I've noticed it in myself lately. I'll compose a reply to an email and halfway through realize that the information I'm asking for is right there in the original email, or I'll start writing a reply to an online comment and realize that I have gotten the writer's point completely backwards. At least I catch myself, but it's really weird.

I think part of it is that I've come to the conclusion that most people are so stupid and lazy that my default is to assume that they don't know what they're talking about, or won't give me the information I need without special prompting on my part.

Microplastics?

Forever chemicals?

Covid?

At this rate there's a lot of contenders.

Sad.

Disclaimer that I am completely talking out of my ass and speculating, but I have a personal theory.

COVID has been around long enough to have two interesting effects.

1. Almost everyone has gotten it by now. Some of us got it really bad, and/or acquired long-term secondary conditions. Some of this likely caused impaired cognitive function.
2. Kids had their school schedules totally fucked up for years, and those kids are now the young teens on the internet. Young teens on the internet are already by default a disruptive demographic, but now add the effect of years of desocialization and missed education.

Well the atmospheric CO2 levels are rising, and higher CO2 leads to reduced cognitive ability. So I believe all the pollution we're spewing into the air is reducing overall human intelligence.