, Americans are getting fatter.........I'm sorry......... the PC term is obese........no, I mean fatter. Along with this, I also feel the population is also becoming lazier as well as an attitude of we are entitlement. At least in the U.S.

An example is People bitch about China, well bitching gets you no where. You want to beat China, work smarter. heavy on the work.

But is it government or big business?

Whats the difference when they are sleeping together.

This country was not founded by the government or big business. It was founded by the people and for the people.

And the quality of that resource is diminishing where it is dependant on either big business or big government.

You only have to look at the food industry, willing to pay lip service to cutting down on 'fat' whilst piling in tons of sugar plenty of profit and an obese population.

Having been a OEM in the food industry as well as currently working in food process.

There is allot of chemistry involved in developmen of food stuffst........ and with the chemistry, I'm not calling it a meth lab. but there are ingredents that promote sales. imo.

The dividing line between big business and what is supposed to be a government of the people is disappearing.

I hate this going political, but there are root cause here that lead to it.

Didn't the roman empire follow the same path we currently are?

ah, yeah, what he said.....

Its kind of interesting, and it has to do with human behavior.

when I first started out, I always felt that a good engineer is a lazy one. If there is an easier way to do things, a lazy engineer would find it.

But my tongue in cheek prospective is taken literally. Where there is little effort if any is made, but the expectation are high.

There was a quote, I think by Henry Ford, that said, "the reason so few people succeed is because opportunity shows up at the door dressed in overalls (work clothes).

Excellent quote, no one recognizes opportunity and that is why the few that do can succeed at taking advantage of it. And the dumbing down......or I should say, the already dumb downed people believes that is unfair.

Now I believe in helping your common man who is down on his luck, but I also believe in the survival of the fittest, and there is no conflict here.

The conflict is, even though people can carry themselves, people now expect to be carried, just because they feel you can.

Hell, we now need the government to decide that we can't even handle a big slurpy at the 7-Eleven.

It is a fact borne of History that humans cannot long endure leisure and are invariably conquered by those who have none. Nobody works harder than a hungry man. The same goes for nations.

I think most people (in the US) think the US is "too big to fail". History has proven this wrong many times.

Our drive is mostly gone. We are becoming fat, dumb, and happy. We are not "hungry" as a whole. We will ruin ourselves or be indirectly governed by the other countries in the world (financially) or a world governing body.

<br>
<div style="font-size: 14px;">Conquistador of Mexico<br>
The Zulu and the Navaho<br>
The Belgians in the Congo, Short memory<br>
<br>
Plantation in Virginia<br>
The Raj in British India<br>
The deadline in South Africa, Short memory<br>
<br>
The story of El Salvador<br>
The silence of Hiroshima<br>
Destruction of Cambodia, short memory<br>
<br>
Short memory, must have a, Short memory<br>
Short memory, must have a, Short memory<br>
<br>
The sight of hotels by the Nile,<br>
The designated Hilton style<br>
With running water specially bought, short memory<br>
<br>
A smallish man Afghanistan<br>
A watch dog in a nervous land<br>
They're only there to lend a hand, short memory<br>
<br>
The friendly five a dusty smile <br>
Wake up in sweat at dead of night<br>
And in the tents new rifles hey, short memory<br>
<br>
Short memory, must have a, Short memory<br>
Short memory, must have a, Short memory<br>
(repeat)<br>
<br>
If you read the history books you'll see the same things happen again and again<br>
Repeat repeat short memory they've all got it<br>
When are we going to play it again<br>
Got a short, got a short, got a short, got a short<br>
They've got a short must have a short they've got a short aah<br>
Short memory, they've got a.<br>

<br>

Short Memory lyrics by Midnight Oil

<br>

<br></div>

Are we supposed to see that HTML?

_{Talk about the decline of civilization...}

What HTML? :-). CR4's editor doesn't work properly on Firefox - probably because it is only the second most popular browser in the world. (You should see the hoops I have to go thru to post something from my Android phone. I must literally type my post in RAW HTML for the formatting to work properly. One way to learn HTML I suppose... :((

I made a comment, either on this thread or another similar.

The path we are taking is in line with the path of the Roman Empire.

How long was the Roman empire at the top? We have only been around for 200 plus years. I think we are taking the "express lane".

Edit: wrong thread!

Oh NO!!!

Fragile Genes!

It's truly my fault. Tried to wear too many pairs of pants at once.

Tough job, especially for a cat. :)