Studies prove it: People are getting dumber

[mystery-ak]

May 25, 2019
Studies prove it: People are getting dumber
By Eric Utter

A wide range of studies using various well established I.Q. tests and metrics indicates declining scores in many advanced nations.  After rising through much of the 20th century, scores across Scandinavia, Great Britain, Germany, France, and Australia, among other places, have markedly declined.  Apparently, scores in the United States haven't yet declined apace, though you'd never know it listening to the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speak about "Green New Deals" and garbage disposals.  ("What is that thing?")

Naturally, details vary from study to study and from place to place, but there is no doubt that many of the most economically advanced nations have experienced falling I.Q. levels since around the turn of the 21st century.

Given that decades of research have clearly shown that individual I.Q. scores are closely tied to educational achievement and longevity, and a country's average I.Q. score is linked to economic growth and scientific innovation, this trend is worrisome indeed.  This could well lead to a generally diminished outlook for our collective future and, assuming that the trend will show up in the U.S. soon, as seems likely, many more years of ABC's The View.

more
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/05/studies_prove_it_people_are_getting_dumber.html

[Fishrrman]

No.
People (within their respective racial/ethnic groups) are not "getting dumber".

When you take a country (such as Sweden) that (until recently) was largely populated by a single racial/ethnic group, and then inject into it millions of newcomers from different racial/ethnic groups that are documented as having a lower group IQ, the overall IQ of the entire country is going to trend downward.

There's nothing complicated or unexpected about that.

[mystery-ak]

Why are IQ scores dropping now and what’s that mean?

Andrew MalcolmPosted at 10:31 am on May 25, 2019

I knew it!

You probably did too.

People generally are getting dumber. Not anyone reading or writing this post, of course. But the world population in general.

IQ levels inexorably rose during the last century, about three points per decade, according to established research. Now they’re not.

In fact, IQ levels are actually in decline —  and not just in Congress.

According to a number of studies, beginning around the turn of this century, IQ test scores were found to be declining across Britain, Germany, Scandinavia, Australia and France. (But don’t tell the French. They won’t believe you anyway.)

IQ levels can be controversial, of course. Over time, for instance, they’ve provided cocktail party bragging rights for some parents.

more
https://hotair.com/archives/2019/05/25/iq-scores-dropping-now-whats-mean/

[ABX]

I believe it. It seems practical problem solving skills, rationalization, and reasoning are on the decline. There has been an  over-reliance on technology to calculate, make decisions, and even tell us how to think.

We had a little test recently with a group of new hire network designers right out of college about decision making. We started off with the old 'fox, grain, chicken' reasoning puzzle most of you should recognize (Google it if you don't). They got completely stumped and went off on tangents. Very few figured it out, and it is very basic.

Only one out of 20 was 'thats easy . Boom boom boom' right answer. He moved here from Kenya and grew up very poor so he wasn't reliant on technology growing up like the others so he cultivated those skills.

[corbe]

[truth_seeker]

So discussion of IQ is permitted here, now?

[Absalom]

Utter malarkey from Utter as IQ emphatically does not
measure achievement because it is a passive metric.
Achievement is the result of the application of effort to
an end whose best measure is the quality of the Art and
Science a culture/society produces.

[goatprairie]

I don't know if people are getting dumber, but going by my step-children, it seems younger people don't read as much and/or are not as curious about what's going on as previous generations. They don't seem to be as informed about events/politics as older generations.
To date I haven't caught any of them reading a book, magazine, or newspaper. They're all glued to the tv or their devices playing games. They see every movie that comes out of Hollyweird.
Doesn't bode well for the future.

[Sanguine]

Utter malarkey from Utter as IQ emphatically does not
measure achievement because it is a passive metric.
Achievement is the result of the application of effort to
an end whose best measure is the quality of the Art and
Science a culture/society produces.

