That "lost something" is effective communications, it's not taught, not respected, and as a result we now have multiple generations of people that cannot express themselves, believe doing so is a lead up to punishment, and if asked to explain their work cannot do so with anyone that is not up to speed with the acronym salad their career pretends is communicating. The effective communication skills is also how people can sit down with widely opposing views and discuss their cherished topics: debate is not supposed to be "to win" it is supposed to be to reach a synchronized understanding so the two or more groups have a common ground to move forward. Debate to win is entertainment, and destroys the entire purpose. The fact that nobody knows this anymore is the clear indication of the success of the manipulator in this society. The dumbing down succeeded, and today people can't even formulate in their mind how. It was by attacking communication itself. Look around you, how many people do you know that can actually convey understanding of fresh new topics to others? That used to be a common skill.