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Are people getting dumber?

Vee

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
I came across this study today.

Opinion | Many developed countries are getting dumber, and the U.S. is likely next

The fact that people with lower levels of intelligence produce children who are likely to be less smart adults is not new and not surprising. No one gives what they don't have and parents who didn't have a good education can't provide one for their offspring.
I was a bit puzzled by this paragraph though:
"However, a 2018 study of Norway has punctured these theories by showing that IQs are dropping not just across societies but within families. In other words, the issue is not that educated Norwegians are increasingly outnumbered by lower-IQ immigrants or the children of less-educated citizens. Even children born to high-IQ parents are slipping down the IQ ladder."
Normally the next generation has a higher education than the previous ones and given all the information available today, that should continue to be the case. If anything, kids should be getting smarter, but it doesn't seem to be the case.
Any thoughts on that?
 

Altfish

Veteran Member
I'm not sure
I've no evidence for this but based purely on experience of my kids. They are more knowledgeable in some areas and less in others.
Somehow they seem more worldly wise but possibly less able at some elements of maths. It is hard to put a finger on exactly what I'm trying to say but they are definitely equipped for today's world.
 

Bear Wild

Well-Known Member
I came across this study today.

Opinion | Many developed countries are getting dumber, and the U.S. is likely next

The fact that people with lower levels of intelligence produce children who are likely to be less smart adults is not new and not surprising. No one gives what they don't have and parents who didn't have a good education can't provide one for their offspring.
I was a bit puzzled by this paragraph though:
"However, a 2018 study of Norway has punctured these theories by showing that IQs are dropping not just across societies but within families. In other words, the issue is not that educated Norwegians are increasingly outnumbered by lower-IQ immigrants or the children of less-educated citizens. Even children born to high-IQ parents are slipping down the IQ ladder."
Normally the next generation has a higher education than the previous ones and given all the information available today, that should continue to be the case. If anything, kids should be getting smarter, but it doesn't seem to be the case.
Any thoughts on that?
This is clear case of de-evolution of humans. Soon the other apes will catch up.
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
I came across this study today.

Opinion | Many developed countries are getting dumber, and the U.S. is likely next

The fact that people with lower levels of intelligence produce children who are likely to be less smart adults is not new and not surprising. No one gives what they don't have and parents who didn't have a good education can't provide one for their offspring.
I was a bit puzzled by this paragraph though:
"However, a 2018 study of Norway has punctured these theories by showing that IQs are dropping not just across societies but within families. In other words, the issue is not that educated Norwegians are increasingly outnumbered by lower-IQ immigrants or the children of less-educated citizens. Even children born to high-IQ parents are slipping down the IQ ladder."
Normally the next generation has a higher education than the previous ones and given all the information available today, that should continue to be the case. If anything, kids should be getting smarter, but it doesn't seem to be the case.
Any thoughts on that?
It's clear standards have been dropped across the board. We see it in real life more than ever.

I wouldn't say people are necessarily dumber, but many are certainly a lot more intellectually lazy that has been exasperated even more under social and inequality labels that sacrifice educational standards in exchange for notions of equality and and ethnicity as opposed to maintaining standards of capability and academic proficiency.

We are living in an age of online degrees, getting bachelors in two years as opposed to four.......
 

joe1776

Well-Known Member
First, I don't think education raises or lowers native intelligence. Its purpose is to raise knowledge not IQ (the innate talent to acquire knowledge).

The study you refer to is the first I've encountered that shows a lowering of IQ. I read yesterday, that the scores of the LSAT, a standardized test given to students who want to apply to law school were rising more for males than for females and that females have been scoring a little lower than males over the years.

My guess is that there's something wrong with Norway's stats or the way the test was conducted. Let's wait and see if there's a follow-up showing the same trend or if other countries see similar results.

Another possibility is that high IQ parents are having fewer babies while lower IQ parents procreate at a steady rate. But, lower IQs within the family? I wonder how they gathered that data.
 
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The Hammer

[REDACTED]
Premium Member
I came across this study today.

Opinion | Many developed countries are getting dumber, and the U.S. is likely next

The fact that people with lower levels of intelligence produce children who are likely to be less smart adults is not new and not surprising. No one gives what they don't have and parents who didn't have a good education can't provide one for their offspring.
I was a bit puzzled by this paragraph though:
"However, a 2018 study of Norway has punctured these theories by showing that IQs are dropping not just across societies but within families. In other words, the issue is not that educated Norwegians are increasingly outnumbered by lower-IQ immigrants or the children of less-educated citizens. Even children born to high-IQ parents are slipping down the IQ ladder."
Normally the next generation has a higher education than the previous ones and given all the information available today, that should continue to be the case. If anything, kids should be getting smarter, but it doesn't seem to be the case.
Any thoughts on that?

