Is It Just Me or Are People getting more Entitled and Stupider?

     

     I cannot say for certain if this is something that has always existed or if it has only become more apparent after 2021, but it is almost impossible not to notice a shift in society's
attitude when it comes to the sentiment of entitlement and lack of intelligence. 

If you've been paying attention, you might have observed this common feeling. However, you're not alone in noticing behaviors that seem to reflect increased entitlement and a perception of declining intelligence or wisdom. However, these perceptions are complex and are often influenced by psychological biases, social change, and the way we consume information.

The Perception of Increased Entitlement

The feeling that people are getting more entitled is a frequent observation made across generations. This perception often stems from a few factors:

• Generational Shifts in Expectations: Younger generations (like Millennials and Gen Z) often prioritize work-life balance, mental health, and purpose-driven work. When they demand these things, older generations, who might have accepted less flexibility and longer hours, can perceive it as entitlement rather than a shift in values.

• Instant Gratification Culture: Technology and on-demand services (streaming, fast delivery) have created an environment where instant results are the norm. This can translate into a lower tolerance for inconvenience and a higher expectation of immediate service in non-digital contexts.

• Social Media Narcissism: Social media incentivizes self-focus, personal branding, and the pursuit of external validation (likes, attention). This hyper-focus on the self can be interpreted as entitlement in real-world interactions.

• Economic Reality vs. Expectation: Many younger adults face unprecedented economic hurdles (student debt, high housing costs). Their "demands" for higher wages or better benefits might be a pragmatic response to a broken economic ladder, interpreted as excessive demands by those who climbed that ladder in a different era.

The Perception of Declining Intelligence ("Stupidity")

The feeling that people are becoming "more stupid" usually relates to a frustration with a perceived lack of critical thinking, a rejection of facts, or an absence of common sense.

• The Exposure Effect (The Internet Filter): The internet and social media don't make people dumber, but they give the most extreme, misinformed, or poorly reasoned opinions an unprecedented global platform. You are simply exposed to a much larger volume of "stupidity" than ever before, often amplified by algorithms.

• Dunning-Kruger Effect: This psychological bias causes people with low competence in a specific area to overestimate their knowledge. The internet makes this worse by providing easy access to surface-level information, leading people to believe they are experts after a quick search.

• The Decline in Civil Discourse: Public debate has become polarized and aggressive. When people vehemently refuse to engage with facts or logic that challenges their identity or group affiliation, it can feel like a rejection of intelligence itself.

• Cognitive Load: Modern life subjects people to information overload and constant distraction. This increased cognitive load can impair deep thinking and reduce attention spans, leading to more superficial and rash judgments.

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The "Flynn Effect" (A Counterpoint)

Historically, standardized intelligence test scores (IQ) have actually shown a steady rise across generations, a phenomenon called the Flynn Effect. This suggests that people are, on average, getting better at certain types of abstract, logical, and scientific reasoning, possibly due to better nutrition, education, and complex environments.

Therefore, the feeling that people are "more stupid" is likely an observation about a decline in applied wisdom, critical thinking habits, and respectful engagement—skills that are struggling to keep up with the overwhelming complexity and polarizing nature of modern society—rather than a measurable decline in raw intellectual capacity.