Are Americans Stupid—or Just Trained to Be Illiterate?
Feb 27, 2026
5min read
It is 2026, and the debate about American intelligence is louder than ever. You see it in the comments sections and on the news every day: 'Why can’t people follow basic instructions anymore?' or 'Why are reading levels at an all-time low?' It is easy to just say people are getting stupider. But if you look closer at how we live and learn today, that explanation feels too simple. Americans aren't losing their brainpower; they are being trained to stop using it for deep thinking.
For the last few years, our world has been built for speed, not depth. With the rise of AI-generated summaries and ultra-short video content, we have moved into an era of 'functional illiteracy.' Most people can read the words on a screen, but fewer and fewer can actually process a complex 30-page document or a classic novel. We are being coached by our devices to skim for the main point and then move on. This isn't a lack of intelligence; it is a lack of practice.
Our schools have changed, too. By 2026, much of the curriculum has shifted toward 'tech fluency.' Students are great at prompting an AI to write an essay, but they struggle to build an argument from scratch. We have traded critical thinking for efficiency. The system is often designed to produce workers who can follow a digital workflow, not thinkers who question the process. When you spend years being fed bite-sized information, your brain naturally loses the ability to sit with a hard problem for an hour.
There is also the 'distraction economy' to consider. In 2026, every app is designed to capture your attention within seconds. This constant pinging of our brains has made deep reading feel like a chore. If a piece of information isn't fast and entertaining, we tend to ignore it. This creates a cycle where we only know what is right in front of us, making us look 'stupid' to anyone who values traditional knowledge. We aren't losing our ability to learn; we are just losing our patience for it.
The good news is that this is a choice, not a permanent change in our DNA. To break out of this 'trained illiteracy,' we have to be intentional. It means turning off the AI summaries sometimes and actually reading the full book. It means forcing ourselves to focus on one thing for more than five minutes. We aren't naturally dumber than the people who came before us; we just live in a world that profits from our lack of focus. It is time to take that focus back.
For the last few years, our world has been built for speed, not depth. With the rise of AI-generated summaries and ultra-short video content, we have moved into an era of 'functional illiteracy.' Most people can read the words on a screen, but fewer and fewer can actually process a complex 30-page document or a classic novel. We are being coached by our devices to skim for the main point and then move on. This isn't a lack of intelligence; it is a lack of practice.
Our schools have changed, too. By 2026, much of the curriculum has shifted toward 'tech fluency.' Students are great at prompting an AI to write an essay, but they struggle to build an argument from scratch. We have traded critical thinking for efficiency. The system is often designed to produce workers who can follow a digital workflow, not thinkers who question the process. When you spend years being fed bite-sized information, your brain naturally loses the ability to sit with a hard problem for an hour.
There is also the 'distraction economy' to consider. In 2026, every app is designed to capture your attention within seconds. This constant pinging of our brains has made deep reading feel like a chore. If a piece of information isn't fast and entertaining, we tend to ignore it. This creates a cycle where we only know what is right in front of us, making us look 'stupid' to anyone who values traditional knowledge. We aren't losing our ability to learn; we are just losing our patience for it.
The good news is that this is a choice, not a permanent change in our DNA. To break out of this 'trained illiteracy,' we have to be intentional. It means turning off the AI summaries sometimes and actually reading the full book. It means forcing ourselves to focus on one thing for more than five minutes. We aren't naturally dumber than the people who came before us; we just live in a world that profits from our lack of focus. It is time to take that focus back.
