I dont beleive in what you say sir

Heresy wrote

Establish wrote I've said this before, and I'll say it again: this generation is the smartest, and quite arguably the best generation in human history.

Really ???.

Im sorry to burst your bubble but you are wrong!.
So far this generation has done very little to aid humanity in any way and all the technology that we all rely on and want to have has been designed and built by the generations that came before you.

Generations past buit all our technological achievements out of nothing where as this generation is only building on the technology that is already there.

There is hope for humanity but only if we loose the shackles of the old world (Religion).

That is literally how humanity advances. We build on existing technology to make it better. And so far this generation has done very little? This generation is young, how can you expect them to have made history this early on?

Reverent wrote I dont beleive in what you say sir

Why?

Yin wrote I just see humanity as one of the most, if not the most, evil thing on this planet. I mean, I know death will happen with or without us, but so many people do it for fun or for profit. Majorly destroying animal habitats and forests is not ok in my opinion. I believe humans became too intelligent, which resulted in weapons of war and borderline overpopulation. It's not that I hate humans, I just hate how we turned out. Not a fan of the human race, but I love individual people (if that makes sense.)

Our intelligence isn't why we have weapons of war, warfare (including biological/chemical) has been going on for a very long time. The only difference between us now and from the past is that we found ways to retain information, and with that retention we keep learning and retaining, this set us up for advancements in technology for a very long time. Destroying habitats of animals was inevitable. Even before we were "intelligent" we would hunt animals and we were efficient. We altered our spear heads to do more damage to the animal it hit, causing it to bleed out easier. We made the mammoth extinct, so it continuing to happen throughout time was bound to happen.

We haven't hit overpopulation yet. When we hit our population boom around the industrial era, we also hit an agricultural boom as well. If you haven't noticed, China and India each house over a billion citizens on their own. In other words, over 2/7 of the current human population is in two countries in Asia alone. If one continent is housing not that far off from half the world population and isn't in massive peril, we still aren't overpopulated.

LBK117 wrote

Yin wrote I just see humanity as one of the most, if not the most, evil thing on this planet. I mean, I know death will happen with or without us, but so many people do it for fun or for profit. Majorly destroying animal habitats and forests is not ok in my opinion. I believe humans became too intelligent, which resulted in weapons of war and borderline overpopulation. It's not that I hate humans, I just hate how we turned out. Not a fan of the human race, but I love individual people (if that makes sense.)

Our intelligence isn't why we have weapons of war, warfare (including biological/chemical) has been going on for a very long time. The only difference between us now and from the past is that we found ways to retain information, and with that retention we keep learning and retaining, this set us up for advancements in technology for a very long time. Destroying habitats of animals was inevitable. Even before we were "intelligent" we would hunt animals and we were efficient. We altered our spear heads to do more damage to the animal it hit, causing it to bleed out easier. We made the mammoth extinct, so it continuing to happen throughout time was bound to happen.

We haven't hit overpopulation yet. When we hit our population boom around the industrial era, we also hit an agricultural boom as well. If you haven't noticed, China and India each house over a billion citizens on their own. In other words, over 2/7 of the current human population is in two countries in Asia alone. If one continent is housing not that far off from half the world population and isn't in massive peril, we still aren't overpopulated.

Intelligence has created weapons of war. I will agree that war is pretty inevitable for any species, but intelligence showed us how to build the best swords, to shoot a ball of lead with gunpowder, and how to split the atom. The more intelligence we have, the more lethal we become.

I understand you will take out some small habitats to build homes with, but we are taking out entire forests. I believe we have taken out 50% or more of the forestry of Earth. That number is totally unneeded. I don't see hunting as destroying habitats, unless you are doing it for pure enjoyment. If you need food, go for it. Hunting also helps some habitats from overpopulating and destroying itself. What the white man did to the buffalo just so they could control the Native Americans is the type of thing I am talking about when I say destroying a habitat.

