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KimchiNinja

Joined: 01 May 2012 Location: Gangnam
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2014 10:48 pm Post subject: Humans getting dumber, scientists warn |
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A new mass media article on my favorite topic. It's made for the masses and thus intellectually thin, but it does rattle thru the basics. Nothing really new here except the forecast out to 2110 -- that worldwide IQ will hit 84. Hadn't seen that forecast yet, ouch. A few highlights...
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"Technology may be getting smarter, but humans are getting dumber, scientists have warned."
"Westerns have lost 14 IQ points on average since the Victorian age, according to a study published by the University of Amsterdam last year."
"Jan te Nijenhuis thinks this could be because intelligent women tend to have less children than women who are not as clever, The Huffington Post reported."
"Some believe the Flynn effect has masked a decline in the genetic basis for intelligence, so that while more people have been reaching their full potential, that potential itself has been declining."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2730791/Are-STUPID-Britons-people-IQ-decline.html |
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Stain
Joined: 08 Jan 2014
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Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2014 7:57 am Post subject: Re: Humans getting dumber, scientists warn |
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KimchiNinja wrote: |
A new mass media article on my favorite topic. It's made for the masses and thus intellectually thin, but it does rattle thru the basics. Nothing really new here except the forecast out to 2110 -- that worldwide IQ will hit 84. Hadn't seen that forecast yet, ouch. A few highlights...
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"Technology may be getting smarter, but humans are getting dumber, scientists have warned."
"Westerns have lost 14 IQ points on average since the Victorian age, according to a study published by the University of Amsterdam last year."
"Jan te Nijenhuis thinks this could be because intelligent women tend to have less children than women who are not as clever, The Huffington Post reported."
"Some believe the Flynn effect has masked a decline in the genetic basis for intelligence, so that while more people have been reaching their full potential, that potential itself has been declining."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2730791/Are-STUPID-Britons-people-IQ-decline.html |
The article came from westerners. I wouldn't give it much credence.  |
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KimchiNinja

Joined: 01 May 2012 Location: Gangnam
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Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2014 4:10 am Post subject: Re: Humans getting dumber, scientists warn |
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Stain wrote: |
The article came from westerners. I wouldn't give it much credence.  |
The research came from various humans around the world studying the topic, the article is just an English language summary of that knowledge. |
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Stain
Joined: 08 Jan 2014
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Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2014 6:26 am Post subject: Re: Humans getting dumber, scientists warn |
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KimchiNinja wrote: |
Stain wrote: |
The article came from westerners. I wouldn't give it much credence.  |
The research came from various humans around the world studying the topic, the article is just an English language summary of that knowledge. |
Do you think IQ is learned or people are born with it? |
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KimchiNinja

Joined: 01 May 2012 Location: Gangnam
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Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2014 6:29 am Post subject: Re: Humans getting dumber, scientists warn |
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Stain wrote: |
Do you think IQ is learned or people are born with it? |
There's no question on that, genetic IQ (the topic) is genetic.
Education is learned. |
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Stain
Joined: 08 Jan 2014
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Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2014 7:04 am Post subject: Re: Humans getting dumber, scientists warn |
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KimchiNinja wrote: |
Stain wrote: |
Do you think IQ is learned or people are born with it? |
There's no question on that, genetic IQ (the topic) is genetic.
Education is learned. |
The IQ scores might be dropping but it is either due to the lack of intelligent people giving birth or laziness or disinterest in taking the test. The article is full of shit about the reasons why this is happening. Although they mention the fact that intelligent people don't procreate as much, the other reasons are purely environmental or cultural. Even Dr. Flynn suggests that better education is needed. What in the hell is he talking about? |
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KimchiNinja

Joined: 01 May 2012 Location: Gangnam
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Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2014 7:42 am Post subject: Re: Humans getting dumber, scientists warn |
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It's a topic that is very important, but the general public knows almost nothing about it, and it's a bit complex so they become bored and go play Xbox. Plus people tend to become emotional about it, which doesn't help (no species wants to hear it is becoming stupid).
Basically -- education is increasing, meaning third world countries start going to school and people increase their knowledge. Nutrition is improving, meaning third world countries stop suffering from starvation/malnutrition, and reach their full(ish) genetic intelligence potential. BUT behind all of this, true genetic intelligence potential is decreasing. That's not good.
Genetic intelligence is like height. People are programed with it. People born in NK don't reach their full height (and IQ) because of malnutrition. But given the same environment they would reach the same height, because they are from the same genetic stock. Unless their true genetic programming for height started decreasing. That's the scary part, and is exactly what appears to be happening.
The decrease in true genetic intelligence has probably been going on for the last 15K years, but may have accelerated during the Neolithic Revolution, and again with the Industrial Revolution. Driven by 1) massive change in diet away from meat/fish and onto grains starting with the Neolithic, 2) specialization starting in the Neolithic, and even more so in the Industrial age, made possible by pollution growth, 3) dumber people making more babies in modern times because they don't use, or know how to execute, birth control.
The cranial capacity decrease kicks in by the Neolithic period, and has fallen around 10% to date. That coincides with the change in diet and the dawn of specialization. As populations grow the specialists take over, and the masses really have no need to do anything other than eat, poop and make babies. So one theory is that this lack of NEED for intelligence, combined with lack of raw materials to support brain size (meat), leads to shedding of cranial capacity and intelligence slowly over the millennia. At some point it becomes a loop as these people make more babies, while the specialists are too busy with their career and reproduce less...
Anyhow, those are the theories. |
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EastisEast
Joined: 29 May 2014 Location: Canada
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Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2014 9:10 am Post subject: |
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Quote: |
Do you think IQ is learned or people are born with it? |
This is a very good question !
If you are relating intelligence, IQ and genetics (race?) I must disagree.
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Nutrition is improving, meaning third world countries stop suffering from starvation/malnutrition, and reach their full(ish) genetic intelligence potential. |
Nutrition, leasure, loving family, etc are important factors though ... |
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KimchiNinja

Joined: 01 May 2012 Location: Gangnam
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Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2014 6:59 pm Post subject: |
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EastisEast wrote: |
If you are relating intelligence, IQ and genetics (race?) I must disagree. |
Disagree with what?  |
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EastisEast
Joined: 29 May 2014 Location: Canada
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2014 10:43 am Post subject: |
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genetic intelligence potential |
What does this mean?
If this means that your race determines your intelligence..then I don't agree. |
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KimchiNinja

Joined: 01 May 2012 Location: Gangnam
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2014 4:24 pm Post subject: |
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EastisEast wrote: |
Quote: |
genetic intelligence potential |
What does this mean?
If this means that your race determines your intelligence..then I don't agree. |
Genetic intelligence is like height, it is determined at birth, and largely hereditary. Yes ancestry has an impact on genetic intelligence, the same as it has an impact on height. |
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pmwhittier
Joined: 03 Nov 2011 Location: Korea
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Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2014 7:44 pm Post subject: |
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Has no one here seen the film "Idiocracy" ? This has been predicted. Maybe through a satirical medium, but this is not "news." |
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JMO

Joined: 18 Jul 2006 Location: Daegu
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Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2014 7:21 pm Post subject: Re: Humans getting dumber, scientists warn |
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KimchiNinja wrote: |
(no species wants to hear it is becoming stupid).
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I just told my dog and he seems unperturbed. |
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