Are we losing our intelligence?

[Blade_of_darkness]

People sometimes can do some of the stupidest things in the world. I'm not someone to argue against that, just as long as it's occasional.

However, I've been hearing about some things which makes me doubt the intelligence of some of those people, like how some people die for some of the dumbest reasons that are conceivable. Also, I've heard that there are a bunch of crazy people everywhere, which makes me believe that that a lot of these people should belong in an asylum & in a strait-jacket.

So with that said, is the intelligence of the human race diminishing with each passing day? Please explain your answer.

 

[Livewire]

We may do stupid things, but I highly doubt we're losing our intelligence. I think it's pretty much the opposite.

 

[Oryx]

We may do stupid things, but I highly doubt we're losing our intelligence. I think it's pretty much the opposite.

I actually disagree, but I don't think it's happening in any noticeable way.

People who are predisposed to be very smart are (for the most part) the kind of people who will stay in school for a long time, putting off having children until later if they choose to at all. That means they, as responsible people, have maybe 1-2 kids. On the other hand, people who are less intelligent may not know about birth control or may think something false about it, are less educated in general, and tend to be more likely to pop out 50 babies. If you think about it that way, while we're still advancing in technology and innovations, slowly the world is being changed.

But to be fair there's also the fact that some of the people considered "dumb" today would be far from dumb in an older society.

 

[Destiny Bond]

People do crazy stuff because they are carefree and believe in having fun, not believing in authorities. these ppl believe that they aren't doing stupid things its just all depending on point of view

 

[Archenoth]

People do stupid things... People have always done stupid things... And people will continue to do stupid things.

We are not losing our intelligence, nor are we gaining any... The thing that we are gaining is technology and education, which doesn't actually aid intelligence, but it aids knowledge, and in turn, wisdom.

 

[lx_theo]

I think it's at least stagnant, if not increasing. Those who's stupidity makes us doubt humanity most are often forgotten by history. They were always there. It's just a combination of it being modern day and the Internet expanding our awareness of the stupidity in the world.

 

[Oryx]

I think it's at least stagnant, if not increasing. Those who's stupidity makes us doubt humanity most are often forgotten by history. They were always there. It's just a combination of it being modern day and the Internet expanding our awareness of the stupidity in the world.

What does them being forgotten have to do with whether or not people are losing intelligence? That has nothing to do with it imo.

 

[Rogue planet]

Seeing as how in the past much of the population got little to no education, and men lived their lives working a manual labour job, whilst women weren't even given the opportunity to have any form of a career... No, I don't see how the general public could be getting stupider.

Also, I've heard that there are a bunch of crazy people everywhere, which makes me believe that that a lot of these people should belong in an asylum & in a strait-jacket.

since when was mental illness a recent development?

What does them being forgotten have to do with whether or not people are losing intelligence? That has nothing to do with it imo.

Intelligence hasn't changed, but the media often focusing on people doing ridiculous things rather than stories of actual importance has simply raised awareness of society's general stupidity.

 

[Yoshikko]

Well isn't it like the more kids you have, the higher the chance is that their IQ will be lower than when you'd have 1-2 kids? I only just heard/read this once and didn't look into it but yea.

 

[Esper]

But if there is a genetic factor to intelligence (enough of one that could become noticeable on a large scale) and dumb people have more kids you'll have a growing percentage of the population who come from dumb parents. If they carry on their parents' dumbness the overall intelligence of people as a whole will slip toward the dumb end of the scale.

 

[Yoshikko]

Well I think there is to an extent, a lot of things are genetic, more than we think. But I don't know if that really means that the intelligence of the human race overall is diminishing, like considerably. I do agree with what Toujours said.

 

[Oryx]

Seeing as how in the past much of the population got little to no education, and men lived their lives working a manual labour job, whilst women weren't even given the opportunity to have any form of a career... No, I don't see how the general public could be getting stupider.

Education doesn't necessarily imply intelligence. That's why I mentioned that someone considered dumb in this generation would know more than someone considered smart in a previous generation, they have more access to things that make learning easier but intelligence is separate from education. It's more an ability to learn, not how much you actually know about a particular topic.

 

[Esper]

Education doesn't necessarily imply intelligence. That's why I mentioned that someone considered dumb in this generation would know more than someone considered smart in a previous generation, they have more access to things that make learning easier but intelligence is separate from education. It's more an ability to learn, not how much you actually know about a particular topic.

When you put it that way I think there's a good argument for the dumbing down of society. We all have smart phones and access to the internet, for instance, so no one has to learn anything when they can just look it up when they need to.

 

[Rogue planet]

Education doesn't necessarily imply intelligence. That's why I mentioned that someone considered dumb in this generation would know more than someone considered smart in a previous generation, they have more access to things that make learning easier but intelligence is separate from education. It's more an ability to learn, not how much you actually know about a particular topic.

