Quality of acting is a pretty subjective matter. We do see increases in "quality of output" over the same time scale on more objective metrics, like e.g. physic

Quality of acting is a pretty subjective matter. We do see increases in "quality of output" over the same time scale on more objective metrics, like e.g. physical achievements. High schoolers today routinely accomplish the same feats reserved for the world-record holders of 100 years ago in almost any sport. It can't be all the nutrition and equipment and training...the results seem to match a model where each generation grows to meet and just barely surpass the expectations of the previous one. And while we can pretty easily verify that in some areas (like track and field), it's less clear in others. But arguably that's applicable to acting. Counterpoint: some areas seem to regress? Or maybe that's our mind playing tricks on us? Do you all remember how, recently, someone dredged up the Harvard undergraduate entrance exam from 1870 or whatever and its math and history problems were ones that would stump even today's graduate students?