not "dumber" but lazy, less respectful and more disengaged in the world around them.
Yes, this is more like it. And lets not forget that there have always been lazy idiots in every generation as well...
But if you look at the enabler that tech is from an academic and technical standpoint - the efficiency and level of detail that things can be studied and analyzed because of the technical improvements, they are pretty amazing.
But as usual, anyone who is not motivated will fall behind. Now you just have much more connected, yet unmotivated, idiots.