{"id":65868,"date":"2023-03-29T06:00:58","date_gmt":"2023-03-29T10:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=65868"},"modified":"2023-03-25T10:32:45","modified_gmt":"2023-03-25T14:32:45","slug":"human-intelligence-is-going-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2023\/03\/human-intelligence-is-going-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Human Intelligence Is Going Down"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As Artificial Intelligence is getting better, human intelligence is getting worse.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the impression one gets from a study that has found that\u00a0 IQ Scores Are Going Down<\/a>.<\/p>\n

John Anderer reports on the findings of a Northwestern University study of data from 394,378 Americans collected between 2006 to 2018.\u00a0 He notes that from 1932 throughout the rest of the 20th century, IQ scores had been rising around the world by 3 to 5 points per decade.\u00a0 This has been called the \u201cFlynn Effect.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

This new study by Elizabeth M. Dworak, William Revelle, and David M. Condon sought to determine if the Flynn Effect has been continuing.\u00a0 But what they found instead is a \u201creverse-Flynn Effect.\u201d\u00a0 In the period studied, between 2006 and 2018, scores have been consistently declining every year.\u00a0 This is happening across all ages, education levels, and genders.<\/p>\n

Specifically, the cognitive areas in decline are \u201cverbal reasoning (logic, vocabulary<\/a>), matrix reasoning (visual problem solving, analogies), and letter and number series (computational\/mathematical<\/a>).\u201d\u00a0 Also declining were \u201cComposite ability scores (single scores derived from multiple pieces of information).\u201d\u00a0 One area, spatial reasoning, did show improvement.<\/p>\n

How much were they down?\u00a0 The study didn\u2019t make that particularly clear, but it showed the \u201cslope\u201d of the decline.\u00a0 The research, published in the journal Intelligence<\/em><\/a>, included these graphs.\u00a0 From my reading, the data is being put in the public domain, so I think I can copy the graphs here:<\/p>\n

\"Fig.<\/p>\n

Notice that in addition to these remarkably consistent declines, we have the further absence of the Flynn Effect, which would have predicted a slope with a similar rise.\u00a0 So the difference in cognitive ability between what was happening in the 20th century and what is happening in the 21st century is even more pronounced.<\/p>\n

What is the reason for this?\u00a0 The researchers don\u2019t know, and your guess is as good as theirs.\u00a0 \u201cResearchers add there is no shortage of possible explanations and theories in the scientific community,\u201d says Anderer, \u201cranging from poor nutrition,\u00a0 and worsening health to media exposures and changes to education. . . .A change in societal values\u00a0may have also affected IQ scores.\u201d<\/p>\n

I would suggest that researchers investigate the consequences of the educational collapse that has happened first in public schools and is now happening in higher education.<\/p>\n

Also the philosophical shift that goes by the name of postmodernism:\u00a0 Is it any wonder that people who believe that truth is relative and no longer believe in reason, are less and less capable of reasoning, whether verbal, matrix, mathematical, or composite?\u00a0 Or perhaps the decline in reasoning ability is responsible for downplaying of reason in the academy.<\/p>\n

Another good research project would be investigating the impact of digital technology on an individual\u2019s thinking ability.\u00a0 Perhaps we are farming out our mental capacity to the machines that we increasingly depend upon.<\/p>\n

What are your theories?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Illustration:\u00a0 Human brain<\/a> via PickPik Royalty Free Photos.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Artificial Intelligence is getting better, human intelligence is getting worse. A study has found that IQ scores, which had been rising throughout the 20th century, have been falling throughout the 21st century.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":65898,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nHuman Intelligence Is Going Down<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As Artificial Intelligence is getting better, human intelligence is getting worse. 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