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-Short Attention Span Theater-

World IQ going down

2018-06-16

[American Thinker] Researchers have discovered an alarming trend: the average IQ's of human beings is on a downward spiral.

Westerns have lost 14 IQ points on average since the Victorian age, according to a study published by the University of Amsterdam last year. Jan te Nijenhuis thinks this could be because intelligent women tend to have less children than women who are not as clever.... educated people are deciding to have fewer children, so that subsequent generations are largely made up of less intelligent people.

Richard Lynn, a psychologist at the University of Ulster, calculated the decline in humans’ genetic potential.

He used data on average IQs around the world in 1950 and 2000 to discover that our collective intelligence has dropped by one IQ point.

Dr Lynn predicts that if this trend continues, we could lose another 1.3 IQ points by 2050.

Remember when liberals said that a one degree rise in global temperatures in a century could lead to cities being flooded and enormous tidal waves?

Just think what a drop of one IQ point in the next century could cause.

Posted by:Besoeker

#13 Like others have said this is as reliable as "world temperature".

Posted by: These Sinatra3854 2018-06-16 23:28

#12 Today, it's easier just to look stuff up and take someone else's word for fact.

Posted by: The peanut gallery 2018-06-16 18:37

#11 I don't unnerstan.

Posted by: Skidmark 2018-06-16 16:10

#10 I would be more concerned with lack of basic knowledge (how to take care of yourself and how the world works) and the lack of good decision making (plenty of smart people who do stupid stuff everyday).

Posted by: airandee 2018-06-16 15:38

#9 The problem with "intelligence" tests is that they purport to measure an ability or rather potential but are contaminated with "performance" or "achievement" by the nature of the test. Can you read the question, can you understand the question, can you fit the round peg in the appropriate slot? All rely on the testee having achieved some level of skill. So while there is no solid indication that intelligence is declining (since there are no "pure" measures of intelligence), there is plenty of evidence that verbal, reading and math skills are all in the toilet.

Posted by: Mercutio 2018-06-16 13:51

#8 (formerly) Living Proof: Joiner, 22, accidentally stabbed himself to death 'because he thought he was wearing a stab-proof vest'

Posted by: Anomalous Sources 2018-06-16 13:44

#7 Depends on how the IQ Test is structured and what it tests for. Additionally the human brain remaps itself depending on what it is used for. I remember getting a job in an ice cream freezer and "relearning" mental mathematics -- LCD screens don't work at -10F. Did my IQ change, no, but if tested for math skills they would have improved after no longer using an electronic crutch.

Posted by: magpie 2018-06-16 12:37

#6 Lies, damn lies and statistics.

Posted by: AlanC 2018-06-16 11:23

#5 "Welfare state" redistributes fertility from higher IQ to lower IQ

Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2018-06-16 10:15

#4 Shorter explanation:
The Stupid, It Grows.

Posted by: ed in texas 2018-06-16 09:38

#3 As far as I can tell, the test uses reaction time as a proxy for intelligence; the modern IQ test was not invented until 1904, while Queen Victoria died in 1901, upon which event the Victorian Age ended. There are a good many reasons why reaction time might be measured as being greater nowadays, including living a more sendentary life and technology allowing more accurate measurements in the modern period.

Looking at Lynn’s study (decrease of one IQ point since 1950), it should be noted that proper IQ tests report a number within a ten point range, so a one point difference is within experimental error. Much like climate temperature increases reported in recent years.

Though I will admit that the reelection of Barack Obama would appear to reinforce the claim, though the subsequent election of Trump quite contradicts it. In other words, much like so many claims made by research psychologists.

Posted by: trailing wife 2018-06-16 09:23

#2 I blame computer games (I've 12 years old kid).

Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2018-06-16 09:11

#1 Intelligence has limits, stupidity is infinite [See - socialism*]. Add billion humans here, add a billion more there, and the average will tend to go down.

* Rewarding the non-productive and punishing the productive just doesn't work out.

Posted by: Procopius2k 2018-06-16 09:10

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