Foreword: I had this post drafted in January of 2024, but refrained from publishing as I was worried it may offend some people. I’m sorry for being a spineless coward.
But with the explosion of AI usage marking a sharp decline in cognitive abilities, being true to my core values of intellectualism and authenticity has become more important than worrying about hurting the feelings of some (not very respectable) people.
Holding my tongue to placate the feelings of the dim-witted masses makes me complicit in the active degradation of the intellectual capacity of our society as a whole, and I will no longer be guilty of that complacency.
. . . .
I’ve been hiring (and firing) staff since 2007, and I have one critical screening question for all my interviews – a basic reasoning test that isn’t difficult at all.
Up to 2018: 80% got this question right (and I pitied the 20%)
Since 2019: 60% to 80%+ fail this question (now I pity a generation!*).
* My small business hires entry to mid-level roles, so most candidates are in their 20s. The former were mostly millennials (late 80s to early 90s born), while the latter were mostly Gen Z (late 90s to early 2000s born).
No, this isn’t just another “kids these days” rant. I checked the data (my interview logs). While it’s a very small sample size, it does show a trend that many others are also noticing, as seen in The Atlantic: American Kids Can’t Do Math Anymore!
The Question You Cannot Fail:
“What is 30% of 200?”
That’s it.
No calculator needed, no advanced math education required.
Easy and simple, almost too dumb of a question.
If you can’t figure this out in your head, you need a wake-up call, seriously.
This is a cognitive baseline for anybody who needs to perform any work duties, let alone deal with numbers and dollars. All it takes is common sense and deductive reasoning:
- Percentages are a portion of 100 (common sense)
- 200 is 2X of 100, therefore… (deductive reasoning)
- Therefore, 30 X 2 = ? (can you count?)
If you find this to be triggering and offensive, you’re welcome – I did you a massive favour of opening your eyes to a sobering reality of your intellectual deficiency that needs to be addressed.
In easier words, I’ve shown how dumb you are so you can fix it sooner than later.
They Looked At Me Funny Back In The Day When I Asked This
Before 2018, most candidates replied “60” almost immediately.
Some even gave looks of suspicion: “Is this a trick question?”
I even got eye-rolls: “What a silly dumb question… ”
I often felt bad for insulting their intelligence with this pedantic question.
That started changing for the worse… at first if I’m being over-sensitive.
My fears of a societal intellectual decline started unfolding
The interview logs between 2018 to 2024 do indeed prove a shift, with 60~80% of them failing to answer.
The blank look they give as they stammer “uhhhh”, the lame excuse of “I’m not a math person” are both confounding and pathetic at the same time.
This Isn’t About Math – It’s About Bare Basic Thinking Skills
The times when I made exceptions (which I avoid as much as possible) to this hiring rule, I regretted it badly.
All three were fired within a month, not because of math (well, not just that). Because they couldn’t reason. They couldn’t look at two pieces of information and draw a logical conclusion.
One couldn’t even figure out how much a 30% rush charge would be on an invoice, let alone how to add it on Quickbooks.
She couldn’t read an email from a client and decide how to process it despite a clear pathway outlined.
They could barely follow written instructions, and any divergence would confuse them, and the slightest variance would paralyze them.
. . . .
This post isn’t about my hiring process or math skills, however..
I’m sounding the alarm about a fundamental capacity that seems to be eroding. I’m lamenting a generation that is no longer thinking by themselves, and instead relying on a few taps on their smartphones (what an ironic name).
A Prediction I Made More Than A Decade Ago
“Our population is splitting into two; the very smart who are building the technology behind the touchscreens, and the very dull who mindlessly depend on those screens.”
For the record, I said this before I ever read the famous Carl Sagan quote that has a very similar tone, and it’s a reality now, sadly enough.
And the unfortunate truth is that the dull portion of our population is growing.
I think I know why…
Instead of encouraging better effort, parents make excuses for their “different” children.
Tests are becoming even easier, and letter grades being removed from classrooms to protect their feelings instead of encouraging effort.
Honest criticism is now considered discouraging to their self-esteem; an act of cruelty that hurts them.
The real cruelty is enabling complacency and fostering ineptitude, rendering them incapable.
Instead of hardening them with honest feedback, their deficiencies are masked as differences, creating a ticking timebomb of entitled egotistic youth who cannot accept any criticism or direction despite their lack of basic mental capacity.
. . . .
The Decline of Cognition with AI Is Happening As I Predicted Last Year
When I first drafted this article in early 2024 (over 2 years ago), this was what I wrote:
The polarization will become more pronounced, as the really capable will become exponentially more effective, while the menial brains more often replaced by AI and automation.
The people who were coddled will be the easiest to replace and become laid off, as their critical thinking skills and decision making abilities will decline as they offload even more of their thinking to their laptops and mobile devices.
How Will You Prevent Yourself (and your children) From Declining Intellectually?
I keep using my brain, even if some things take longer (not always). We use AI a whole lot at work where it’s needed to speed things up, but I’ll never let my brain get lazy.
But here are some things I continue to do every day to ensure I don’t become uselessly dumb:
- Read lots of books and documentations.
- Do math in my head, or on paper.
- Write without AI, often with pen on paper.
- Limit screen time (that includes shows & movies, not just social media)
What are your plans to keep your brain useful?
Comment below!
