I don’t claim this (although I long suspected it) but an article in the recent Discover magazine says so. Over the past 20,000 years we’ve roughly lost brain matter equivalent to the size of a tennis ball and get this no one knows why. Furthermore, many scientists ignore this seemingly important issue and some think it’s not all that insignificant! In terms of theories there is all sorts floating out there but nothing solid. (And here we are trying to tackle time travel or find us a new home after our little brains destroy Earth).
One of the theories is called scaling which, for us dummies, means the bigger your body the bigger the brain needs to be. That’s why Neanderthals had huge brains. But the biggest brainiacs were the Cro-Magnons about 20,000-30,000 years ago and these guys were huge and brawny. Another theory is as the climate of the world got warmer, bodies got smaller, squished the poor brain and reduced its size as well.
Of course, there are other explanations to make us feel better – the smaller but smarter version – where some scientists say we really are not getting dumb but the connections in our brain are getting more advanced, the neurons are firing with more agility and hence less matter is needed to support the functions (right!). Some others say the brain is getting smaller because as civilization progressed and man started to live in enlarged societies, there was less need to use gray matter, i.e. we knew we would be safe because there was always someone around and we started depending more on others and less on ourselves. In simple terms, we got lazy. (This perhaps explains why I walk into walls and bump my limbs on surfaces while perfectly awake).
Of course, there are other explanations to make us feel better – the smaller but smarter version – where some scientists say we really are not getting dumb but the connections in our brain are getting more advanced, the neurons are firing with more agility and hence less matter is needed to support the functions (right!). Some others say the brain is getting smaller because as civilization progressed and man started to live in enlarged societies, there was less need to use gray matter, i.e. we knew we would be safe because there was always someone around and we started depending more on others and less on ourselves. In simple terms, we got lazy. (This perhaps explains why I walk into walls and bump my limbs on surfaces while perfectly awake).
Right before I turned gave up on the article, I got an epiphany. What if this explains our mindless fascination with the life of Tiger Woods or Kim Kardashian’s next boyfriend? How about those very interesting and juicy headlines – J.Lo. insures her butt, Jennifer Aniston opens up: how Brad broke my heart, etc. etc. etc. I think this article gives us never before envisioned insight into where our large, media fascinated society is leading us. Our ever shrinking brain thanks to our ever enlarging society is leading us to ....(I'll let you draw your own conclusion).
The epiphany was enough for me to conclude that dumb or not I had to get some sleep. So that was it. But if any of you show offs want to read more, go here -- http://discover.coverleaf.com/discovermagazine/201009?pg=60#pg60
P.S. I finished chapter 1 of Song of Solomon and so far the book lives up to its Nobel Prize reputation. More on that tomorrow.
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3 Response to We’re getting dumber, no really!
Well interesting... yet very practical.. It's not a matter of getting dumb or smart or bored ... As human we are loving Internet rather than face to face communication. I bet, you can't really speak the way you wrote...We are living into an age where electronic media dominates. Despite living different parts of the world, we know so much about each other that we barely feel to meet the people we know the most. Thanks to facebook, my space..and what not ! After all that, we still have some time to spend about Tiger Wood, Roger Federer or who ever is in the lime light ! Disconnect from the net for few days !!! Go for a walk in a quite night, you will see there are much more to life rather than smart, dumb, work, bored all those daily complain .....
awh ! i walk into walls, railings, tables, and counter-top edges all the time ! i thought maybe i just had a jiggly sense of equilibrium sometimes because when i throw something, it ends up going left of where i aim. i have a friend who also walks into doorways and such. we figured we were of the same kind of mindset to do that. and i remember in high school that i used to ruin the belt loops in jeans because i'd run into a doorway that always ripped the denim slowly away from the jeans, with those loops. it sounds dumb, but it's not like i try to run into stuff.
but in that vein, my ex-boyfriend used to sing 80s-ballad style ''aware of your surroundings'' to me, making fun of me, about that and other instances that showed i was ''out of it.'' but at the same time, i think it's decent to point out that some people are so lost in their thoughts and mind-spinnings that maybe that is why they are bump into stuff and don't pay attention to physical surroundings as much as they should. so maybe we're not dumb-- just incredibly contemplative ?
do you ever listen to "fresh air" on npr ? it's based in philadelphia, so it's a bit home-ish to my neck of the woods. i'm about 45 minutes outside of the city, but still. that show has great topics and interviews i think you'd find brain stimulating sometime. it's on at 3.00 p.m. during the week. i envy the host. she is such an amazing interviewer ! and she has such a wow-swept voice but is the tiniest lady in person. i noticed that later once i saw her photograph and was caught off guard by it.
also, yes, i think a pointless interest in celebrities is definitely a factor for the dumbing down of america. a few months ago, i applied for a third shift tv news writer position at a station in allentown, pennsylvania. it's one of the more community-oriented, less murder-reporting stations around, since it's not right in philly. i didn't get the job but was a strong candidate, which i was happy to hear since i didn't really want to dedicate my life to nighttime work anyway. but, what really disappointed me is that the station does cover national news as well, and recently, they covered lindsay lohan's ridiculous behavior. i was like, what the hell ! how does some young famous person acting up a storm of belligerence in california have anything to do with any of our lives back over here ?!
i have a friend who works for cbs 3 i philly as a news writer, and he said he made sure to not cover lindsay lohan's bullyouknowwhat in his scripts. i was glad to hear that.
the only people her behavior affects is that of her family, friends, and those on the roads near her if she's drunk driving, and those people's families. so why the hell does anyone care about the happenings of people whose personal lives have no bearing on our own ? or they shouldn't, anyway ! i don't know. i will never get it. when i channel surf and see the pop shows of celebrity-living, i notice that they are so superficial and dumb. why does anyone give them the time of day ? it says a lot about our culture that these pathetic kinds of shows can even exist. people are so bored with their own lives that they resort to watching those of celebrities they've never met. weird.
Very Interesting Thoughts !!! Great work gal :)
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