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submitted 1 year ago by dbilitated@aussie.zone to c/programmer_humor@programming.dev

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[-] RegularGoose@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Television and increasingly digestible media is turning our brains to mush.

No it isn't. Global connectivity is just putting a spotlight on the the fact that most people are and always have been fucking stupid and/or dangerously undereducated.

[-] sab@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I mean, it's a challenging hypothesis to prove. I might just be pessimistic.

I think there is some reason for valid concern though. The New York Times memoriam for Clifford Nass is an interesting and somewhat worrying read.

Dr. Nass found that people who multitasked less frequently were actually better at it than those who did it frequently. He argued that heavy multitasking shortened attention spans and the ability to concentrate.

Maybe more practically, it's just hard to argue America wouldn't be in a better place right now if it wasn't for Fox News and Facebook/Cambridge Analytica.

[-] RegularGoose@sh.itjust.works 0 points 1 year ago

Maybe more practically, it’s just hard to argue America wouldn’t be in a better place right now if it wasn’t for Fox News and Facebook/Cambridge Analytica.

We absolutely would be, but not because they make people stupid. All they do is exploit vulnerabilities in our shitty brains that have always been there.

[-] sab@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

I guess it makes people stupid all in the same way, while they used to be stupid all in their own unique ways. The morons have organized, synchronized, and become weaponised.

Somehow I feel like they're also dumber though - if everyone's an idiot in their own way at least they're original.