As some of you who frequent these pages are aware, Mrs. Denmarkguy and I are the proprietors of a small art gallery, here in our local town.
Naturally, working in a retail establishment puts you in touch with all sorts of people who come by the visit.
Most people are quite pleasant of course or — at the very least — indifferent.
Sometimes, though, I really end up worrying about the state the of the Human Species! After which I almost immediately start worrying about myself, and entertaining the possibility that I am simply growing old and out of touch.
The Stupid... it BURNS!
Thinking about spring...
So, this really happened — and this is actually the second time in the course of the last couple of months I have been witness to something like this.
Three young women — late teens — who were seemingly quite well spoken and reasonably bright came in the gallery and decided they were going to get a couple of "artsy" greeting cards.... which evidently were for a mutual friend.
So then they are going to pay for these... $8.72, including tax.
This is when things started to fall apart. Between them, they had plenty of cash... except one had a $5 bill, another some $1's and the third a bunch of change. However — as I watched in amazement — they simply could not figure out how to combine their funds in such a way they each were paying about 1/3 of the total.
I watched this... situation... unfold for a couple of minutes, after which one of them determined that they should just "put it on a card" rather than waste any more time.
Sign of the Times?
Yellow poppy
They, quite seriously, could not figure out "money."
Maybe I shouldn't be surprised. Maybe we have simply moved into an age where "physical" money has become more and more alien to people, as we do everything by debit card and instant transfers handled by our smartphones.
Is this the new normal? Depending on technology to calculate money for us?
The incident — however brief — felt strangely disturbing and jarring. Had they been non-US nationals I wouldn't have given it a second glance, but these were soon-to-be graduates of our local high school.
How do they plan to be OK, in the world? Or are they actually OK... and I am the one who has become "archaic" for still using an outdated system?
What do YOU think? Does this incident strike you as strange or disturbing? Or would you call it pretty normal, by 2018 standards? Do you think physical money will become a thing of the past, within a very short time? If you are "older" (let's say born before 1970), have you witnessed anything like this that made you wonder and possibly shake your head? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
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I observe it in myself! (and I am old)
I have been working just online for so long, and only using keyboards, that I have a real struggle now to write anything in longhand.
And when I suddenly, some months ago, had to put my signature to a bunch of official documents for the first time in many years - I could barely do it!
One other thing that didn't go very smoothly. I was in a bowling alley for the first time in decades, and, my God, did it ever feel awkward to pick up a bowling ball and attempt to send it down the center rather than into one of the gutters on either side!
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I had a little bit similar to the bowling experience happen to me, last fall. I used to be decent at golf (as in, almost went pro around 1980) and some friends dragged me to the golf course for the first time in... about 30 years. It was a very pathetic and sad experience... and yes, I AM getting old!
And even though I have played around with computers since IBM punched cards, I feel ancient and out-of-touch when I watch our 8-year old grandson with a smartphone. Yikes! I know nothing!
On some level, your story makes me feel grateful that I never gave up journaling longhand...
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Hahahaha!!!! Oh my heavens @denmarkguy that is hilarious and simultaneously really sad!! I can totally relate. The copy shop i owned for 11 years introduced me and my staff to some seriously interesting characters over the years and one of the most amusing and common headbanging issues was this:
People would come in with, lets say... a 10 page document that was stapled. They would put it on the counter and ask for 10 copies. It was such a common occurrence that my staff and i would always have a good giggle at how we had to break it down for them...
"Ok so do you want 10 copies of this document or do you want 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, ....?" And the answer was always "1,1,1,...
It never got old... lol
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Hah! That's right @jaynie, you did the shopkeeping gig, too. You do sure get to experience a very broad cross section of humanity, don't you.
It's funny... when I go to the copy shop, the staff seems almost surprised that I actually know how to operate a copier; even load paper and undo a jam. One of the teeny-weeny benefits of having worked in corporate settings...
It's still funny, though!
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haha yeah it sure is! :) It is an interesting industry "retail".
