A recent study suggests Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2010, is less cognitively capable than previous generations, largely due to over-reliance on technology.
Neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath, who led the research, told the New York Post, “A sad fact our generation has to face is that our kids are less cognitively capable than we were at their age. Every generation has outperformed their parents until Gen Z.”
Horvath highlighted weak attention spans, poor problem-solving, and declining reading and math skills. He added, “Most of these young people are overconfident about how smart they are. The smarter people think they are, the dumber they actually are.”
Teenagers now spend over half their waking hours on screens, often skimming content rather than engaging in deep learning. “Humans are biologically programmed to learn from other humans and from deep study, not flipping through screens for bullet point summaries,” he said.
Data from 80 countries show that widespread use of digital technology in classrooms correlates with lower academic performance. “Rather than determining what we want our children to do and gearing education towards that, we are redefining education to better suit the tool. That is not progress; that is surrender,” Horvath noted.
He urged governments to implement policies that help Generation Alpha maximize their brains and avoid similar cognitive decline.