With all the talk about self-improvement these days, people don't pay enough attention to self-worsening. In fact, there are many common behaviors that have been shown in one or more studies to make people stupider.
You can start by turning off most TV shows.
As a follow-up to our 25 ways to boost your intelligence, we've compiled a list of things that decrease intelligence or IQ or cause neurological decline.
Watching reality TV
An Austrian study showed participants a reality-like show and asked them to take a knowledge test immediately afterward. Those participants fared worse than those who had not seen the reality show beforehand.
Sugar
A UCLA study showed that steady sugar consumption for as little as six weeks "slows the brain, hampering memory and learning." Americans consume 35 pounds of high-fructose corn syrup each year, UCLA reported via the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Multitasking
Research conducted at Stanford University in 2009 shows that multitaskers "who are regularly bombarded with several streams of electronic information do not pay attention, control their memory or switch from one job to another as well as those who prefer to complete one task at a time."
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