Like millennials show us, humans are getting dumber

Millennials are probably the least intelligent generation ever to walk the face of this planet.

I know they will feel offended by this theory, but I don’t care. Facts don’t give a damn about the feelings of Generation Me.

I was fascinated to read about the Flynn effect this week – the steady growth in the average IQ scores over the last century.

But since the mid ’70s, the Flynn effect is reversing at an alarming rate of about seven IQ points per generation.

In short: people are officially becoming dumber.

Scientists are baffled by this decline in intelligence, but it’s generally accepted that diet plays a role. As does an education system that discourages original thinking, a general inability and unwillingness to read and the prevalence of fake news.

I believe Generation Y’s dependence on the internet is to blame. They outsource thinking to it.

Millennials can’t find their way without GPS, they can’t remember stuff without Google and they can’t dream without YouTube doing it for them. They can’t maintain healthy relationships without Whatsapp or Messenger, they can’t develop style without Instagram and they can’t keep their limited grasp of current affairs up to date without Facebook.

I know I sound like a millennial basher. It’s not the case – I accept my generation’s role in making millennials what they are today.

It is us who fed them the unhealthy foods, our suspect parenting philosophies made them the entitled, narcissistic bunch they are and we invented the internet that rules their lives.

I care for millennials. I share my life with one of them.

The lovely Snapdragon is technically a millennial and middle-aged at the same time – she was born in the early eighties.

Our personal situation forces members of Gen X (me) and Gen Y (Snapdragon) to join forces and raise a member of Generation Z.

What will happen with the poor three-year-old Egg if the reversal of the Flynn effect continues for another generation? Can the world afford a generation that’s even less intelligent than the millennials? I shudder.

At least Egg will be happy. Ignorance is bliss.

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