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math is hard.
ever since shoes were invented anything over ten has been difficult.
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LOL!!! Good one ;)
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Long division and slide rules are no longer needed (let alone memorizing phone numbers). We forget skills which aren’t needed and gain new ones that are. Those same women could probably navigate complex social dynamics on multiple globally-connected networks while knowing exactly which hashtags to use and why. They most likely have other skills which directly benefit their wellbeing. That’s my thought, anyway.
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I'd be inclined to agree, Luke.
I watch our 8-year old grandson do things on his smartphone, and I feel VERY old, and on the dumb edge of things.
And I'm sure you're right about these young women, too. Although, being able to pay for stuff under our current paradigm might fit under the broader heading of a "basic survival skill."
On the other hand, I look at my native Denmark... checks became officially obsolete last year, and most bank branches are now "cashless," on the way towards a 100% cashless society by no later than 2040, but probably sooner.
You've got a young family; can't help but wonder what might be seen as "normal" by the time they start having kids of their own.
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I'll be working my butt off to learn and stay up to speed. We'll see if I can hack it. :)
I imagine things are going to get a little weird (enter neural lace and AI)
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2730791/Are-STUPID-Britons-people-IQ-decline.html
What you get when free resources get allocated to the less intelligent in society...(welfare state).
I am not a eugenicist! Quite the opposite! lol
Just stating a disturbing fact, if you take the position of IQ being at least 70% genetic. Which i do.)
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I wonder if they had IQ tests in Victorian times, or if this is just another made up "fact"? I don't believe kids are getting dumber, the thing is technology is making them lazier.
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It is actually worse than that....there are some reports saying the just the last generation may be on average - 10 IQ points less in the west.
While in some asian, emerging countries, IQ has increased..
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It's easy to say that we are "getting dumber," but I'd agree that the way we use our brain is changing. Now we have technology to solve most problems, so problem solving is becoming less of an "essential" for living a good life.
THAT SAID, I doubt most people in the Victorian age would be able to track the sheer number of "information points" they average person deals with today, without going insane.
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Well it cold be we are getting dumber and insane!
That's worrying... I'd never thought of that..
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This is quite and interesting topic because I feel like the root of this situation or this question that you posed is a major factor in the surge in popularity over to crypto. People seem to be developing this sort of mondane view on physical currency as being a thing of the past because not as many people even carry cash anymore like you suggested because it all gets charged to debit cards and credit cards for the most part. In addition you have online bill pay as well as things like PayPal and Venmo to instantly pay for something without ever having to lay a hand on physical currency. Physical currency almost feels like a burden now to most because you have to go cash it in at a bank in order to be able to use all these other services I just mentioned. One other built in factor is a lot of people just have their paychecks direct deposited to their bank accounts, again no physical interactions. I don't really think it's a question of if physical currency will become obsolete but moreso when it will become obsolete and how long it would take for it to really happen. I also wonder how much money the government would save not having to create and maintain all this physical money too?
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I think you're quite right-- physical currency will become obsolete in many parts of the world, probably within a couple of decades. Checks are almost obsolete already; here at our gallery I think we may have taken TWO checks so far in 2018. Back in my native Denmark, checks are no longer a method of payment (they were abolished in 2017) and many bank branches are now what's known as "non-cash" offices. The whole society is expected to be cash-free before 2040.
Here in the US, it might take longer because there's a traditional attachment to the "greenback." There's a deep mistrust of government and large institutions; people want to be able to "stuff something under their mattress." But only time will tell.
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Well said, I like your view on the attachment issues here in the US. It's true though, I have cash I leave on hand because I feel like I need to already my money around just in case. Solid point.
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Yep, I don't for a second think it's you @denmarkguy.
I just think we will always seem to have a certain percentage of the population who just do not want to practice at using their "noggins" on a regular basis.