I don't see this as a case of people getting dumber, but instead a case of people not learning critical thinking skills. The internet exacerbates this by the ease of access of information, it takes no thought to Google and find an answer (right or wrong); it takes much more mental capacity to look the answer up for yourself, or come to your own conclusions. The lack of the ability to think critically, will hinder intelligence in all people, regardless of how "educated" or not a person is. Thereby making society appear dumber.

Invest in critical thinking! (Philosophy, literature, history).
 

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
I would think it is because of the technological advansment that we as humans do less use of our brain then before the computer age. Since you mention Norway i can say that here all students get an Ipad or Android Pad at school so they do not need to use books or pencil and paper anymore. In my understanding this is one of the causes children getting reduced IQ
 
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Koldo

Outstanding Member
First, I don't think education raises or lowers native intelligence. It's purpose is to raise knowledge not IQ (the innate talent to acquire knowledge).

The study you refer to is the first I've encountered that shows a lowering of IQ. I read yesterday, that the scores of the LSAT, a standardized test given to students who want to apply to law school were rising more for males than for females and that females have been scoring a little lower than males over the years.

My guess is that there's something wrong with Norway's stats or the way the test was conducted. Let's wait and see if there's a follow-up showing the same trend or if other countries see similar results.

Another possibility is that high IQ parents are having fewer babies while lower IQ parents procreate at a steady rate. But, lower IQs within the family? I wonder how they gathered that data.

Although I agree with most of what you have said, why do you think the LSAT is relevant ?
 

The Reverend Bob

Fart Machine and Beastmaster
I think so and I think it is because the increasing apathy of the general population. More and more people are not giving a **** about anything. Not caring about what is real, not caring about what is going on and not caring about others. No self-awareness, feeling no need for self-improvement and not involved. All of these things are a recipe for stupidity
 

A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
Interesting. May have to do with the "instant gratification" culture that permeates more well-developed areas. Hard or quality work takes time... and who has that? People are too used to their phones/computers providing everything instantaneously - even information they may need.

Maybe we're entering an age in which people aren't acquiring as much knowledge because they know they can just get it "on demand" when they end up needing it. And while "knowledge base" is not "intelligence," I would argue that a lower level of experience gaining and/or retaining knowledge would necessarily affect one's experience with and ability to manipulate or utilize any and all knowledge effectively. And that ability to utilize and manipulate knowledge is what I feel intelligence IS. Less direct experience with knowledge, less experience with manipulating and using it - i.e. less apparent intelligence.
 

Enoch07

It's all a sick freaking joke.
Premium Member
I came across this study today.

Opinion | Many developed countries are getting dumber, and the U.S. is likely next

The fact that people with lower levels of intelligence produce children who are likely to be less smart adults is not new and not surprising. No one gives what they don't have and parents who didn't have a good education can't provide one for their offspring.
I was a bit puzzled by this paragraph though:
"However, a 2018 study of Norway has punctured these theories by showing that IQs are dropping not just across societies but within families. In other words, the issue is not that educated Norwegians are increasingly outnumbered by lower-IQ immigrants or the children of less-educated citizens. Even children born to high-IQ parents are slipping down the IQ ladder."
Normally the next generation has a higher education than the previous ones and given all the information available today, that should continue to be the case. If anything, kids should be getting smarter, but it doesn't seem to be the case.
Any thoughts on that?

The internet has a great deal of responsibility for that. Information or even misinformation, is too easily accessible because of the internet. When I was kid if i wanted to learn something about a topic the go to was an encyclopedia set or a library. The search for valid information was a lot harder and required more effort. Now they Google their homework and are exposed to pseudoscientific misinformation about even though a person has XX chromosomes they can be biologically a Male based on the person's feelings. I have no issues with trans folk
If someone transitions to the opposite gender I will respect them as the gender they transitioned to. But from a purely biological/scientific pov XX is Female, and XY is Male. To teach kids anything other will make them less intelligent. Because when they go to take a IQ test, if something like this comes up about biology they will not be able to answer it correctly according to science.
 

Jeremiah Ames

Well-Known Member
I came across this study today.

Opinion | Many developed countries are getting dumber, and the U.S. is likely next

The fact that people with lower levels of intelligence produce children who are likely to be less smart adults is not new and not surprising. No one gives what they don't have and parents who didn't have a good education can't provide one for their offspring.
I was a bit puzzled by this paragraph though:
"However, a 2018 study of Norway has punctured these theories by showing that IQs are dropping not just across societies but within families. In other words, the issue is not that educated Norwegians are increasingly outnumbered by lower-IQ immigrants or the children of less-educated citizens. Even children born to high-IQ parents are slipping down the IQ ladder."
Normally the next generation has a higher education than the previous ones and given all the information available today, that should continue to be the case. If anything, kids should be getting smarter, but it doesn't seem to be the case.
Any thoughts on that?
I agree with the study.
From first hand experience.
 

