Dumber by the Day-And There's Proof!

Hello my dear friends. As I was surfing the net today I came across a headline that read "Are Humans Becoming Less Intelligent"? Gee, you think? Well, Gerald Crabtree, a researcher at Stanford University, did a study and says yes, humans have lost the evolutionary pressure to be smart. I, personally, think a study was unnecessary. Just look around. It's pretty obvious. I don't know about evolutionary pressure, but I do remember a time when McDonalds didn't have to warn people that "Coffee is Hot" and dumping in your lap will burn. I remember a day when plastic bags didn't come with bold warnings NOT to place the bag over your head. I guess we, as a people, were just a little smarter back then. According to Mr. Crabtree's study, when humans transformed from the hunter-gather mode, where failure to secure food and shelter would result in death, to the community mode, where failure to secure food and shelter, results in someone else doing it for you, we. as humans, lost our edge. Other researchers dispute this, saying we have become smarter in other ways. I'm on the fence. Let's start with watch we watch. Back in the 50's, women would go on TV's "Queen for a Day" and tell their sob stories to get a new refrigerator. Now people go on TV to eat bugs and marry strangers for money. Back in the day, people would tune in to see Carol Burnett or Mary Tyler Moore. Now it's Honey Boo Boo, Jersey Shore and the Kardashians. I believe there's a new show coming out where people sing karaoke while being covered in snakes and spiders and the like. Charming.  Are we deliberately killing brain cells. Yes, modern man invented the iPad, the cellphone and the microwave. But they had the work and discoveries of their predecessors to build on. Early man discovered and harnessed fire and electricity without a how to book or a college education. Smarter then or smarter now? I can't help but wonder if Ben Franklin felt, as I often do, that he was surrounded by idiots. I can't say. But I do think Mr. Crabtree's study brings up interesting questions. Are we losing our intellectual edge? Have we lost the pressure to be smart? Is it evolution or our own laziness that's leading the way? I don't have the answers, although I probably would have 30 years ago. I do know this. On the surface, people sure seems to be getting dumber by the day.
Po