Watching 'Jersey Shore' might make you dumber, study suggests

[4th law of robotics]

21. Possibly, but being poor in relation to everyone else

doesn't make you stupid.

Having sub-par childhood nutrition is a big factor. That has been improving over the years.

Having access to a wider variety of stimulus is important. And who has more sources of information than kids today?

There are a variety of diseases/toxins that can affect IQ that we haven't eliminated per se but we're managing.

Better understanding of prenatal care is important, and we certainly haven't gotten any worse in that regard.

Possibly controversial but I would argue that abortion and birth control access is a huge factor as it enables people at the bottom rung of society (where people of below average intelligence are over-represented) to not reproduce and so on.

Ultimately people will remember the entertainment they grew up with as being superior to the entertainment of today. That has always been the case. No doubt your grandparents lament that the idiot-box replaced radio, which was how intelligent people received their news/entertainment. And their grandparents had similar things to say about radio replacing plays/operas. And really why do we need plays when we could be dancing naked around a fire?

The next generation is always stupid and crass and bewildering.

Consider for instance the huge impact of the internet. Sure 99% of it is idiotic. But it's also an active media: people are able to participate. They put out their own blogs, videos, songs, etc. When has that been possible before on such a scale? Columbo may have been a smarter show but it was passive: you sat there and watched it and that was it. Passive entertainment isn't exactly known for being stimulating to the intellect.