Poll: Idiocracy

[newwiseman]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/05/23/do.not.want.children/index.html?hpt=C2

I just read the above article on CNN and it made me remember Mike Judges Film Idiocracy. For those of you who haven't seen it the basic premise is that all the intelligent people didn't have as many children as the stupid people, stating "evolution doesn't always favor the best and brightest, in the absence of predators is favors those who reproduce." Given all the coddling kids get now days and all the stupid ass warnings on thing that save a select few from Darwinism I don't think we can count on nature to the job of predators.

I know I don't feel the need to have children and share many of the opinions and facts expressed in the article. More so, seeing all the gross over populating of our species around the planet I feel not having progeny would be for the benefit of the Earth as a whole.

But, seeing my sister with an IQ of 97 with her 3 kids who dropped out of High School to start having kids, I feel I should father at least one child if only to pass down the genes of an IQ 136 individual, if for no reason other than the potential to benefit our species.

I'm aware that many factors other than genetics reflect on development and the eventual intelligence of a child but forgoing the nature versus nurture debate I think we should all just agree coming from intelligent "stock" helps the odds.

I know everyone of my friends from High School that didn't go to college has at least one kid now, and all my friends that achieved their masters and bachelors degrees have yet to have any children opting to "wait for the right time".

In all honesty I fear the future, and I expect the way things are going, that the world of Idiocracy may actually occur. So long as a plague just doesn't kill us all off, or super volcano, or solar/cosmic event including but not limited to meteorite, solar flare, rouge black hole, or gamma ray burst.

How do you all feel about kids and the future?

 

[Biodeamon]

to put it briefly:shit happens

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

Oh sure, spread around your vastly superior genes. I fear that the human race will splutter and die if you don't grace us with your blessed child. How dare someone with a pitiful IQ of 97 reproduce so much? Never mind the fact that the collective intelligence of the human race has done nothing but climb for the last 2000 years and longer, it's all going to fall to shit now, isn't it? Best get out there, toot sweet and spread your magical stock.

Spoiler: TL; DR

Word of advice: Idiocracy should be treated the same way Blade Runner is. As a generic yet meaningful warning about considering the future, not strict instructions of how society will crumble unless you come up with a way to detect those damn androids now!

 

[Bags159]

Idiocracy is a load of shit. A stupid, pathetic attempt at scaremongering, done by somebody who clearly doesn't fully understand natural selection. The human race hasn't had a Malthusian limit since the Green Revolution, and when we do hit it, it's going to be the people who can best provide food for their children and not those who reproduce for the sake of it who have the highest fitness.

And here I was thinking Idiocracy was a comedy. I didn't realize it was so serious.

 

[Falconsgyre]

Currently, all evidence shows that we've been getting smarter throughout history, not dumber. So... no. No Idiocracy in the forseeable future.

 

[KittensTiger]

You're asserting we don't already have an idiocracy? I think that's something worth debating.

I'm at a top 50 university and I know many fellow students who don't even know how to run a dishwasher or wash their clothes using a washer and dryer. Kids have been and are coddled far too much and as a result when they get on their own reality slams down onto them like a pile of bricks. They realize that life isn't fair and that not everyone is going to treat them nicely. *le gasp*

Kids need to be allowed to make mistakes. That's how we as humans learn.

Kids need to be taught the value of money by having to work for money rather than having an allowance or some similar bs solution. No, I'm not advocating children take 9-5 jobs, even doing basic yard work for pay would instill this value. Without this the kids of today and of the future will grow up feeling that they are entitled to money without having to work for it.

 

[viranimus]

Yeah... Ok, We get it, its anecdotal evidence... but you know what, many times, anecdotal evidence turns out to become validated.

You might want to imagine that we are a smarter people than we were 20 years ago but I'm sorry there is no way its true. One has to remember there is a huge difference between someone who is smart, and someone who is Wikipedia smart. Also theres a huge difference between the intelligence of an individual and the collective knowledge of a species. We may well be increasing the species collective knowledge, but as individuals we are less intelligent than recent previous generations.

 

[lacktheknack]

Spoiler: TL; DR

Harsh, yet important. Idiocracy always seemed like a stupid idea anyways, considering how little one's IQ actually affects.

 

[EmperorSubcutaneous]

Idiocracy seemed more like a comment on modern culture (or all culture through history, honestly) than a serious scientific prediction for the future.

At least that's how I saw it. I don't see how anyone could believe that stupid people can only possibly have stupid children.

 

[Drakane]

I know some really smart people born out of some of the dumbest, however... to some level yes. Do I think a complete stagnation of the human genome to the point of Idiocracy, not really but visit textfromlastnight or people of wallmart and you can't help but hope some people quite breeding.

 

[Phlakes]

If the world goes the same way that education in Texas is, we're all fucked.

 

[Zenron]

It's ok though guys, because that guy who kind of reminds me of a less famous Adam Sandler will come and save us all!

Oh and, I call bullshit. This isn't even an actual trend which is happening in the world. It's just a bunch of fear mongering because of some random comedy which wasn't even all that funny. I'm not exactly blaming this on the movie, just people who take it as literal fact for no real reason.

 

[Solstar100]

i'm english,

Jeremy Kyle

thats all i need to say

 

[Who Dares Wins]

Well the problem is that people are apparently getting more intelligent every decade.

Yes, but would simplifying everything be good or bad for mankind? Think about it, if you use things that require almost no though at all, what is happening to your brain? As a kid I was told that math increases your capabilities (logic, smartness, bla, bla...), if you don't use it, what happens?

 

[Actual]

But, seeing my sister with an IQ of 97 with her 3 kids who dropped out of High School to start having kids, I feel I should father at least one child if only to pass down the genes of an IQ 136 individual, if for no reason other than the potential to benefit our species.

Unless she's a half sister you're passing down almost the same genes as she is.

 

[Avaholic03]

Idiocracy is a load of shit. A stupid, pathetic attempt at scaremongering, done by somebody who clearly doesn't fully understand natural selection.

Actually, it was a comedy movie poking fun at the very misunderstand you're accusing the creators of. Ever heard of the concept of a satire?

 

[SillyBear]

We may well be increasing the species collective knowledge, but as individuals we are less intelligent than recent previous generations.

That is absolute nonsense and every piece of statistical evidence points to the exact opposite.