Are people getting dumber or smarter as generations go by?

Question

I read many contrasting studies. A general claim is that the global IQ is rising (the Flynn effect). Other studies refute this. And other studies say IQ is hogwash and culturally bound.

At the end of the day my questions is: why do I have the sinking feeling we as a species are getting dumber by the minute?

Answer 1

Both, or neither. Every generation has different things they must know. Now its computers, cars, and the environment among ma ny other things. But just 4 or 5 generations ago (About 100 years) it was agriculture, basic mechanical knowledge, and animal husbandry. Back in the 1500's it good to know how to hunt, fish, and defend your homes from local wildlife and natives.
Go way back and the guy who knew how to make fire was undoubtedly very popular.

Our knowledge as a race of peoples changes constantly while the IQ test changes rarely. I think the test is a fair indicator of how well a person was schooled, but not necessarily of how smart they may be.

Answer 2

your feeling is absolutely correct. If you were to take an 8th grade examination as given 100 years ago, you would not stand a chance in passing it. Remember that in those days and 8th grade education was considered equal to
a college education as it is today.
As Professor with 36 years full time experience, I can tell you that my current students have to be fed information like a baby.
Motivation is an extinct word in modern day education.
Laziness, is rampant among the students. The entire world is living off of the intelligence and hard work of ten percent of the population.

Yes people are definitely getting dumber an
dumber as the years go by.
That old saying has become vogue; Who needs ability, I have a degree.

Answer 3

Let me propose this conundrum. We have spread the basic knowledge of survival further than ever to the indigenous cultures of the world, but have forgotten those same lessons in the "civilized" world. We depend on a network of others to provide for our needs. However, the citizen who lives in the urban environment would not survive in most primitive native cultures.

Which is the smarter? Because we know how to use a computer or drive a car, or birth a calf and till the soil or because we know how to grow and process foods and slaughter and process animals for other types of food?

The amount of information available to learn has exponentially grown, the capacity of man to forget that which is most important is evident.

Answer 4

I'm going to have to say, it depends on many different factors. I think kids have the advantage of the availability of information at their fingertips via the Internet. There are so many computer games out there geared toward phonics and education as well, which makes learning more interesting to kids.

Also depends on the schools and the teachers. My daughter goes to a school where they are really motivated to teach the kids to read and write at an early age. I was really impressed that my daughter's kindergarten class all know how to read and write at nearly a second grade level.

Then there's parenting. If parents take the time to be interested in their kids and teach them well, then kids will develop into motivated, and hopefully intelligent adults.

Answer 5

Each generation builds on the successes of the previous. This results in an increase of technology, knowledge, and information but wisdom does not increase. Wisdom cannot be built upon like knowledge and information. This means that as we get more advanced we lack the wisdom to utilize this increase in knowledge properly. In my mind this accounts for the perception of people getting dumber. I think morals are degrading, wisdom is constant, and knowledge and information are increasing. I see a catastrophe on the distant horizon.

Answer 6

dumber as they are less capable of dealing with modern amenities but smarter in the sense that they are trained and adpated to the environment. we might not all be able to make a spear from flint but we can turn a computer on.

IQ is a score of how good you are at IQ tests, nothing more, the more you take them the better your score becomes. it is also, as you say culturally, racially and sexually bound.

Answer 7

From the spelling, grammar, punctuation, and overall English I've seen in some questions and answers, they appear to be getting dumber.

I'm willing to bet not all of those are young kids who "Internet speak" all the time and prefer to use typing shortcuts.

There are older people who are terrible in spelling and, for example, think the word 'what' is really spelled w-u-t or the word 'like' is really spelled l-y-k. Those are just two examples of words I've seen quite a bit in grown up type of questions.

Answer 8

Smarter in IQ and intelligence, Dumber in morality and humanity.

Answer 9

People are likely not getting any smarter than they have been for thousands of years.

Except when you factor such things as improved diet, which is linked to increased mental acuity.

People are becoming much more educated than their ancestors and have a much greater body of knowledge to draw upon.

Sometimes certain people fail to distinguish between education and intelligence

Answer 10

Neither... some factors: a million. Idiocracy. Watch it. 2. "Fittest" doesn't inevitably advise smartest. It actually potential maximum waiting to furnish offspring that still produce offspring etc. The "fittest" of a species is the only with the most tremendous-grandkids, or tremendous-tremendous etc. 3. The note "dumb" is amazingly subjective. a lot more beneficial so than "in tremendous condition" as defined through Darwin. evaluate the actual undeniable reality that an 80-year-previous can allow you to recognize who change into president in 1955 from memory, even as an eighteen-year-previous ought to allow you to recognize a thanks to push the right buttons to collect a similar tips from a telephone. for sure there is not any replace for journey which brings me to my next aspect. 4. in worry-free words the "in tremendous condition" can income journey. (because in worry-free words the "in tremendous condition" through definition, live on lengthy adequate to attain journey) even if journey won't be able to be transferred right away with the help of generations. it may in worry-free words be conveyed to and interpreted through more beneficial generations who, if also "in tremendous condition," will use the surpassed-down suggestion and genes to live on, income more beneficial journey, reproduce and proceed the survival. Which brings me complete circle back to Idiocracy. end: no remember how doubtless stupid the subsequent generations are, so a concepts human life has persevered. even if or not they're smarter or dumber is an opinion that you're allowed to variety and trust for your self. even if, Darwin i trust, would say that each and every era of Homosapien so a concepts has been more beneficial "in tremendous condition" than the previous, as there are more beneficial Homosapiens each day. I for one, imagine we, as a species, opt to get off this planet and spread our seed everywhere in the universe. merely in case the earth is destroyed. right this moment, as a species, we are putting all of our fertile eggs in a unmarried quite small blue basket. reaction to oh_hello_there: because the ratings are increasing the criteria are arguably lowering.