> beyond my power of understanding how this could be mandated
There is of course the "that was the plan all along" hypothesis, that mild cognitive decay on a large scale is a useful outcome for control purposes.
There is of course the "that was the plan all along" hypothesis, that mild cognitive decay on a large scale is a useful outcome for control purposes.
Lower cognition is strongly associated with dissatisfaction and violence, not to mention much lower economic productivity (less taxes!).
dissatisfaction and violence are the easiest problems for a state to deal with.
If a society is making 400 widgets it doesn't matter whether each is priced at $2 or $999, the government will only be able to get 400 widgets.
A stupider population makes much less widgets.