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Michael Woudenberg's avatar

Agree. Our survival skills are rubbish. Heck, even general life skills like cooking are diminishing and yet the abstract contnues to grow.

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Daniel Nest's avatar

I think that's exactly the way to frame it. What's considered smart or even worthy of memorizing/being knowledgeable about evolves with society's needs and expectations. I definitely no longer remember people's phone numbers these days, and if you throw me into remote wilderness, I won't last a day.

But I consider myself reasonably smart about the technologies and knowledge areas that have direct utility in my life, both digital and otherwise.

Perhaps it's more useful to look at things less through a "smart" vs. "dumb" lens and more through a "practical" vs "abstract" knowledge and how the demand for each has shifted over time.

Also, the "dogs vs. rabbits" question has an obvious answer: Both of them appear in people's nightmares as talking Cronenbergian abominations that chase us through narrow alleys while reciting passages from The Bible.

It's not just me, right? Right?

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