Are People Becoming Less Intelligent but More Tech Savvy?

Born after 1975, average IQ’s are dropping

“The foolishness of youth, that’s why they do silly things. They are just trying to develop their personalities, you know, find their way in the world. They are carving out their position, their niche, and sometimes they do foolish things, that’s how they learn. They learn from their mistakes.”

I agree with the above, but a scientific study looking at IQ’s has seen a reversal in trends from the pinnacle of 1975. Since then, IQ’s according to the study have been declining.

(Links to the study are below, at the end of the article.)

The thinking was that dysgenic fertility (meaning that less intelligent people have more children than more intelligent people) was playing a role. They adjusted for that and looked at actual in family IQ scores, and the results reflected a drop in IQ in siblings and sons born after 1975.

Some researchers and commentators believe the reasons for the drop were because of different methods of play and books that are read, different education methods from older generations to younger generations and the actual content of what is being taught has changed too.

Other reasons are that we base the IQ tests on older education methods and content, not newer education methods and content. So the actual IQ test is the issue. There also exists the phenomenon of fluid intelligence versus crystallized intelligence. Fluid intelligence being the ability to make logical deductions and see patterns, to solve problems.

Crystallized intelligence is what you have learned through your schooling and what training you undertook. In my humble opinion, fluid intelligence is more inherent and insightful, whereas crystallized intelligence is more about memory and information processing and understanding. Both are important given the information age in which we live.

Crystallized intelligence can assist us with the information we receive and the processing of the information for understanding and remembering it longer term. Crystallized intelligence will help us with building models from the information we receive, and assists us with an interpretation of the information within our fields and training.

For instance, an investor looks at the stock market through a different lense, when compared to an economist or mathematician, each bringing their own set of crystallized knowledge to the lense that they interpret the information through.

Fluid intelligence allows us to remember it faster, through making sense of it, by seeing patterns and insight and also helping us to apply it when needed for problem solving.

Knowledge only becomes valuable when it is used to solve problems. Through practical application and action, knowledge becomes wisdom.

Fluid intelligence to my mind would be discernment and questioning of what is being taught as crystallized intelligence. Evaluation of that knowledge and decision making about that knowledge.

There is a lot to be said about striving for something and learning how to do it as we go, rather than inheriting a ‘template’ so to speak, because the pioneer that gained their knowledge through trial and error has deeper understanding.

Technology saves us time, but can rob us of the experience within an industry where we utilise previous teachings and extend our knowledge.

This is great for speed to market and for progress, but when problems arise, that occur within a foundation we have not built, these problems expose us, and that is where the foundational experts have the advantage.

Thankfully, as the technology moves, we iron out the problems that may arise through experience and upgrades to systems.

I believe that younger generations are far more adept at navigating systems and digital platforms because they are born into the technology. So if these particular skills were part of n IQ test, then the IQ scores would be very different.

I just wonder how much of the information younger generations keep? Because of the fragmented information they face each day and the overwhelming volume of information that they encounter?

I have noticed that with younger colleagues at work that they are quick on the uptake of programmes and navigation of systems, but a week later they have forgotten a lot of what they were doing the previous week. A younger colleague and I attended a systems seminar, and she caught on quicker during the seminar, and during the seminar I was playing catch up.

A week later, she was in my office asking me how to do things we had learnt in the seminar and there I was teaching her again what we had learnt. She had hardly remembered any of the knowledge we learnt. I am not saying that is true for all younger people, but I think that because of the information overload and over stimulation, there is a price to be paid in working memory.

I would be interested to hear from others reading this if they have had similar experiences?

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