The very emergence and development of the Internet has proven - paradoxically - that humanity has been growing dumber on average for the last 25-30 years, rather than increasing its level of intelligence, although the opposite was naively expected.
The ability to think critically, rational thinking and the desire for self-learning are laid in early childhood. If this time is missed by parents and the environment, most often, the person is already almost hopeless, even when trying to pull him out of the cocoon of ignorance later with significant effort and expense. Because training the already significantly ossified and formed (including a lot of prejudices and limitations) neural network of the adult brain requires much more effort than a child, and time is lost and you have to earn a living here and now for 8-12 hours a day for The majority of the planet's population is already studying hard and simply has no time. In the evening, after forced work, I want to relax, watching videos about cats, and not strain my brain. And the higher the age, the worse everything is, if the foundations of a developed neural network are not laid in childhood.
Even shortening the work week to 3-4 days, which is being shouted about by well-wishers all over the world, for the reasons stated above, will not lead to an increase in self-education for the majority - they will simply watch more videos and consume stupid content rather than strain their brains - this is extremely energy-consuming, as they know everyone who really stressed them out a lot...
The population dreams of being injected with a super machine of critical and logical thinking, comprehensive knowledge (outlook) and experience, as they were injected into the brain of the main character in the film The Matrix, but so far no one can do that. And if this becomes possible, apparently something new will be found that will separate the smart from the stupid and uneducated in a qualitative way.
Imma b honest i kinda expected more than that by now given how common they are in like even poor 3rd world country type places. A smart phone is a computer and computers are gateways to knowledge after all
The GSM Association's latest study on mobile internet use worldwide has concluded that over half of the global population now has at least one smartphone. Four billion of those people are estimated to use mobile data on those devices, although hundreds of millions still use alternative mobile devices. The number of people without access to mobile connectivity has also been found to have dropped precipitously since 2015.