Not sure where you got that.  It says:  "individual I.Q. scores are closely tied to educational achievement and longevity, and a country's average I.Q. score is linked to economic growth and scientific innovation"

[Sanguine]

So discussion of IQ is permitted here, now?

Hasn't it always been?

[Bill Cipher]

Actually, these studies tend to show that measured IQ is definitely a product of culture and learned behavior, and not some innate, intrinsic, genetically-based quality.  Pretty much puts the stake through the Bell Curve racist nonsense.

[Sanguine]

Actually, these studies tend to show that measured IQ is definitely a product of culture and learned behavior, and not some innate, intrinsic, genetically-based quality.  Pretty much puts the stake through the Bell Curve racist nonsense.

No, they really don't.  And, you obviously didn't read the Bell Curve.

[Bill Cipher]

No, they really don't.  And, you obviously didn't read the Bell Curve.

Actually, yes they do.  They undermine the view that IQ measures something innate or genetic with any great precision. 

And yes, I have read that bit of tripe.

[Sanguine]

Actually, yes they do.  They undermine the view that IQ measures something innate or genetic with any great precision. 

And yes, I have read that bit of tripe.

Sorry, Bill, but you are wrong in this area.  IQ does measure innate ability and is very well correlated with longevity, earning ability and academic success.  It may not be a lot of other things that it doesn't claim to be, but it is clearly measures what it claims to measure.

[Absalom]

I don't know if people are getting dumber, but going by my step-children, it seems younger people don't read as much and/or are not as curious about what's going on as previous generations. They don't seem to be as informed about events/politics as older generations.
To date I haven't caught any of them reading a book, magazine, or newspaper. They're all glued to the tv or their devices playing games. They see every movie that comes out of Hollyweird.
Doesn't bode well for the future.

--------------------------------------
Answered your own question.
Reading requires quietude which provokes thinking,
leading to refection and ultimately wisdom.
The Greeks and Romans created Western Civilization
yet w/o tee-vee.
Think how deprived they were; the poor things!

[Bill Cipher]

Sorry, Bill, but you are wrong in this area.  IQ does measure innate ability and is very well correlated with longevity, earning ability and academic success.  It may not be a lot of other things that it doesn't claim to be, but it is clearly measures what it claims to measure.

Yes. Please forgive me for questioning the TBR party line that whites are inherently smarter than, and superior to, blacks. 

[Sanguine]

Yes. Please forgive me for questioning the TBR party line that whites are inherently smarter than, and superior to, blacks.

@Bill Cipher, you're proving that the if it were the party line, it's obviously wrong.  What a stupid statement for you to make.  But, typical. 

[Free Vulcan]

If by dumb you mean ignorant and uneducated, then yes.

Also, a knife not sharpened gets dull. Use it or lose it. A society that gives up intellectual stimulation for social networking and quasi-cult pop culture ideologies inherently becomes unable to reason and learn or retain knowledge.

I haven't even mentioned drugs or the crappy unhealthy lifestyles we live.

There are just too many shiny spinning disco balls out there today to promote healthy intellect.

[ABX]

Yes. Please forgive me for questioning the TBR party line that whites are inherently smarter than, and superior to, blacks.

This isn't the TBR line, just a couple of loud people. Most who are educated or have studied past the Cliff Notes version understand that The Bell Curve has been discredited as a classic correlation/causation fallacy. At that, it is used as one of the most clear examples of said fallacy.

To get deeper, The Bell Curve also relies on two additional research fallacies: the ecological and exception fallacies.

It is funny, some are quick to spot all these fallacies in Global Warming data, but not in The Bell Curve even though they both rely on them.

Goes to show that one will just follow anything that supports their biases.

[Absalom]

Not sure where you got that.  It says:  "individual I.Q. scores are closely tied to educational achievement and longevity, and a country's average I.Q. score is linked to economic growth and scientific innovation"

------------------------------
Not to pick a fight but I'm asserting IQ is a metric (number)
which can be related to any number of attributes/behaviors
of greater /lesser importance depending on one's perspective.
Why not relate IQ to weight gain/loss???
My test is tangible achievement, not correlations.

