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I never thought the movie "Idiocracy" would be on-topic here, but for those who haven't seen it, it makes a similar argument. It starts off by saying smart peo

by pawn 14y ago

I never thought the movie "Idiocracy" would be on-topic here, but for those who haven't seen it, it makes a similar argument. It starts off by saying smart people have less children than dumb people, and extrapolated for long enough, everyone is an idiot. Decent movie for those of you who haven't seen it.

sliverstorm 14y ago
The premise was amusing, but the movie itself was not really worth writing home about IMO.
smoyer 14y ago
I think that's a funny movie (and just brought it up at work last week), but I don't actually believe we're getting dumber. I think there is a societal "anti-smart" sentiment right now (nerd, geek, etc), and that the media portrayal of idiocracy is more entertaining (or perhaps more lucrative - Jackass, Swamp People, etc).
meaty 14y ago
Quite funny film. The premise appears to be happening around me (in London, UK) as the social housing and unemployable people have lots of children compared to non-social housing people. I'm not talking small amounts more - we're talking 6-8 children versus 1-2. In my children's school, 26 out of 32 children in the class are entirely dependent on welfare, and this is a nice bit of London apparently. However, I feel people are getting stupider. It's not because of breeding but because they contract out all but menial thought to technology. Long since gone have the days where any mental effort was to be expended on performing a task.
- yardie 14y ago
  This is probably a local anomaly. If most people were on benefits than the government wouldn't bring in enough revenue to sustain it. I'd also point out that London is an anomaly in itself. Middle-class people also receive benefits because everything is so expensive and everything is so damn expensive because basically everyone is receiving some form of benefits.
jiggy2011 14y ago
I'm not expert, but is this something actually could happen? I assume that if two dumb people mate rather than all of their offspring being even dumber there is at least an equal chance of the offspring being brighter than the parents?
- dfxm12 14y ago
  It was a completely fictional comedy movie, not a documentary. To answer your question though, anything could happen. However, the premise of the movie isn't very sound (again, it is fiction). You are correct. A child can be brighter than both parents.

by pawn 14y ago

sliverstorm 14y ago

The premise was amusing, but the movie itself was not really worth writing home about IMO.

smoyer 14y ago

I think that's a funny movie (and just brought it up at work last week), but I don't actually believe we're getting dumber. I think there is a societal "anti-smart" sentiment right now (nerd, geek, etc), and that the media portrayal of idiocracy is more entertaining (or perhaps more lucrative - Jackass, Swamp People, etc).

meaty 14y ago

Quite funny film. The premise appears to be happening around me (in London, UK) as the social housing and unemployable people have lots of children compared to non-social housing people. I'm not talking small amounts more - we're talking 6-8 children versus 1-2. In my children's school, 26 out of 32 children in the class are entirely dependent on welfare, and this is a nice bit of London apparently. However, I feel people are getting stupider. It's not because of breeding but because they contract out all but menial thought to technology. Long since gone have the days where any mental effort was to be expended on performing a task.

yardie 14y ago
This is probably a local anomaly. If most people were on benefits than the government wouldn't bring in enough revenue to sustain it. I'd also point out that London is an anomaly in itself. Middle-class people also receive benefits because everything is so expensive and everything is so damn expensive because basically everyone is receiving some form of benefits.

jiggy2011 14y ago

I'm not expert, but is this something actually could happen? I assume that if two dumb people mate rather than all of their offspring being even dumber there is at least an equal chance of the offspring being brighter than the parents?

dfxm12 14y ago
It was a completely fictional comedy movie, not a documentary. To answer your question though, anything could happen. However, the premise of the movie isn't very sound (again, it is fiction). You are correct. A child can be brighter than both parents.