We may not actually be overpopulated in the sense that it is a major problem, but I do feel as though we are overpopulated. I mean, just look at the housing of Kowloon. That looks miserable. Just because we can live that way doesn't mean that we should. On top of that, we are still growing. The numbers are just going to continue to climb. My take on the overpopulation also ties in with destroying habitats. We need room for people, so we destroy the homes of non-people. Then, we have the audacity to call these animals a nuisance when they mess with people.

It's just bad in my opinion. Intelligence led to advancements in destructive tools. It led to humans tearing down forests and building cities. It has also led to people living longer, which in turn increasing the need for more homes and the loss of more land. Maybe we aren't in danger at the moment, but we really need to look at the future.

Heresy wrote So far this generation has done very little to aid humanity in any way.

You don't say? The people in this generation are all like 20 or under. When you're growing up, there's not much you can do to aid humanity. Then again, I guess according to your logic, everyone who was around 15 in the previous generations all contributed to humanity, as they were all geniuses. :/

But despite the fact that we've only been here for a very short amount of time, there have still been some great achievements that can benefit the world by those from our generation, like an 18 year old student who created a charger that can [ Register or Signin to view external links. ] , and as mentioned by the OP, a teenager who found a [ Register or Signin to view external links. ] .

Heresy wrote and all the technology that we all rely on and want to have has been designed and built by the generations that came before you.

You could say that about every generation, I don't see what you're trying to prove. The last generation depended on technology from the previous one and so on and so forth.

Heresy wrote Generations past buit all our technological achievements out of nothing where as this generation is only building on the technology that is already there.

Hmmm, so every time a new generation started, I guess technology was reset back roughly 30 years? :/ Technology is always adapting and evolving, and nothing was "built from scratch".

Heresy wrote There is hope for humanity but only if we loose the shackles of the old world (Religion).

Oh great, another "atheist" trying to say that religion sucks, although I've come to expect that from TTG.

Anyways, I will bring up my original point about this generation being smart. As human intelligence grows, each generation is smarter than the last, and this generation is no exception to the rule. Just because you may see a few people acting stupid in the media doesn't mean that the whole generation is stupid. There are brilliant kids today doing brilliant things in science, technology, and many other disciplines, like the two examples I have shown in the post. People are becoming smarter as technology enables them to. Before, one had to go to the library to get information, but now it's all within a simple Google search. Increasing the accessibility to information is allowing everyone from this generation to benefit from that, as we are becoming smarter as a result.

Greed and corruption has poisoned our souls.

@ Establish.

First off ,Young people below the age of 20 have been inventing things through out our history,This generation is nothing new.
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As for your idea of this generation being more intelegent,Well..
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It would seem that the brains out there say differently.

Yes i am a free thinking atheist.
The fact remains though that things like terrorism and genocide are being committed in the name of religion.

Yours respectfully.. Heresy

Heresy wrote @ Establish.

First off ,Young people below the age of 20 have been inventing things through out our history,This generation is nothing new.
[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]

As for your idea of this generation being more intelegent,Well..
[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]
[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]
[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]
It would seem that the brains out there say differently.

Yes i am a free thinking atheist.
The fact remains though that things like terrorism and genocide are being committed in the name of religion.

Yours respectfully.. Heresy

But the inventions and initiatives that young people have undertaken have been greater than those in the past. There are so many young people who are not only building inventions, but starting their own non-profit organizations.

Congratulations, you found ONE person that said that human intelligence is declining. All of your links point to the same exact report, created by some guy named Gerald Crabtree. And as the Time article notes, Crabtree says:

TIME wrote human intelligence may have actually peaked before our hunter-gatherer predecessors left Africa.

Natural selection says otherwise. Plus, IQ tests have increased dramatically over the past 100 or so years. We are advancing further and further in technology, especially in the fields of health care and computer science.

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I don't know about you, but I trust an IQ test, which is the standard metric on which intelligence is based on more than one "researcher's" findings.

While religion has caused bad, it has also caused a lot of good, allowing more people to be morally good people, as religion sets a moral code which all of it's believers must follow.