[Bill Cipher]

This isn't the TBR line, just a couple of loud people. Most who are educated or have studied past the Cliff Notes version understand that The Bell Curve has been discredited as a classic correlation/causation fallacy. At that, it is used as one of the most clear examples of said fallacy.

To get deeper, The Bell Curve also relies on two additional research fallacies: the ecological and exception fallacies.

It is funny, some are quick to spot all these fallacies in Global Warming data, but not in The Bell Curve even though they both rely on them.

Goes to show that one will just follow anything that supports their biases.

I had not heard of an ecological fallacy; interesting concept.  Thanks. 

[Sanguine]

This isn't the TBR line, just a couple of loud people. Most who are educated or have studied past the Cliff Notes version understand that The Bell Curve has been discredited as a classic correlation/causation fallacy. At that, it is used as one of the most clear examples of said fallacy.

To get deeper, The Bell Curve also relies on two additional research fallacies: the ecological and exception fallacies.

It is funny, some are quick to spot all these fallacies in Global Warming data, but not in The Bell Curve even though they both rely on them.

Goes to show that one will just follow anything that supports their biases.

@ABX I'm not a staunch Bell Curve supporter, but it was a very interesting issue, that has been badly represented in the news.  Basically, using the Bell Curve to show that some races are dumber than others is serious misuse of the data that Murray and Herrnstein presented. 

Here's a pretty decent summary of the book:

The Bell Curve, published in 1994, was written by Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray as a work designed to explain, using empirical statistical analysis, the variations in intelligence in American Society, raise some warnings regarding the consequences of this intelligence gap, and propose national social policy with the goal of mitigating the worst of the consequences attributed to this intelligence gap. Many of the assertions put forth and conclusions reached by the authors are very controversial, ranging from the relationships between low measured intelligence and anti-social behavior, to the observed relationship between low African-American test scores (compared to whites and Asians) and genetic factors in intelligence abilities. The book was released and received with a large public response. In the first several months of its release, 400,000 copies of the book were sold around the world. Several thousand reviews and commentaries have been written in the short time since the book's publication. 

The data in the book is generally not disputed, but it is very, very controversial.  Two different things. 

I don't know what their feelings and motivations were in writing the book, but it has been misused by people on both sides of the political divide to "prove" whatever it is they want to prove.

[goatprairie]

Sorry, Bill, but you are wrong in this area.  IQ does measure innate ability and is very well correlated with longevity, earning ability and academic success.  It may not be a lot of other things that it doesn't claim to be, but it is clearly measures what it claims to measure.

If IQ didn't measure anything worthwhile, then you go could to NASA or some other place that has rocket scientists, physicists, etc. and find people with low or average IQs.
I would bet a lot of money that the average IQ at those places would be 130+. Maybe better.

[ABX]

I had not heard of an ecological fallacy; interesting concept.  Thanks.

The ecological fallacy occurs when you make conclusions about individuals based only on analyses of group data. For instance, assume that you measured the math scores of a particular classroom and found that they had the highest average score in the district. Later (probably at the mall) you run into one of the kids from that class and you think to yourself "she must be a math whiz." Aha! Fallacy! Just because she comes from the class with the highest average doesn't mean that she is automatically a high-scorer in math. She could be the lowest math scorer in a class that otherwise consists of math geniuses!

[Sanguine]

The ecological fallacy occurs when you make conclusions about individuals based only on analyses of group data. For instance, assume that you measured the math scores of a particular classroom and found that they had the highest average score in the district. Later (probably at the mall) you run into one of the kids from that class and you think to yourself "she must be a math whiz." Aha! Fallacy! Just because she comes from the class with the highest average doesn't mean that she is automatically a high-scorer in math. She could be the lowest math scorer in a class that otherwise consists of math geniuses!

Exactly!  You said it much better than I could have.