November 26, 2021
The question vexing scientists, philosophers, and pundits is how we got so stupid so fast. Things we used to consider facts are now in dispute. People are told to not believe what they can see with their own eyes. Our general level of knowledge of civics and history is at an all time low. Conspiracy theories abound. Some analysts blame Facebook and Twitter, but, as it turns out, they are not the cause of our dumbing down, just it’s manifestations.
The rapid explosion of ultra-processed, hyper-palatable foods has led to a massive increase in caloric intake over the past 40 years, and the subsequent epidemic levels of type 2 diabetes and dementia. In terms of brain health, processed foods are potentially damaging due to their high levels of sugar and calories. In general, because of poor diet, we are getting larger i.e. morbidly obese. Anthropologist Christopher Stringer highlighted in Scientific American how our brains have been getting smaller over the past 10,000–20,000 years due to worsening nutrition, stating, “It’s energetically expensive to maintain a bigger brain, and the brain will not be maintained at larger body sizes unless it is necessary.” In other words, we are starving ourselves, and our brains our atrophying as a result.
We are fatter, dumber, and, given the number of calories we burn in a day, lazier. Now we have the answer to the question as to how people like Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, and Marjorie Taylor-Greene came to be. It’s a concept that they would never allowed to be taught in schools…natural selection.
P.S. This is no more stupid than a lot of the stuff being put out by the Right.
The Spin Doctor 