You know that phrase..."Use it or lose it". And I am sure being on the Internet and especially social media where people type mindlessly doesn't help the situation for our Youth :)
P.S. On a side note, it is refreshing and inspiring to see a fellow Steemian with payouts like this without using Bots. Kudos :)
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I think we're looking at a combination of factors... going from (a) technological advances that allow us to hand over most problem solving tasks to technology to (b) becoming DEPENDENT on those advances to survive. Maybe I'm just old fashioned, but I want to be able to still live and function, if — for some reason — all the technology suddenly died.
The young ladies in my shop had never known a world without Internet and cell phones. Whereas I am disparaging towards their math skills, I'm sure there would be stuff they knew about that would blow my mind.
I'm grateful there are still people here who support (hopefully!) interesting content, AND like to be part of posts that engage and encourage interaction. You'll notice that of the almost 40 comments here, very few are of the dreaded *"nice post, please vote me" type.
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I was at a local store last Halloween. The sign said all Halloween stuff twenty five percent off but it didn't ring up twenty five percent off. The cashier had no idea what price to ring it up for after she cancelled out the first transaction. That's pretty basic when you consider the item I bought was five bucks...it's twenty five cents off each dollar. I caught her about to be embarrassed look on her face and played it off like I was guessing and said that'd be three dollars and seventy five cents right and she smiled back and said yes. It would have taken me a minute to get close to mentally figuring out how to divide your figure three ways..then there's always a handy calculator on most people's phone's so it's a little shocking that little light didn't go off in their heads. Coming up with the answer would have given them the solution to divide up what they had amount themselves. What's the most concerning is that they didn't even try to solve their dilemma, they gave up, I'd rather seen them ask you to help figure it out or if in reverse I seen someone struggling to come together to figure it out. Giving up never solves problems.
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You touched on something pretty important there: They didn't even try to solve the problem, once they ran into difficulties.
They didn't use their phones, and they didn't know how the different denominations of bills and coins added up. I guess more and more people depend on something/someone to do things FOR them...
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As insignificant as this was to their survival at the moment my point was they lacked critical thinking skills. If they couldn't find a way out of something so simplistic who knows what will happen to them in a actual crisis. Even if they had pulled out a calculator or asked it would have shown some level of skill to think more critically about the situation. I didn't want to sound real harsh in my criticism, though with it being three of them it probably doesn't apply here, we have to be leave open the possibility that some people have learning disabilities.
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fifty percent of the population is below average.
I worry about the mean.
Speaking of making change....I used to have a lot of fun with young cashiers..
....well....it was fun for me. I thought the way they reacted was hilarious.
not so much fun for them.
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In some ways we're just old fossils, Everitt.
On the other hand, we'll come in really handy if someone decides to take out all the tech with a massive EMP.
It's good to have a little harmless fun, every now and then.
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So I had a math professor joke ones “what are you going to do carry around a calculator for rest of your life.” Why yes, it is called a cell phone. You would think the device of which I am almost certain drains the IQ right out of these people could also have assisted in trying to work out this situation. Somehow you would think whoever they have as their personal AI assistant would have the answer to solving this riddle they seem to have found themselves in.
I don’t think the world is getting dumber people are just not using their brains anymore. Why would they. They are being replaced by robot ones. As such there brainpower is being used elsewhere.
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Ah yes. I'm reminded of my elderly aunt who refused to get a calculator (when they first came out) because she didn't want to "forget how to add numbers together" in case she ever ended up somewhere without a calculator.
On some level, I can appreciate that.
I poke a bit of fun at these young ladies' inability to understand money and numbers, but I think — realistically — what was somewhat disturbing about the situation was the seeming "non-attempt" at problem solving.
It may be that the march of technology goes on and does things FOR us, but we will always face "problems" that have to be solved. And if we don't understand how to use our brains the engage the tech, the tech is basically close to useless.
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The world is as dumb or intelligent as before.
It is just that you have gained a bit more knowledge over time and of course your "I am more intelligent then most people" bias has "improved", too.
The worst math skills I have ever encountered where in a young girl in a shop, who added 1€ to 39 cents with a calculator.
