This is odd because the idea that we're getting dumber is sort of stupid. The topic is dependent upon statistical clarification. Are we saying that *everyone* is losing IQ points? Are we saying more dumb people are being born? Are we saying less smart people are being born? The first question has to deal with IQ levels. Are they being stifled? Yes, in several ways. Some of the basics are heavy metals being injected in to infants, umbilical clamping, household cleaners and deficiencies like iodine or magnesium. The second question is a product of increasing birth rates. This depends on your perspective. Are you smarter than average? Then, yes, of course "more dumb people are being born". But if you're average, there the idea of "more dumb people being born" would insult you, because what's really happening is the mean is expanding. The last one is the interesting one. The more people that are born, the more opportunities for emergent genius. No matter how you look at it though, the issue isn't so much that people are being "dumbed down". The issue is more like our language is being ass blasted with mouth-breather creole and colorful language is being diluted. There's good reason reading Old English is almost impossible for so many people. English is renown for its information density; it can convey much more in less characters than many other languages. Latin was one of the first to really nail information density. Hebrew is also pretty dense, for instance (this contributes to higher verbal IQ in some "jewish" groups). Mandarin is also pretty dense too. But the ultimate cause of "people getting dumbed down" is more like dilution of Language.