The Dumbing down is real, and its not just the U.S. Though we might be leading the way.

[ModernDiogenes]

Why Are We Getting Dumber?

There’s a reason it feels as if all the people around you are getting dumber: They are. A study published this month in the journal Intelligence found that American IQs

www.commentary.org

https://thehill.com/opinion/education/4295760-plummeting-test-scores-an-america-getting-dumber-might-be-the-least-of-our-problems/

Are your employees getting dumber?

New study says yes – and here are five reasons why that could be (plus smartphones, of course)

www.hcamag.com

https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2018-06-14/study-people-are-getting-dumber

Research Confirms It: We Really Are Getting Dumber

A new study shows that IQ levels have been falling since 1975, reversing a 20th-century trend.

science.howstuffworks.com

A different more political slant, on causality:

Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid

It’s not just a phase.

www.theatlantic.com

 

[samiam5211]

Really, it is just that people are scoring a little lower on an IQ test.

18 -22 year olds still score higher on IQ tests than they did 40 years ago.

I don't think anyone who is 58 - 62 would say that 18 - 22 year olds are smarter than they were at that age.

 

[ModernDiogenes]

You've heard the term, "The dumbing down of America." Well, apparently there is data to believe that this is actually the case. and it may not be just the U.S of A. involved, but we may be at the head of the wave crashing on that beach.

The reasons aren't clear. Some blame environmental issues, others education and some genetics. What does appear to be the case though is that measurable intelligence is falling.

If so that is a tragedy as with the world entering the age of A.I. and a complex political landscape and other pressing issues it would be a great time for the world to be getting smarter, not dumber.

What do you folks think of the notion. Is the population of the U.S. becoming a dumber, overall, nation?

 

[ModernDiogenes]

Really, it is just that people are scoring a little lower on an IQ test.

18 -22 year olds still score higher on IQ tests than they did 40 years ago.

I don't think anyone who is 58 - 62 would say that 18 - 22 year olds are smarter than they were at that age.

From my reading there seems to be notable trends that state otherwise.

From personal observation it certainly seems to me to be the case. Though I will grant you there are always those among the older among us, which I certainly qualify as, doing the generational, "What's the matter with kids today?". thing.

Still, while common sense was always a rare commodity it seems a bit rarer today.

 

[samiam5211]

From my reading there seems to be notable trends that state otherwise.

From personal observation it certainly seems to me to be the case. Though I will grant you there are always those among the older among us, which I certainly qualify as, doing the generational, "What's the matter with kids today?". thing.

Still, while common sense was always a rare commodity it seems a bit rarer today.

IQ goes up about 3 points per decade.

They adjust the scoring every so often that 100 is always the average.

it just didn't go up at the last assessment.

 

[Bok Tuklo]

IQ goes up about 3 points per decade.

They adjust the scoring every so often that 100 is always the average.

it just didn't go up at the last assessment.

 

[SNOWFLAKE]

Nah, as a human race, we aren't getting dumber, but there is one segment of the human population who is getting not only dumber, but are already monumentally stupid.

 

[Blue Dog]

It’s possible we are devolving as a culture….

 

[Binary_Digit]

From one of the articles:

What's behind the loss of smarts? Scientists hypothesize changes in our education systems, nutrition, the current media environment, a decline in reading and an increase in online activity as possible culprits. Some blame the IQ test itself, which favors crystallized intelligence, or things you have been taught or learned over time, over fluid intelligence, which is your ability to use logic and observational skills to solve problems. Today, they say, more educational emphasis is on fluid intelligence, which could be the reason for our supposed intellectual decline.

Until a study can rule out things like that, I'm not inclined to believe we're actually losing intelligence biologically as a species. Evolution doesn't work that fast. Certain knowledge, sure, but that's not the same as intelligence.

Even IQ tests erroneously interchange knowledge and intelligence, in spite of their best efforts not to. An IQ test question might be: If you have two cows and three chickens, how many legs are there in total? The only way to answer that is to know how many legs cows and chickens have, and that's where knowledge gets tested rather than intelligence.

 

[switt]

You've heard the term, "The dumbing down of America." Well, apparently there is data to believe that this is actually the case. and it may not be just the U.S of A. involved, but we may be at the head of the wave crashing on that beach.

The reasons aren't clear. Some blame environmental issues, others education and some genetics. What does appear to be the case though is that measurable intelligence is falling.

If so that is a tragedy as with the world entering the age of A.I. and a complex political landscape and other pressing issues it would be a great time for the world to be getting smarter, not dumber.

What do you folks think of the notion. Is the population of the U.S. becoming a dumber, overall, nation?

Yeh, trumpism is a perfect example

 

[medi]

If you have two cows and three chickens, how many legs are there in total?

Excuse me ma'am/sir, before I am able to provide you with the proper answer I need to ask some questions: Have any of the target animals suffered any disease or had any accident that caused them to lose a limb? Were all born with all their limbs?

The only way to answer that is to know how many legs cows and chickens have, and that's where knowledge gets tested rather than intelligence.

Now I did not check to see who wrote that article, but the use of "only" is obviously incorrect. Of course, if the author of the test limited the range of possible answers I could supply ... well, shame on that person for not allowing me to use my brain to the fullest and gain entrance to Sherlock Holmes University.