Netra Nalubolu

As our dependency on technology increases studies show that our morality hasn’t changed.

In classrooms, across social media feeds, and around dinner tables, a persistent question lingers: Are we getting worse?

Not less advanced. Not less connected. But worse in how we think, how we treat each other, and how we understand reality itself.

We are not collapsing, but it begets something more subtle: the gradual surrender of individual thought.

At first glance, it seems absurd to suggest intellectual decline in the most information-rich era in human history, but is it simply an illusion of intelligence in an age of information? And yet, that abundance may be part of the problem. 

A New Yorker article suggests that what we are witnessing is not a simple decline in intelligence, but a transformation in how it is created. In modern life, Joshua Rothman argues, “new forms of stupidity, driven by bureaucracy, digital overload, and misinformation, appear to be increasing.” This is not because people are inherently less capable, but because the environment creates more opportunities for shallow thinking.

Similarly, Psychology Today confirmed the trend in stark terms.

“It’s not just a feeling—evidence suggests we may, in fact, be getting dumber,” Psychology Today said.

The article points to the “Negative Flynn Effect,” a documented reversal of resign IQ scores across developed nations. In some cases, scores have dropped significantly across generations. 

The issue may not be intelligence itself, but how it’s used.

One of the most consistent themes in the cause of declining IQ scores is not cognitive incapacity but cognitive disengagement. Modern environments, particularly digital ones, reward speed over depth and reaction over reflection. As Psychology Today notes, today’s media landscape is saturated with “screens, scrolling, and superficial content,” where “quick dopamine hits … have replaced deep reading and problem solving.”

The idea is not that people are becoming less intelligent, but instead less active in their thinking, showing a stark cultural shift towards passivity.

“This isn’t just about failing schools or lazy students. It’s about a culture in which intellectual laziness is not only tolerated but increasingly rewarded,” Psychology Today said. 

The shift is not happening in isolation. It is being mediated, and in many ways accelerated, by the structure of how we interact with information.

While earlier generations had to seek knowledge deliberately, today, knowledge is delivered, filtered, and prioritized by platforms. 

What people see is no longer simply what exists. It is what is selected, and that selection is not neutral. 

As Psychology Today warns, the erosion of traditional intellectual filters means that many now “absorb the thoughts not of experts or educators but of influencers … some of whom couldn’t pass a high school exam.”

Alongside these cultural shifts is a more concrete, measurable trend: declining functional literacy.

A Pew Research Center study highlights that millions struggle with basic comprehension, and only a 26% of Americans can reliably distinguish fact from opinion. This is not just an educational issue, but a societal one. Literacy is not merely about reading; it is about interpreting reality. 

Without that ability, individuals become more susceptible to manipulation, more reliant on simplified narratives, and less capable of independent judgment. 

At the same time, perceptions of moral decline are rising. 

While the Wall Street Journal argues that actual behaviors are complex and not uniformly worsening, the belief that society is becoming less honest or less ethical is widespread.

However, perception has consequences.

When people believe others are less trustworthy, they act more defensively. Cooperation declines, cynicism rises, and social cohesion weakens. This creates a self-reinforcing cycle.

Under all of this is a more fundamental constraint: attention.

Human cognition depends on sustained focus, but modern environments are engineered to fragment it. 

According to  TCTEC Innovation, even small interruptions, like checking a phone or switching tasks, can carry measurable cognitive costs. Over time, these disruptions reshape how the brain processes information, shifting away from deep and critical reading to rapid and simple reading. 

Together, these trends produce a striking paradox. 

We know more than ever. And yet, because of that, we may understand less.

The New Yorker describes this not as a collapse of intelligence, but as a failure to engage with it.

“This isn’t just about failing schools or lazy students. It’s about a culture in which intellectual laziness is not only tolerated but increasingly rewarded,” stated in Psychology Today.

So are we regressing? 

Not exactly.

Human intelligence has not disappeared, and innovation continues, but something else is changing. Thinking is becoming more passive and less independent. 

The drift is real but not irreversible. 

The capacity for independent thought has not disappeared; it has only been neglected, and neglected things can be rebuilt. 

Choosing to read beyond the headline, to question what feels obvious, to sit with complexity a little longer.