25 signs that prove humanity is getting dumber every day

By Malavika Pradeep

Published Jun 15, 2022 at 10:36 AM

Reading time: 1 minute

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Be it brushing our teeth with razors or marinating chicken in cough syrup, every time a questionable trend surfaces on TikTok, the internet comes to a screeching halt and asks itself: is humanity getting dumber every day?

Well, according to scientists from Norway’s Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research—who analysed over 730,000 IQ tests given to Norwegian men before their compulsory military service from 1970 to 2009—the average IQ score is actually sinking. And this is not just by some minuscule amount. In fact, each generation of Norwegian men appear to be getting around “seven IQ points dumber” as we speak.

Although researchers have officially proven that humans are devolving over time, they’re still left scratching their heads when it comes to one crucial question: why is this happening exactly? Is our nature or nurture to blame? The phenomenon has to do something with our genetics, right? Well, in the same study mentioned earlier, scientists found that IQs within single families were also deteriorating. In other words, as economist Tyler Cowen summed up for Marginal Revolution, we’ve essentially started building “a more stupidity-inducing environment.”

Lo and behold, here are 25 hilarious signs that prove Cowen’s disputed claims and demonstrate the fact that we’re all doomed beyond recovery.

Seven per cent of American adults, to be exact.