[paraclete]

Someone has figured it out, modern life has made us dumb or dumber than, well, something
Human beings are getting dumber | News.com.au

I would have thought this was obvious to us all, there have been some very dumb things done lately and technology has robbed us of the need to remember, to use our grey matter and actually think, to talk to each other without a phone plugged in our ear.

Politicians have proven they can't talk to each other any more, original ideas come from where? Does anyone know? Has anyone had an original idea in yonks?

Good news the author of this article thinks the problem will be solved in, say, 300 years

[tomder55]

[paraclete]

Sometimes you worry me Tom

[tomder55]

[speechlesstx]

I've been complaining about the dumbing down of America for years. Another consequence of liberal/progressive policies in my opinion.

[NeedKarma]

Another consequence of liberal/progressive policies in my opinion.

Is there a magical place on earth that has conservative policies where the people are all smart?

[paraclete]

You could try Singapore

[smoothy]

I've been saying it for years... there is a lot more truth in this movie than fiction.

[paraclete]

Is that comment on the state of play in america or life generally

[smoothy]

Is that comment on the state of play in america or life generally

Mankind in general... WORLD WIDE.

[paraclete]

Yes we are seeing it play out in government at the moment

[paraclete]

I blame educators they teach the same dumb courses year after year

[speechlesstx]

And one can only use so many art history and parapsychology majors, but I digress. Speaking of the bleeding obvious which I've alluded to several times recently, USA Today gets it right - fix the family. .

In the eyes of many parents and most educators, starting a child's schooling before kindergarten is an indisputable virtue. Your kid acquires learning and social skills that give him or her an advantage.

So it's hardly surprising that President Obama used his State of the Union Address to call for extending that middle- and upper-class habit to all children, at government expense.

But before the checks go out, it would be wise to consider a broader question: Can the middle-class experience be replicated that easily? The evidence says universal preschool alone won't get the job done.

A few small, high-quality programs have shown enduring benefits for at-risk kids. But intensive study of Head Start, the nation's largest and oldest preschool program, finds that the beneficial effects, which are real, wear off by third grade.

The probable reason is not hard to deduce. Children are most likely to succeed in school when pushed by parents who provide stability, help with schooling, and instill an education and work ethic. But for decades now, the American family has been breaking down.

Two-fifths of children born in the USA are born to unmarried mothers, an eightfold increase since 1960. Many succeed thanks to the heroic efforts of strong, motivated single parents and other relatives. But research shows that children of single parents suffer disproportionately high poverty rates, impaired development and low performance in school.

Ron Haskins, an expert on children and families at the Brookings Institution, calls single parenthood a "little motor pushing up the poverty rate." In 2011, the rate for children of single mothers was more than four times greater than that for children of married couples.

Researchers at Princeton and Columbia, following 5,000 children born to married and unmarried parents, have found that the effects of single parenthood seep into every aspect of kids' lives.

A typical pattern in these "fragile families" looks like this: When a child is born, most fathers and mothers are in a committed relationship. By the time the child reaches 5, though, many fathers have disappeared. As the mothers move on to new relationships, the children face more instability, often with new siblings born to different fathers. Boys without strong male role models are more likely to turn to gangs and crime.

Single mothers read less to their children, are more likely to use harsh discipline and are less likely to maintain stable routines, such as a regular bedtime. All these behaviors are important predictors of children's health and development.

It is a tragically familiar pattern. In 1965, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, then a Johnson administration official and later a U.S. senator, warned about an alarming rise — to nearly 24% — in unmarried births in the black community. His prescient warning created a furor among liberals and civil rights leaders, who accused him of blaming the victim.The rates are now 73% for blacks, 53% for Hispanics and 29% for whites.

Even today, solutions are undermined by ideological warfare. Liberals blame poverty. Conservatives blame the culture. Both are right. The problems are intertwined, and defy easy solutions. Fighting poverty, promoting marriage and stable relationships, intervening with home visits, and improving education all help, but there is no magic answer.

So, sure, explore Obama's plan to expand quality preschool, and make sure kids aren't then dumped into failing elementary schools. But don't miss the core problem. The primary engine of social advancement has always been the family, and it is breaking down.

I'd say we're way past "breaking down", kids need a mother and a father more than anything else. But go ahead, let the whining begin.

[paraclete]

I would say you are past the whining stage but there is a racial component to this, ssssh, we have to be careful. Could it actually be that this is the result not so much of the family breaking down but of disadvantage being spread abroad and a breakdown in religion. The society has lost its anchor point

[speechlesstx]

I believe you're correct on the religion aspect, another negative result liberal policy and culture.

[paraclete]

There is also a cultural component which is obvious in the statistics, some things are more acceptable in some communities/cultures than they are in others

[NeedKarma]

Being religious does not make one a better person.

[paraclete]

You miss the point entirely it is not about the individual but a belief system anchors a society, this situation we have today where you just believe whatever, or perhaps nothing, breaks down the cohesion. One thing for sure becoming your own god serves no one.

When you have a belief system there are boundries, one of those boundries is usually related to sex outside of marriage. The major religions have one thing in common, they have rules about relationships that doesn't carry over into a secular society, and if these rules are followed we don't have large scale abortion, divorce, birth outside of marriage, so yes religion can make a better person or at least a happier one

[NeedKarma]

The major religions have one thing in common, they have rules about relationships that doesn't carry over into a secular society, and if these rules are followed we don't have large scale abortion, divorce, birth outside of marriage, so yes religion can make a better person or at least a happier one

But it's the religious ones who are also divorcing, having abortions, having sex outside the marriage, etc. Are you turning a complete blind eye to that?

There are so many religions and gods to believe in, you and I are very similar, I just believe in one less god than you do. If belief is the only thing stopping you from screwing your neighbour's wife or killing someone or wallowing in unhappiness then by all means believe because you need to! I just don't require that to act morally in a society.

[paraclete]

No when the breakdown begins it affects everyone and the breakdown may very well have started among the religious, we have seen plenty of examples of this recently. Religion is not a guarantee simply a system and in any case my belief system is founded not in religion but in relationship. Acting morally is a matter of degree and I have found that my morality is anchored in what I was taught as a child, but being committed makes it easier to stay on the path because there is someone I have to be accountable to besides myself.

You believe in what you know which is yourself, I believe in who I know so there is a difference, you have an opinion I have a certainty