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New Science Proves We Are Getting Dumber, But Doesn't Know Why
Posted on 6/25/18 at 1:49 pm
Posted on 6/25/18 at 1:49 pm
quote:
Whatever incredibly dumb things humanity got up to in the 20th century (and there were, as you know, some doozies), we all had at least one thing to crow about: as measured by IQ tests humans were at least steadily getting smarter. The steady uptick in average IQ scores is known as the Flynn effect, and it lasted for decades. Basically wherever scientists looked they found a rise of intelligence of about three IQ points per decade. But recent research has worrying news: this trend appears to be reversing. Humanity is now officially getting dumber. It probably shouldn't worry us if some pocket of the population saw a decline in IQ as things like education and diet affect IQ and these factors can vary from one group or time to another. But according to this new study it doesn't appear to be some small segment of the population whose IQ is going down. It appears to be the entire nation of Norway. When scientists from the Norway's Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research analyzed some 730,000 IQ tests given to Norwegian men before their compulsory military service from 1970 to 2009, they found that average IQ scores were actually sinking. And not just by some miniscule amount. Each generation of Norwegian men appear to be getting around seven IQ points dumber. And as PsyBlog points out, this isn't even the first study to find that the Flynn Effect has reversed, though it may be the most convincing to date. The million dollar question: why? That's pretty horrifying news for fans of progress, but it also begs one incredibly important question: Why? What's causing IQ scores to start heading in the wrong direction? You might first wonder if it's genetic. Maybe some change in the makeup of a particular group being studied has caused the decline (crudely, you could call this the 'dumb people have more babies' hypothesis). But that seems to be ruled out by the new research, which shows that even within single families IQ has declined. Marginal Revolution blogger economist Tyler Cowen sums up what that means: "In other words, we have started building a more stupidity-inducing environment." So we know that the culprit is nurture rather than nature (or, sorry xenophobes, migration), but scientists are still baffled as to what exact aspect of modern life is driving the decline. Some have proposed that our tech obsession might be to blame, but as the decline started in the 1970s, well before everyone spent their days staring at screens, that can't be the whole story. Other proposed explanations are unhealthy modern diets, increasingly trashy media, or a decline in the quality of schooling or the prevalence of reading. The issue could even be down to a technical detail of IQ tests. Scientists make a distinction between crystallized intelligence (all the stuff you've been taught and remember) and fluid intelligence (your ability to learn new stuff). IQ tests generally measure crystallized intelligence more, so changes in schooling that de-emphasize memorization might be driving a decline in scores. If this explanation is true, students remain as smart as ever (just way more reliant on Google). The bottom line, however, is that the cause of the decline remains a mystery. Whatever it turns out to be, however, we should all probably start worrying about what our sedentary, screen addicted, junk food-munching lifestyles might be doing to our brains.
LINK
I have a few theories. One is that people do not have to learn things that involve critical thinking.
This is just a small example, but take learning how to tell time for example. With cell phones and other devices that are around people, everywhere, people don't have to learn how to tell time.. No one is looking at a traditional watch/clock to figure out the time.
And then there is the idea of "why learn that, if I need to know I will just google it".
Posted on 6/25/18 at 1:50 pm to OweO
Goddamn. Ain't nobody reading that.
Posted on 6/25/18 at 1:50 pm to OweO
We've been getting dumber since September 2009.
Posted on 6/25/18 at 1:50 pm to OweO
quote:
No one is looking at a traditional watch/clock to figure out the time.
*Work smarter, not harder...
Posted on 6/25/18 at 1:51 pm to OweO
It is because we are teaching what we know now, and less about how we know that...so the foundations of that learning.
That is why people can think the Earth is flat today, because we don't teach foundational physics that derives that the Earth is a sphere and revolves around the Sun.
We are just told that.
Only used the Flat Earth trend as an example.
That is why people can think the Earth is flat today, because we don't teach foundational physics that derives that the Earth is a sphere and revolves around the Sun.
We are just told that.
Only used the Flat Earth trend as an example.
This post was edited on 6/25/18 at 1:52 pm
Posted on 6/25/18 at 1:51 pm to Shwapp
What happened in September 2009?
Posted on 6/25/18 at 1:51 pm to OweO
quote:
New Science Proves We Are Getting Dumber, But Doesn't Know Why
Easy. Because basically unlimited knowledge is at our fingertips.
Critical thinking has been destroyed when you can simply google your problem and find the remedy right away.
