https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/iq-rates-are-dropping-many-developed-count...IQ rates are dropping in many developed countries and
that doesn't bode well for humanity
An intelligence crisis could undermine our problem-solving capacities and dim the prospects of the global economy.
May 22, 2019, 6:31 PM AEST
By Evan Horowitz
People are getting dumber. That's not a judgment; it's a global fact. In a host of leading nations, IQ scores have started to decline.
A range of studies using a variety of well-established IQ tests and metrics
have found declining scores across Scandinavia, Britain, Germany, France and Australia.
Though there are legitimate questions about the relationship between IQ and intelligence, and broad recognition that success depends as much on other virtues like grit, IQ tests in use throughout the world today really do seem to capture something meaningful and durable. Decades of research have shown that individual IQ scores predict things such as educational achievement and longevity. More broadly, the average IQ score of a country is linked to economic growth and scientific innovation.
Even children born to high-IQ parents are slipping down the IQ ladder.
So if IQ scores are really dropping, that could not only mean 15 more seasons of the Kardashians, but also the potential end of progress on all these other fronts, ultimately leading to fewer scientific breakthroughs, stagnant economies and a general dimming of our collective future.
Some environmental factor — or collection of factors — is causing a drop in the IQ scores of parents and their own children, and older kids and their younger siblings. One leading explanation is that the rise of lower-skill service jobs has made work less intellectually demanding, leaving IQs to atrophy as people flex their brains less.
One leading explanation is that the rise of lower-skill service jobs has made work less intellectually demanding, leaving IQs to atrophy as people flex their brains less.
There are also other possibilities, largely untested, such as global warming making food less nutritious or information-age devices sapping our ability to focus.
Ultimately, it’d be nice to pin down the precise reason IQ scores are dropping before we’re too stupid to figure it out, especially as these scores really do seem connected to long-term productivity and economic success.
And while we might be able to compensate with skills besides intelligence, like determination or passion, in a world where IQ scores continue to fall — and where the drop expands to places like the United States — there’s also a bleaker scenario: a global intelligence crisis that undermines humanity's problem-solving capacity and leaves us ill-equipped to tackle the complex challenges posed by AI, global warming and developments we have yet to imagine.
Forum
Pages: 1 
