Learn English – “ever were” vs “have ever been”

grammar

can anyone who has good kknowledge in the language please correct my writing and tell me which tense I should use in the following context?

Nowadays people are smarter. They can't be fooled by false information and data. In today's world of technology and education, they are smarter than they ever were/have ever been.

Best Answer

"smarter than they have ever been" is correct

"were" would be talking about some specific occurrences where someone has shown smartness. When we are talking about a general state of things attained by this point in time, it's Present Perfect.

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