Are kids really getting both physically and mentally weaker every generation?

You can see it by looking at sports. Times that would get you an Olympic gold medal today wouldn't win a high school meet in the 1930s. Every generation gets weaker than the previous one. IQ tests have to be constantly recalibrated because of how much lower the mean is.
Examples?
 
Absolutely they are weaker and more fragile. Each generation that passes we are doing less and less manual labor and a lot less is expected from kids.

Mentally and emotionally they are weaker too. It’s almost like kids today all have autism. They rarely raise their voice or get rowdy. They don’t take criticism well and are obviously easily offended. I will say they are much better behaved than my generation was...but almost too behaved like robots
 
Examples?

II was joking, as both claims are the opposite of reality. Look up winning 100m times in the Olympics over time and compare to winning times in high school meets today. That works for a lot of events. Literacy rates and reasoning skills also have been steadily rising.
 
You can see it by looking at sports. Times that would get you an Olympic gold medal today wouldn't win a high school meet in the 1930s. Every generation gets weaker than the previous one. IQ tests have to be constantly recalibrated because of how much lower the mean is.

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Intellectually? No

Physically? Yeah, on average, probably

You can see it by looking at sports. Times that would get you an Olympic gold medal today wouldn't win a high school meet in the 1930s. Every generation gets weaker than the previous one. IQ tests have to be constantly recalibrated because of how much lower the mean is.

Is this meant to be sarcastic?
 
Intellectually? No

Physically? Yeah, on average, probably



Is this meant to be sarcastic?

Just running with the opposite day stuff.

Today's kids are less violent, but I wouldn't equate that with a lack of toughness.
 
This is a tired and kind of dumb premise. Kids growing up in Russia are tougher than kids growing up in the US. What is it they're doing right that we get so wrong? Terrorizing and stealing, beating people, and being completely cynical about everything?

Those things sound like real tough guy things, maybe we need more, just like we had in the 50s. Maybe our cops need to beat people up more for being queer, or the wrong skin color, or for having long hair. That will make us super tough. Dads should beat up their kids more often, and those goddamn women too.

Our better lives account for most of our "not being tough anymore."
 
The tough thing about discussing older generations is that it almost always devolves into a lot of anecdotal accounts being thrown left and right. As we grow older we are somewhat more resentful (maybe not the best word but I think you know what I mean) of people younger than us and we're constantly looking to one-up them.

I think things that can be measured paint a clearer picture: kids today are healthier and smarter than before. More of them are overweight and technology has driven more people to stay indoors, sure, but does that make them less tough? I don't think so. Kids today are definitely "inferior" if we judge them by scales calibrated specifically to what kids did back in the 70s or even further back, but that's a rather disingenuous way to look at things, isn't it? For example, I'm pretty sure the number of kids who can play ball is smaller today than it was years ago but... who gives a shit?

Another interesting piece of data is testosterone levels and sperm count in males. Those things have been on a consistent downward trend for basically ever. So if you define "manly" by those metrics, men today are definitely less manly. But they are healthier (stronger immune systems, more available treatment to whatever ails them), more educated, smarter, more suited to overcome all sorts of obstacles (even if by using technology or accessing the open market)...
 
For the most part kids don't exercise anymore. I'm 36 but I can outrun a lot of kids, who get winded easily. I teach in Japan and most kids just play video games, even at the park.
That said I do think there are some kids who are way stronger than. When I was a kid. Only a fee HS kids could bench over 135, now that's easy.
Think it's a mix of lack of exercise for most and then hormones and better regimens for the small bit
 
Did a grip test at my JHS last year. Some 7th grade boys got under 20kg, like a few got 10 or 12, which is essentially nothing. One kid had 60 or so. Which is pretty dang good. But 50% of the boys were straight up pathetic.
I got 87kg or so. Which is not great, but hey I don't work out any more.
 
The decline started when it was frowned upon the spank your kids.
 