Or maybe the other way round, I am not sure about this, but I had a hard time not standing there with a gaping mouth like a cave.
That was 10 years ago btw. So much for "the world is getting dumber".
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As much as anything, it may be a case of "what we know," in the sense that before the Internet, people has far less basis for comparison... now it's all at our fingertips, should we choose to use it.
Maybe our intelligence is merely shifting as more and more people allow technology to think for them.
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Yes. You are getting old! I imagine younger gens do not do much physical counting of things. When I was a youngster, all those years ago, I worked in the summer with a company that provided an inventory service. We would go and do a physical count of every item in the store and write it down on a piece of paper. As you know these days it is all automated, who needs to count or for that matter add and subtract?!
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In due course, physical money will go away, and being aware of "what something costs" will probably become more or less irrelevant.
I know the kind of inventory you speak of-- I was a shopkeeper in the late 1980s, and yes it was ALL manual labor.
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I worked at a fast food restaurant 25 years ago and our registers went out once. I ended up having to go between our three registers to do the math for EVERYONE because no one else could figure it out. That is saying a lot, because math is probably my worst subject! :/ I think that it's probably only gotten worse with time as technology does the thinking for us so often.
I used to be able to remember tons of phone numbers, even years after I'd had to use them, but now I can't remember anyone number to save my life, because they're all just stored in my phone.
I think our brains require continual exercise and in some ways we're just not getting it anymore!
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And that was 25 years ago. I can't even imagine how different it would be now. I few years ago, we lost power at a busy trade show, and I was apparently the ONLY person in the building who knew how to run backup credit card readers, get manual signatures and calculate sales tax in my head, on the fly. It was quite a circus, so I get it...
I don't remember current phone numbers either... but I can still remember all our numbers, and all the extended family's number from around when I was ten...
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Exactly! Holy beans, I thought I was the only one who remembered phone numbers from forever ago :) We must be around the same age group. I remember using manual credit card readers back when we worked motorcycle rallies.
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I don't know what it is about the old phone numbers; I've only met a few people who store that kind of information. Interesting...
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Not cool for the PC crowd that there aren't more women in STEM careers. So they give them a pass in public school on learning basic math
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Not an angle I had even thought about in this particular instance... but interesting observation.
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I personally find it stranger that people feel the need to count pennies with their friends. Perhaps I've been in Asia for too long, but I like it in between. Always having to pay for each other gets complicated at times, but when splitting the bill, I just round up and give a little more and accept whatever change is handed to me. If I keep getting shorted I'll say "WTF mate" and consider not going out with them anymore.
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Oh, there's a whole new can of worms, all by itself! People who nitpick excessively over who owes every last penny. I far prefer the "loose guess" method and really don't get out of sorts unless someone just gorged on lobster while I had a salad...
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I think some of it is due to not being used to calculate without a calculator... It is a skill that you need to practise to keep up and there are a lot of lazy people out there....
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That would certainly be part of it. But they were literally confused about how much "a quarter" and "a dime" was and how to make theym pay for something.
But yes, you have to keep using your brain or you might lose it!
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Things like that are 😱😱😱😱
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The world is changing and seems we are getting dumber and we prefer our problems and calculations being solved by technology.
Physical money might be a thing of the past in centuries to come
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Agreed. It will not be so long before physical money goes away.
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Interest is very amazing I really like your posts, success always, friend if there is time please help
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Wonderful photography post. I like your photography flower. 90% population in the world like a flower. Thanks for so much
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Supposedly 25% of millennials have never even heard of the holocaust. It's as if they think stupidity is humorous. We have to fight the dumbing down as much as we can, but it is encouraged in schools.
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After reading this post this morning, I couldn't believe what happened to me today. I was inspired to write about it and gave you a mention. The cluelessness of some kids is truly mindboggling. https://steemit.com/psychology/@tacostate/this-really-happened-today-truly-shocking-and-sad-situation
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