Collectively, we meet the dumbness standards on a lot of issues. Collectively, we are the smartest people in the history of the world.

But collectively, we are bombarded with an exponential increase in information. We are challenged to retain far more information than the average citizen of any other country in the world. Collectively, we have to parse through more instructions, work knowledge, comparative benefit elements, and facts, facts, facts. As an example, we have to remember multiple passwords and personal identification numbers just to do our basic daily work and life activities.

Politically, there is an historic and rapid spread of lies, false claims, doctored statistics, libel, slander and defamation. We have to think critically about these things. We have to determine whether we need more information or whether we'll just buy into what we're being told. Then we have to apply that information to our real world goals, activities, beliefs and needs.

Financially, our financial products are increasingly convoluted and complex. From a simple banking account, to a complex investment scheme based on theoretical constructs, life has become a quagmire of caveats and fine print. We have to stay in touch with the equally complex and possibly financially catastrophic consequences of our financial decisions. Our tax law is almost indecipherable. It is also complicated when choosing and trusting an "expert" to insure that we are complying with the law.

Socially, our ability to determine whether a person is experimenting with the latest drug, is the newest form of sociopath, or is simply going crazy, is made far more difficult by the massive number of people that we encounter in the virtual and the literal worlds.

Spiritually, a new set of bibles is written every day. The amount of newly made up dogma that we are pressured to consider is increasing on an exponential basis.

Professionally, we deal with more complex regulation, oversight, analysis, computerization issues, and change, change, change.

Educationally, much of our course material is outdated by the following school term. Professors have to publish or perish. New algorithms, paradigms, boxes, commands to think outside of boxes, and theories are cranked out by the hundreds every year. Life and world changing events are having more enormous impacts that ripple through all aspects of our society.

These are some of the reasons why we need to consider the quality of our standards for evaluating wit. We need to know a lot more about our collective mind before we start making judgments about our collective intelligence.

Is it important for us to name all 50 state capitols, when we really need to know about competing health plans in time for the next open enrollment period?

Do we really need to know base 100 math? Yes. It's how we make sure that we're getting the correct change from a dollar.

Do we really need to know which President played the first golf game?

Heck no! We need to know how we're going to spare our community water to irrigate the golf course when there's a drought and a water shortage! We need to be able to accurately predict whether the property and other taxes generated by that new housing development will be enough to pay for the increased public services that the new residents are going to need.

When deciding about intelligence, are we replacing the ability to acquire, retain, and apply knowledge with the ability to answer trivial questions?

Yes.

We Americans are collectively the smartest people around. And we get smarter every year. Now excuse me, while I go and ask the nine- year-old how to download that free photo editing software without infecting my computer.

Learn more about this author, Elizabeth M. Young.
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