Oh sure we are seeing a softening of our society. For everyone looking at sports test go look at a Mexican migrant. That Mexican isn't going to beat you out on a bench press or mile run but you need him to work in the field all day he is going to beat you and that is the sort of ability needed to be a war fighter. We are seeing a steady decline in our society youth which is going to get us invaded if we don't correct it.
 
You can see it by looking at sports. Times that would get you an Olympic gold medal today wouldn't win a high school meet in the 1930s. Every generation gets weaker than the previous one. IQ tests have to be constantly recalibrated because of how much lower the mean is.

IQ tests are always normalized to 100.
 
Oh sure we are seeing a softening of our society. For everyone looking at sports test go look at a Mexican migrant. That Mexican isn't going to beat you out on a bench press or mile run but you need him to work in the field all day he is going to beat you and that is the sort of ability needed to be a war fighter. We are seeing a steady decline in our society youth which is going to get us invaded if we don't correct it.

GDP is pretty much a measure of a country's ability to win a war. It's common for people to think that a "softer" country will be a pushover, but it doesn't turn out that way.

As one of the greatest Americans ever said to the alt right of his day:

You people of the South don't know what you are doing. This country will be drenched in blood, and God only knows how it will end. It is all folly, madness, a crime against civilization! You people speak so lightly of war; you don't know what you're talking about. War is a terrible thing! You mistake, too, the people of the North. They are a peaceable people but an earnest people, and they will fight, too. They are not going to let this country be destroyed without a mighty effort to save it … Besides, where are your men and appliances of war to contend against them? The North can make a steam engine, locomotive, or railway car; hardly a yard of cloth or pair of shoes can you make. You are rushing into war with one of the most powerful, ingeniously mechanical, and determined people on Earth — right at your doors. You are bound to fail. Only in your spirit and determination are you prepared for war. In all else you are totally unprepared, with a bad cause to start with.
 
Bitching about kids is a timeless pasttime for salty ass old people.

Considering that Athens fell to Sparta around the time Socrates said this, and was subjugated by Macedon within a couple of generations, maybe he had a point?
 
Oh sure we are seeing a softening of our society. For everyone looking at sports test go look at a Mexican migrant. That Mexican isn't going to beat you out on a bench press or mile run but you need him to work in the field all day he is going to beat you and that is the sort of ability needed to be a war fighter. We are seeing a steady decline in our society youth which is going to get us invaded if we don't correct it.

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"Yeah, let's go invade that country: it has the most powerful and advanced military in the history of the world, that has thousands of nuclear warheads, and has a fourth of the world's GDP, but their kids are low-T butterballs, so I have a good feeling about our chances."
 
GDP is pretty much a measure of a country's ability to win a war. It's common for people to think that a "softer" country will be a pushover, but it doesn't turn out that way.

As one of the greatest Americans ever said to the alt right of his day:

The North ultimately beat the South because it outnumbered the South and it was able to rely on Irish conscripts from Ireland and other immigrants While manufacturing did matter the extra bodies where what won the day. Remember the North lost many more troops than the South did. Also what was important was Lincoln's willingness to lose troops. The South could have fought for another year or two but simply had enough likely becasue everyone lose was a citizen not just a immigrant conscript.

If GDP was all that mattered the Germans would have beat the Russians. The Russians the Afghanis and us the Vietnamese.
 
Bitching about kids is a timeless pasttime for salty ass old people.
The difference here is that there is truth to what he says, testosterone and sperm counts have been dipping for decades. Yeah, kids really are weaker these days.
 
The North ultimately beat the South because it outnumbered the South and it was able to rely on Irish conscripts from Ireland and other immigrants While manufacturing did matter the extra bodies where what won the day. Remember the North lost many more troops than the South did. Also what was important was Lincoln's willingness to lose troops. The South could have fought for another year or two but simply had enough likely becasue everyone lose was a citizen not just a immigrant conscript.

If GDP was all that mattered the Germans would have beat the Russians. The Russians the Afghanis and us the Vietnamese.

Don't forget the Korean War. Quantity has a quality all of its own.
 
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