Are people getting Brainier?

sleepy

An article in the Daily Express today cites a study that claims the average person is getting brainier.It claims,
"The average child in Britian today would have been hailed a genius 60 years ago"
Do you think this is true?
It obvious that we have an increase of knowlegde today over people in the past but is this the same as an increase in intelligence?
Maybe extra knowledge helps us become more intelligent , or maybe diet an other factors help.
Anyway if this increase in IQ continues will we see more children leaving the org and less people joining?

mike047

I don't know about "brainier", but they are getting quicker on spelling correction.

sleepy

Cor aren't people getting quiker at noticing spelling corrections.

JanH

It obvious that we have an increase of knowlegde today over people in the past but is this the same as an increase in intelligence?

IQ tests are not supposed to be very dependent on knowledge. There is an actual real increase in IQ over the last decades. Personally, I am convinced the reason is that many of the low-IQ problems are highly reduced, like malnutrition and child negligence. We don't, I think, see more geniuses around.

- Jan
--
"Doctor how can you diagnose someone with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and then act like I had some choice about barging in here right now?" -- As Good As It Gets

mike047

It changed "in the blink of the eye".

Joseph Joachim

Well Sleepy, I think you're asking two very different questions here.

If people are getting brainier, I don't think so. What I think is that the education system in developed countries is more efficient now than it was 50 years ago and takes better advantage of kid's intellectual capacity.

That the JW will have more trouble converting middle-class people will be a consequence of widespread information via Internet, more than anything else.

Joseph Joachim, an overly-enthusiastic pundit of borderline reality

wonderwoman77

I do not think kids are necessarily smarter today. They are just put in school at a younger age and they are taught things sooner. There are more educational toys etc....

ThiChi

Well, we still argue over how the pyramids were built. Not much really discovered (kick ass, ground breaking stuff) since Einstein...............You need IQ to understand, translate and make use of knowledge

I agree with the old Tibetan truism: “The further you go, the less you know.” We discover one fact and open up another onehunderd & fifty questions...........

“We all fell down from the milky way, hanging around here for the judgement day, heaven only knows who’s in command.”- Jimmy Buffet

Utopian Reformist

I believe that the "information and media" overload have produced an interesting effect in younger generations.

Basically, in the past it would have required 40-50 years of life to compile the same experience/exposure that teen-agers are being stimulated with in today's digital age.

Now, several areas are the subject of debate; like quality, content, and value. But, in sheer terms of quantity, more and more information is available today to almost any age group, in a variety of mediums, than ever was possible before, in human history!

As far as actual intellect and intelligence quotients are concerned, that too is debatable. Across the board, less students are actually completing their degrees (US Dept of ED), however thousands more are enrolled than in previous years. I feel overall "awareness" to global society has increased, and perhaps intellect to some degree along with it, while experience and stimuli are exploding!

It is incredible and tiring at the same time.

Englishman

According to The Times, the average Brit's IQ has risen 27 points since WW2.

In the 60's, Lord of the rings average reader was + 25, now it's 12. What more proof do you need?

Although the theory was somewhat undermined at Cardiff City yesterday.

S'all wight, innit Mate, cor strike a light a stone the bleedin' crows, Guv.

Yer!

Englishman.

Bring on the dancing girls!

Are people getting Brainier?

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