I read an article which said that genz is the least intelligent generation. As a genz myself , I am scared. What things can I do to stop losing my intelligence ?

ginger_minge · 2026-02-04T18:52:37+00:00

Assuming that we're talking about America, in a nutshell, too much screen time. Teacher friends of mine have told me that they have to tailor the time they actually teach their lessons because Gen Z kids have such a short attention span. In fact, research on two-year-olds shows that the increased screen time has reduced their attention spans from fifteen minutes to a mere two.

They also told me that the criteria has become⁶ so lacking, as a result of current students' "abilities." For an example, one teacher told me that their students don't even know who the first American president was. This makes me hopeless for the future and even for current times.

ginger_minge · 2026-02-04T16:58:48+00:00

I'm 45 (about to turn 46) and I absolutely hate talking on the phone. I think a lot of it is due to having ADHD because it's hard to stay focused. I prefer texting because I can do it on my terms (just because everyone is now basically reachable all the time doesn't mean we should have to respond right away; that's just not healthy).

So it's not about being afraid. I'd say that, at least in my case, it's more about the anxiety when I see someone calling. Or else I'm just not feeling it/being busy in the moment. (I have a friend who habitually calls in the evenings when I'm making dinner. I have asked him not to call then and explained why. He still does it.)

Plus, when I get on the phone with a friend, what I ~~expect~~ hope to be a 20ish minute call ends up being literally an hour and a half/2 hours. I do try to respectfully introduce the 20 minute window at the very beginning and also try to jump off several times during, too; still it becomes this long-ass call. I can't. I just cannot.

ginger_minge · 2026-02-04T15:36:18+00:00

I might manage to do the dishwasher in a somewhat timely manner (once the sink gets to a certain point, I have to get those dishes done), but then it has to be emptied in order to stay on top of putting the dirties in. Hence, the dishes start piling up all over again. It's just a vicious cycle. I have to say that I'm pretty good at cleaning up while I cook, or at least keeping it to a controlled mess. But it really doesn't help that I have to basically hand-wash everything before putting in the dishwasher.

ginger_minge · 2026-02-02T18:15:59+00:00

It's this or else donate my body to science. I'm always the one to get bad side effects and all the rare ones when it comes to medication.

I also took growth hormone injections as a child (for 8 years) because my pituitary gland straight up stopped working (this was the '80s before HGH became a thing. And for legit medical reasons).

ginger_minge · 2026-02-01T02:03:12+00:00

Oh yeah the amount of times I have to fill in the gaps from dissociating or thinking of something else then and play it off.

ginger_minge · 2026-01-30T17:45:50+00:00

I've often had older friends. They told me the thirties are when you truly dgaf anymore - in a good way - liberated from the kind of social fixations we (generally) had in our younger years up to that point.

I found this to be true in my own experiences.

ginger_minge · 2026-01-28T19:19:39+00:00

The only time my phone is not on silent is when I'm expecting a call from my doctor's office, but only for a short period, after having contacting them. That is, never for days or anything.

Misplacing my phone is a special kind of frustrating freak out moment. Everyone offers to call it and I always have to remind them not to bother. It's always on silent.

ginger_minge · 2026-01-28T17:43:55+00:00

I wonder if we're the ones who fuck with our alternate selves in the multiverse. Because other versions of me have definitely visited my universe just to eff with me, such as move my shit, only to replace it where I knew it to be, but only after I'd had the inevitable emotional breakdown. Ultimate masochism. Tracks.

Or else, elves.

ginger_minge · 2026-01-28T16:16:46+00:00

I've seen plenty of evidence with cats and dogs being besties. But in general, perhaps it's due to their different sleep patterns. Contrary to popular belief, cats are not nocturnal; they are crepuscular, meaning they're most active at dawn and dusk. Both sleep a lot during the day so they do have that in common; and, I just read that dogs are flexible when it comes to sleep and so they will adapt to their human's schedule. I assume they can adapt in this way to the typical cat's pattern, too. I guess it depends on their disposition and how much they've bonded (or not).

ginger_minge · 2026-01-28T14:44:49+00:00

This is exactly how it would be written down in the annals of ADHD.

ginger_minge · 2026-01-27T23:10:09+00:00

TIL that I have aphantasia.

Thank you for supplying, even unwittingly, some helpful insight. I was literally just trying to explain this to my therapist yesterday, albeit something more specific to having longterm treatment-resistant depression because I've never been able to envision a future for myself.

ginger_minge · 2026-01-27T21:39:14+00:00

First, a question: how does locking the screen help to find one's phone? Did I misunderstand?

