The IQ of humankind is increasing year by year, so experts explain 'Is it really smarter?'



The science and technology that supports the convenient life of modern people is evolving day by day, and research results show that the IQ test scores of people are improving year by year. Some may think, 'Every time I get smarter.' Researchers at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, explained the mechanism by which people's IQ is rising year by year and the question, 'Is humanity really smarter?'

IQ tests: are humans getting smarter?

https://theconversation.com/iq-tests-are-humans-getting-smarter-158837

According to Roger Staff and Lawrence Whalley, lecturers in neurology at the University of Aberdeen, the average global IQ test score continued to rise at a rate of 3 points every 10 years throughout the 20th century. That thing. This phenomenon is called the ' Flynn effect ' after James Flynn , a leading IQ researcher.



When I hear that 'IQ is rising by 3 points in 10 years,' I think 'human beings continue to be smarter,' but many researchers say, 'The Flynn effect is health, nutrition, education, and working environment.' Improvements such as these and technological advances are factors. ' For example, the Flynn effect was not observed in

studies of sub-Saharan African countries, which are underdeveloped economically. From the results of this study, the staff pointed out that 'if the living environment is not significantly improved, the IQ test results will not be significantly improved.'

On the other hand, there are cases where IQ has declined despite economically developed developed countries. A study examining the Flynn effect in Norway found that Norwegian men born before 1975 had an IQ test increase of 3 points every 10 years, while those born after 1975 had a year. It turned out that the score decreased by an average of about 0.2 points for each. This 'reverse Flynn effect' was also reported in studies in the United Kingdom, Sweden and France conducted between 2005 and 2013.



The reason for the decline in IQ in developed countries such as Norway and the United Kingdom is unknown, but it has been pointed out that 'school education may be involved.' In recent years, education in Western countries has focused on interpersonal skills and emotional education based on teamwork, and personal skills such as those required by IQ tests are not so important. IQ tests are less likely to be taken when going on to school or getting a job. As a result, people in developed countries are becoming less and less good at IQ testing, and the staff think that this may be manifested as a decline in IQ test scores.

From these findings, the staff and colleagues said, 'In the end, the answer to the question,'Is humanity getting smarter?' Is'I can't say anything.'One thing is that IQ declines are simply IQ test scores. Just because it has declined does not necessarily mean that human intelligence has declined. '

in Science, Posted by log1l_ks