The Reverend Bob

Fart Machine and Beastmaster
I am not looking forward to the time when the people elect Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho to the Presidency of the United States.
 

viole

Ontological Naturalist
Premium Member
I came across this study today.

Opinion | Many developed countries are getting dumber, and the U.S. is likely next

The fact that people with lower levels of intelligence produce children who are likely to be less smart adults is not new and not surprising. No one gives what they don't have and parents who didn't have a good education can't provide one for their offspring.
I was a bit puzzled by this paragraph though:
"However, a 2018 study of Norway has punctured these theories by showing that IQs are dropping not just across societies but within families. In other words, the issue is not that educated Norwegians are increasingly outnumbered by lower-IQ immigrants or the children of less-educated citizens. Even children born to high-IQ parents are slipping down the IQ ladder."
Normally the next generation has a higher education than the previous ones and given all the information available today, that should continue to be the case. If anything, kids should be getting smarter, but it doesn't seem to be the case.
Any thoughts on that?

Too complicated. Did not understood nothing.

Ciao

- viole
 

George-ananda

Advaita Vedanta, Theosophy, Spiritualism
Premium Member
It’s the first issue that is more depressing to me. The higher the IQ, the lower the birthrate. As I believe heredity is an important factor in IQ, should more intelligent people feel some responsibility to have more children as a service to their specie’s gene pool?

Perhaps we need social policies making childbearing most attractive to people of higher professions. and income.
 
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Brickjectivity

Turned to Stone. Now I stretch daily.
Staff member
Premium Member
I came across this study today.

Opinion | Many developed countries are getting dumber, and the U.S. is likely next

The fact that people with lower levels of intelligence produce children who are likely to be less smart adults is not new and not surprising. No one gives what they don't have and parents who didn't have a good education can't provide one for their offspring.
I was a bit puzzled by this paragraph though:
"However, a 2018 study of Norway has punctured these theories by showing that IQs are dropping not just across societies but within families. In other words, the issue is not that educated Norwegians are increasingly outnumbered by lower-IQ immigrants or the children of less-educated citizens. Even children born to high-IQ parents are slipping down the IQ ladder."
Normally the next generation has a higher education than the previous ones and given all the information available today, that should continue to be the case. If anything, kids should be getting smarter, but it doesn't seem to be the case.
Any thoughts on that?
One of the linked-to articles here says its hooey.

Darn forum software ate the rest of my post so forget it.
 

Koldo

Outstanding Member
It’s the first issue that is more depressing to me. The higher the IQ, the lower the birthdate. As I believe heredity is an important factor in IQ, should more intelligent people feel some responsibility to have more children as a service to their specie’s gene pool?

If anything, it is people with really low IQ that should feel responsible for not having many children.
 

Mindmaster

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
I came across this study today.

Opinion | Many developed countries are getting dumber, and the U.S. is likely next

The fact that people with lower levels of intelligence produce children who are likely to be less smart adults is not new and not surprising. No one gives what they don't have and parents who didn't have a good education can't provide one for their offspring.
I was a bit puzzled by this paragraph though:
"However, a 2018 study of Norway has punctured these theories by showing that IQs are dropping not just across societies but within families. In other words, the issue is not that educated Norwegians are increasingly outnumbered by lower-IQ immigrants or the children of less-educated citizens. Even children born to high-IQ parents are slipping down the IQ ladder."
Normally the next generation has a higher education than the previous ones and given all the information available today, that should continue to be the case. If anything, kids should be getting smarter, but it doesn't seem to be the case.
Any thoughts on that?

Do you really want my answer? :D

Well, you're getting it.. :D

Modern college aged people are dumber than high school students in my day based on my experience. Those that have only had high school perform at about 8th grade level, in comparison to those who came thirty years before them. That opinion isn't based on a study, but my long history of recruiting rookies in my field. Just in the last ten years there has been a drastic, and I mean drastic, educational drop across the board. It's actually to the point in my field where I don't even care if you went to college all I'm looking for is someone who has the aptitude to learn. That college degree is less valuable than toilet paper as far as I am normally concerned.

Modern young adults 18-25 also act like someone who is about 13 in say 80-90 which doesn't help a damn thing either. (emotional maturity, problem resolution, etc.) This is what happens when liberals infect your entire education system -- everyone comes out a babbling idiot. (Not that I'm a conservative, it's just day-um it's bad...)
 

Enoch07

It's all a sick freaking joke.
Premium Member
It’s the first issue that is more depressing to me. The higher the IQ, the lower the birthdate. As I believe heredity is an important factor in IQ, should more intelligent people feel some responsibility to have more children as a service to their specie’s gene pool?

Perhaps we need social policies making childbearing most attractive to people of higher professions. and income.

Welcome to the Orwellian dystopia.
 
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