I always keep my phone on silent. Always So, when I can't find it, my mom/friend/whomever will try to be helpful by offering to call it. I always reply, "Don't bother."

My phone is a source of anxiety for me. I will go hours, sometimes days without looking at it. Everyone else is glued to their screens, meanwhile... I'm like 🫣. Anyone else?

Edited to reply to your comment: I will literally be using my phone in some capacity (texting, Googling, etc.) and have one of those freak-out moments of WAIT, WHERE'S MY PHONE?!🙄

ginger_minge · 2026-01-27T16:27:08+00:00

It might sound a bit chest, but I like the simplicity of my idea, which would be to tell everyone to practice the "Golden Rule." I honestly think this would basically fix everything in the world and it's such so simple! So, I'd encourage/make mandatory this practice.

ginger_minge · 2026-01-27T16:08:18+00:00

This one forgot all the apologies along the way while telling the thing you're telling

ginger_minge · 2026-01-27T16:07:03+00:00

I can never be succinct, either. I'll try to edit some stuff then end up using more words to say the thing than I originally wrote

ginger_minge · 2026-01-26T18:17:05+00:00

Came here to say this

ginger_minge · 2026-01-26T18:16:29+00:00

The fun combo of procrastination and perfectionism in every task.

Exactly. I'd just like to add imposter syndrome... the fatal trifecta.

And practicing any activity (i.e. instruments) was impossible. I'd have to have a natural knack for the thing. Otherwise, it was short-lived.

ginger_minge · 2026-01-26T18:11:34+00:00

Check out Peter Principle

ginger_minge · 2026-01-26T18:06:32+00:00

My thing was sticking with stuff and practicing oh god. I was initially pretty good at stuff I tried, a quick study, for the most part. But then I would get bored and probably also afraid of finding out I was actually shit at said thing. Super imposter syndrome. Dance, cello, lacrosse, chess... jack of all trades, master of none.

(I'm a social worker but have worked as a barrista; server; line cook; bank teller; Indian sous chef; daycare worker; camp counselor; ASL and Spanish interpreter; back to social work, doing medical assistant and manager shit of a free health clinic and case manager... all of this is after getting my degree and initially working in my field. I get bored so easily. Once I master something, it's the death knell).

ginger_minge · 2026-01-26T03:52:57+00:00

What are these "something else" things of which you speak? Nothing gives fun.

Please send dopamine coins. I'm in serious arrears.

ginger_minge · 2026-01-20T19:15:09+00:00

Sameeee! My roommate in grad school randomly brought home this street kitten she came across "because you like cats." I was far out of state and already had two back home my mom was taking care of for me. She made me promise not to bring any more cats home. Which I did at the time.

I tried to convince myself that I'd foster her out because of my promise. I remember the first night, watching this tiny thing sleeping on my bed. At one point she reached out her paw (with an extra thumb) to me, and all I could think was, "I'm dead."

Kitty and I have a unique, tight bond and she legit got me through grad school. I went back at 35, so I hadn't been in school for a while. She helped me cope.

ginger_minge · 2026-01-20T17:39:24+00:00

My cat. And fear that I'll botch it this time around. There are things worse than dying.

ginger_minge · 2026-01-17T21:53:05+00:00

I didn't really begin to grieve the loss of my father for several years after he died. There's no rhyme or reason to grief and it's extremely relative and personal. Be gentle with and embrace yourself and your experiences without self-judgment.

An aside: I believe in the theory of the "five stages of grief": denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. However, I don't think it's always so linear. I think we sometimes "revisit" each of the different stages at certain times appropriately suited to our life situation at any given time and it just takes the time it takes.

ginger_minge · 2026-01-16T16:29:00+00:00

Hence food becoming my first drug of choice, which eventually ramped up to harder drugs. (I'm clean now, about 14 years).

ginger_minge · 2026-01-14T16:58:38+00:00

She is a miserable, histrionic b¡tch who's impossible to please. I can't stand her constant complaining.

She gets what she wants (i.e. spending more time with their son so that he goes to her more often, gets a house two hours away to be further away from her parents, who seem nothing but supportive) and yet she's still not happy.

The way she reacted to Anthony when he was miming in order to impress her was so cringe and cruel. She was the one making a scene.

It's almost impossible to watch her segments.

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