Back in April of this year the news reported that the world is getting dumber. A researcher at the University of Ulster compared global IQ scores between 1950 and 2000 and determined that our collective intelligence has dropped by one IQ point. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but I suspect that it’s similar to climate change, where a small shift can have dramatic impacts. Researchers think the decline is primarily attributable to eating fast food and reading humor blogs.
I was skeptical until I read a story about a couple in Colorado. Police reported that the couple swiped $2,000 worth of Christmas ornaments from other peoples’ houses and yards. Given the nightmare of trying to find a parking spot at a mega-mall, this would actually suggest an enhanced IQ – people who avoid shopping around Christmas are obviously far smarter than the rest of us.
But there’s one problem. The couple pilfered from their own neighborhood, using their neighbors’ ornaments to decorate their own yard.
When confronted by police, the woman claimed that her husband acted alone. Throwing her hubbie under the bus was a slick move, suggesting that her family’s decline in IQ since 1950 has been smaller than that in her husband’s family. But I’m still thinking those researchers are onto something.
I know I’m getting dumb and dumber to!
Actually, the dumbest thing about outdoor Christmas decorations is the ginormous electric bill.