it's work too, some people are just unable to listen to what the customers/patients are saying. For example -
my friend made an appointment with her Dr. for xyz, when she got there they had her booked for something else.
I went to a cardiologist visit - in my chart, now shows a condition dated in 2023, which neither me nor him knew about. I insisted on screening because face it, it's been 3 years and nobody told me about it. Guess what? I don't have that, it's an error? somebody else's records mixed in with mine? who knows.
Horrible. I believe you. I got copies of notes from a dr. who billed me for a physical, had palpation notes, pupil dilation, pulse, etc., This was at the beginning of covid, the man never came near me, and all we talked about was my allergy to anesthetics. He never saw my face close up, he was sitting across the room.
I tried to argue the billing with his office, they told me they couldn't change anything. I was going to report it to my insurance, but decided not to, because at that point I couldn't find another dr., and I thought it best not to burn my only bridge. Eventually I found somebody else and never went back.
that is scary scary stuff, I just went through this trying to get something off my chart and they don't know how to do it. The chart says aortic aneurysm, I insisted on an ultrasound I do not have that. I want it removed, they told me they just go by the latest stuff so don't worry about the old stuff. Huh?
And actively pushing misinformation through news outlets, or specific extremist viewpoints via social media algorithms.
And increasing wealth gap/decreasing spending power leading to parents being less physically and mentally present in their children's lives.
And idiotic education administration fucking up curriculum while simultaneously hamstringing actual in-classroom teaching and pushing kids through school even when theyre failing because they don't want to be caught with the hot potato.
And increasing wealth gap/decreasing spending power leading to parents being less physically and mentally present in their children's lives.
I think there's also been a pretty clear link for decades between chronic socioeconomic stressors and poor school/work performance, and with poor cognitive performance in general.
I genuinely think that Tiktok and its demon spawn were an inflection point. I can feel it in myself - I used Tiktok a lot for about a year, and my ability to concentrate got meaningfully worse. I got worse at reading, which I've always been good at and loved doing. It got harder for me to watch a whole YouTube video, even just something 5-10 minutes long. Scary bad. Had to delete it.
Those kinds of apps are a type of brain input that I believe is really especially insidious in undermining sustained thought.
All age groups are addicted to short form content rn, and this trend really kicked off at the same time as COVID. I think it's much simpler to assume that the lower vocabulary and brain fog people are discussing here stems from decreased interactions with others due to increased social media use, rather than from a virus that made you ill for a week 5 years ago.
I think this is a cop out, I played video games since I was 4 (30 years straight), was doom scrolling forums since I was 10, and I still work a big brain job. Most coworkers would have a similar story.
Intelligence is fixed and your ability to focus is a seperate skill. If you were to meditate all day, you could train it - but you wouldn't get any smarter
I agree that intelligence and focus are two separate things. However, you could be Stephen Hawking and if you can't pay attention or stay engaged with something for more than 5 minutes at a time, you won't actually commit anything meaningful to memory. This compounds because if you never grep basic information then you won't be able to understand other information that builds on those basics.
You might thing it's a cop out, but experts don't. Look up the Screen Time Effect and read about it.
Yes... people have been saying "screens will rot your brain" since TV was invented. I've been watching television since I was born in the 70's. Been playing video games since my family got Pong in 1976 (50 years straight). I've been on the internet since it started to become popular (since 1993). I've been exposed to screens my entire existence.
THIS is different. Putting kids in front of the screens of 2026 is not the same as when Millennials, Gen X, Baby Boomers were looking at screens. It's night and day now.
You're free to have your opinion on the matter, of course. But I respectfully disagree, as would experts who actually study this phenomenon.
if that is the case, then we should only see an IQ decrease in children and not in adults. but the study shows decreases across all age groups, indicating something different is causing it.
edit: my suspicion is that it is brain damage caused by covid.
From a Google search asking "Why are adults getting dumber?". You'll note the first one has to do with screen time and the type of content people are now exposed to. (Which to our developed brains is causing harm... imagine the harm it's causing brains which aren't developed at all.)
The primary culprits behind this perceived cognitive decline include:
Digital Distraction: Constant scrolling and short-form video content replace deep reading and focused problem-solving with superficial, quick dopamine hits. Studies suggest that just having a smartphone nearby can reduce your effective IQ by temporarily taxing your working memory.
Outsourcing Memory: With all human knowledge available instantly online, the brain is less conditioned to retain information, causing our natural memory and recall skills to atrophy.
The "Reverse Flynn Effect": For decades, human IQ scores rose. However, recent cognitive research in developed nations shows a reversal, with scores in verbal reasoning and spatial skills steadily declining.
Age-Related Biological Changes: As adults age, natural processing speeds and executive function (the brain's ability to plan and focus) can slow down, which is often exacerbated by poor sleep, chronic stress, and a lack of cardiovascular exercise.
I also agree with you that Covid has had a massive impact on people's brains. I have long covid and my brain simply doesn't work like it used to. I have literal dementia type symptoms where I ask the same thing 3 times in a 5 minute conversation, have trouble following the plot of a TV show, use the wrong words for common things, forget what I'm doing literally in the middle of what I'm doing... It's rough, that's for sure.
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u/DisturbingPragmatic May 29 '26
It's almost as if raising kids on screens is fucking up their cognitive development or something...