That is a fair point when applied to the modern world (read: 20th century), but it doesn't apply to history. When you consider an entire group of people were without education (ie. the working class, the vast majority of people). If education and intelligence aren't connected, how would/could it be measured? Past generations had incredibly ignorant and misguided values and most of the time expressed no desire to learn anything beyond what they were simply told to believe. You may think modern society is stupid, but what makes the previous generations more intelligent?

 

[Livewire]

Give someone from the 15th century a 21st century education and you might be surprised.

 

[Archenoth]

If education and intelligence aren't connected, how would/could it be measured?

Intelligence determines how well one can learn something, and not how much they know at the time.

 

[Esper]

Give someone from the 15th century a 21st century education and you might be surprised.

That's kind of an interesting position to take. Obviously we can't test this, and testing intelligence is a dodgy business to begin with, but what makes you think a person from centuries ago would be able to handle a modern education?

To me, part of intelligence, and the part that's forming a large part of my opinion, is measured by intellectual curiosity. I get the impression that was a bigger thing around the time of the scientific revolution up through the 70s and the space program and all that, and that we've kinda collectively slacked in the last couple of decades.

I don't think people in ye olde times were very curious. Maybe education could have sparked something, but I think the pervading worldview back then was more of that Protestant work ethic stuff - just work, don't think 'bout stuff, when you die things'll be okay, trust us, etc.

 

[Archenoth]

To me, part of intelligence, and the part that's forming a large part of my opinion, is measured by intellectual curiosity.

Curiosity is a way to apply intelligence to learn things, but doesn't necessarily pertain to how intelligent someone is... It pretains to how much they know...

For instance, a highly intelligent person who also happens to be curious will probably know a lot about many topics... But it is very possible to be very intelligent and not curious at all, as well as possible to be really unintelligent, and curious.

 

[Yoshikko]

I think you could compare it with weight gain over the past century. Getting food has become easier and easier, and more convenient, and so we have to do less and less for it. Genetically we are built to store food, in case we run out of it, but because that is hardly ever the case anymore in first world countries where food is so plentiful, storing it has become unnecessary and it's why we're gaining weight so fast now, in general. So in that sense, it seems to be the same intelligence wise, with that technology has made it easier for us and spares us the effort like Scarf said before. I don't know if that really has an impact on intelligence evolution wise though.

 

[Oryx]

That is a fair point when applied to the modern world (read: 20th century), but it doesn't apply to history. When you consider an entire group of people were without education (ie. the working class, the vast majority of people). If education and intelligence aren't connected, how would/could it be measured? Past generations had incredibly ignorant and misguided values and most of the time expressed no desire to learn anything beyond what they were simply told to believe. You may think modern society is stupid, but what makes the previous generations more intelligent?

I believe it was different up until recently, tbh. In the past, intelligence was a way that could take you up out of poverty, and into a world where your children would be more likely to live on and reproduce and continue on the intelligence you have, but nowadays, if you're not smart enough(/lucky enough) to get a great high paying job to support a lot of children, you for the most part are supported by the government, by charities, and the like. There are of course instances in which you would die, but they're not as widespread as in previous ages.

I can't really give an answer on how you can measure intelligence though, especially on people that didn't take any kind of intelligence tests such as past generations, because you're right in that they were never pushed to think for themselves so they never bothered so it's difficult to judge if they really had more intelligence.

That's kind of an interesting position to take. Obviously we can't test this, and testing intelligence is a dodgy business to begin with, but what makes you think a person from centuries ago would be able to handle a modern education?

To me, part of intelligence, and the part that's forming a large part of my opinion, is measured by intellectual curiosity. I get the impression that was a bigger thing around the time of the scientific revolution up through the 70s and the space program and all that, and that we've kinda collectively slacked in the last couple of decades.

I don't think people in ye olde times were very curious. Maybe education could have sparked something, but I think the pervading worldview back then was more of that Protestant work ethic stuff - just work, don't think 'bout stuff, when you die things'll be okay, trust us, etc.

I think that kind of thing would only work if the person was raised in this world, just because of the way we teach. We teach on the basis of how we were raised, and if a child was even raised with the values/intellectual ideals of a past generation (trust what people tell you, don't figure it out for yourself) and then were thrust into kindergarten, they wouldn't do well I would imagine.

I don't think the loss of intelligence is going to affect us much, if at all, for a very long time though, like any other kind of species change. For now we still have plenty of great minds and because of our technology advancements, the great minds can do more than ever before in a shorter amount of time so it won't be an issue. It's possible that technology will continue to keep up with it to the point that even if there's only one innovator in the entire world, they can work efficiently enough that they can be like 20 or 30 great minds in a previous generation.

I think of intelligence as the capacity to learn, which is why it's so hard to measure. You can be incredibly capable of learning without ever showing it to the outside world, or ever having the chance to learn enough to show it.