Posted on 6/25/18 at 1:52 pm to OweO
quote:
What happened in September 2009
Posted on 6/25/18 at 1:53 pm to OweO
quote:
New Science Proves We Are Getting Dumber, But Doesn't Know Why
It's because of your dumb arse threads
Posted on 6/25/18 at 1:53 pm to OweO
quote:
Science Proves We Are Getting Dumber, But Doesn't Know Why
20 years ago the scientists would have been able to find out why.
This post was edited on 6/25/18 at 1:58 pm
Posted on 6/25/18 at 1:54 pm to GEAUXT
quote:
It's because of your dumb arse threads
Since when have you been forced to read my threads?
Posted on 6/25/18 at 1:54 pm to OweO
quote:
New Science Proves We Are Getting Dumber, But Doesn't Know Why
Social media /thread
Posted on 6/25/18 at 1:56 pm to OweO
This is easy to figure out. We've made being stupid and lazy far less lethal than it should be and allow those people to reproduce.
Posted on 6/25/18 at 1:56 pm to hg
Way too much electronic media in younger learning environments. IMO
This post was edited on 6/25/18 at 1:57 pm
Posted on 6/25/18 at 1:57 pm to JetsetNuggs
quote:ironically proves the OPs point
Posted on 6/25/18 at 1:58 pm to OweO
quote:
New Science Proves We Are Getting Dumber, But Doesn't Know Why
I know why. It's because of this chunk of crap nobody's going to read:
quote:
quote:
Whatever incredibly dumb things humanity got up to in the 20th century (and there were, as you know, some doozies), we all had at least one thing to crow about: as measured by IQ tests humans were at least steadily getting smarter. The steady uptick in average IQ scores is known as the Flynn effect, and it lasted for decades. Basically wherever scientists looked they found a rise of intelligence of about three IQ points per decade. But recent research has worrying news: this trend appears to be reversing. Humanity is now officially getting dumber. It probably shouldn't worry us if some pocket of the population saw a decline in IQ as things like education and diet affect IQ and these factors can vary from one group or time to another. But according to this new study it doesn't appear to be some small segment of the population whose IQ is going down. It appears to be the entire nation of Norway. When scientists from the Norway's Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research analyzed some 730,000 IQ tests given to Norwegian men before their compulsory military service from 1970 to 2009, they found that average IQ scores were actually sinking. And not just by some miniscule amount. Each generation of Norwegian men appear to be getting around seven IQ points dumber. And as PsyBlog points out, this isn't even the first study to find that the Flynn Effect has reversed, though it may be the most convincing to date. The million dollar question: why? That's pretty horrifying news for fans of progress, but it also begs one incredibly important question: Why? What's causing IQ scores to start heading in the wrong direction? You might first wonder if it's genetic. Maybe some change in the makeup of a particular group being studied has caused the decline (crudely, you could call this the 'dumb people have more babies' hypothesis). But that seems to be ruled out by the new research, which shows that even within single families IQ has declined. Marginal Revolution blogger economist Tyler Cowen sums up what that means: "In other words, we have started building a more stupidity-inducing environment." So we know that the culprit is nurture rather than nature (or, sorry xenophobes, migration), but scientists are still baffled as to what exact aspect of modern life is driving the decline. Some have proposed that our tech obsession might be to blame, but as the decline started in the 1970s, well before everyone spent their days staring at screens, that can't be the whole story. Other proposed explanations are unhealthy modern diets, increasingly trashy media, or a decline in the quality of schooling or the prevalence of reading. The issue could even be down to a technical detail of IQ tests. Scientists make a distinction between crystallized intelligence (all the stuff you've been taught and remember) and fluid intelligence (your ability to learn new stuff). IQ tests generally measure crystallized intelligence more, so changes in schooling that de-emphasize memorization might be driving a decline in scores. If this explanation is true, students remain as smart as ever (just way more reliant on Google). The bottom line, however, is that the cause of the decline remains a mystery. Whatever it turns out to be, however, we should all probably start worrying about what our sedentary, screen addicted, junk food-munching lifestyles might be doing to our brains.
Posted on 6/25/18 at 1:59 pm to castorinho
quote:
ironically proves the OPs point
Does it? OP’s post is literally a solid block of text.
Posted on 6/25/18 at 1:59 pm to OweO
quote:
But Doesn't Know Why
Between government assistance and Internet Fame it's a lot easier for stupid people that make bad decisions to have the resources necessary to attract a mate and breed. That wasn't always the case.
This post was edited on 6/25/18 at 2:00 pm
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