The election of demagogues and science haters in leading positions reinforces fears that people are getting really stupid. Technology and abundance of information are to blame.

People are struggling with concentration, reasoning, problem-solving, and information processing — core elements of what is broadly defined as "intelligence" – as cognitive skills have been declining across all age groups, according to research by the University of Michigan's "Monitoring the Future" project, processed by FT.

These findings come from long-running benchmarking tests tracking cognitive abilities in teenagers and young adults, highlighting, for example, increasing concentration difficulties among 18-year-old Americans.

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Similar conclusions were drawn by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), which evaluates the learning skills of 15-year-olds worldwide, pointing out to declining attention spans and weakening critical thinking abilities.

“One argument is that this is downstream of the decline in reading. As people’s information diet shifts from longer and more complex texts to short snippets, and from text to video, people’s effective literacy levels decline,” says FT data journalist John Burn-Murdoch.

In 2022, only 37.6% of Americans reported reading a novel or short story in the past year, down from 41.5% in 2017 and 45.2% in 2012, according to the National Endowment for the Arts.

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This drop in reading coincides with an increasing reliance on digital media, which may be altering how we consume and process information, thus contributing to the rise of human stupidity.

However, the issue goes beyond reduced reading habits. A 2023 study from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) revealed that 34% of U.S. adults scored at the lowest levels of numeracy — a significant rise from 29% the year before. This suggests a broader decline in basic cognitive functions.

Our relationship with information itself is shifting. Studies show that excessive screen time impairs verbal skills in children and reduces concentration and memory retention in college-aged adults. While technology can be used in ways that support cognitive development, current trends suggest it is more often contributing to intellectual decline.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic intensified this cognitive decline through widespread educational disruptions, the trend dates back to at least the mid-2010s, suggesting deeper and longer-lasting causes.

Although there is no evidence that human intelligence itself is permanently diminished, both our cognitive potential and actual performance appear to be in sharp decline. This explains at least why voters make less smart choices, electing demagogues and science haters in top leadership positions, with devastating consequences for society.

"Two things are infinite. The universe and human stupidity. I am not sure about the universe," once scientist Albert Einstein famously said.

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