3 ms·

It's interesting to try and square the multiple conflicting findings about the effect of the modern diet on the brain and other observed phenomena such as The F

It's interesting to try and square the multiple conflicting findings about the effect of the modern diet on the brain and other observed phenomena such as The Flynn Effect (https://ourworldindata.org/intelligence https://ourworldindata.org/intelligence) that mean IQ is increasing over time.

stakkur 5y ago
Maybe 'IQ', a somewhat suspect measure, isn't very useful.
iratewizard 5y ago
There was a good article I read years ago (and can't find again with how useless Google has become) which talked about IQs rising but people getting dumber. The main theory it had was adapting to the tests and teaching skills that help answer questions on IQ tests.
whoisburbansky 5y ago
Especially interesting to put all of that in the context of recent reports of plateaus and reversals in the Flynn Effect, at least in certain European countries: (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6042097/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6042097/), contrasted with wider meta-analyses that still show an increase, although less than previously thought, and dependent on age group and country development status. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160289614001718?via%3Dihub https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S01602...)
somenameforme 5y ago
The Flynn effect has been observed to have reversed in a number of nations in Scandinavia and elsewhere. [1] Scandinavia is the typical test bed because of have compulsory military enlistment paired with IQ testing. And the declines are quite substantial with Norway seeing a 5 point decline between individuals born in 1991 compared to those born in 1975, and a 3 point decline compared to those born in 1962. Big meta studies may miss this because its a relatively new trend, and IQ is full of a million biases that can just generate noise when combined. When people are young, their IQ is significantly influenced by environmental factors, but as they age genetic factors become dominant. And in countries without some form of compulsory testing, sample biases abounds. As for the past gains, look at height! Height is reasonable proxy for nutrition and globally it's just skyrocketed [2]. Japan is one of the more extreme examples, with their average height increasing by about half a foot since 1896! [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect#Possible_end_of_progression https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect#Possible_end_of_p... [2] - https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/average-height-of-men?tab=table&time=earliest..1996 https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/average-height-of-men?tab...

stakkur 5y ago

Maybe 'IQ', a somewhat suspect measure, isn't very useful.

iratewizard 5y ago

There was a good article I read years ago (and can't find again with how useless Google has become) which talked about IQs rising but people getting dumber. The main theory it had was adapting to the tests and teaching skills that help answer questions on IQ tests.

whoisburbansky 5y ago

Especially interesting to put all of that in the context of recent reports of plateaus and reversals in the Flynn Effect, at least in certain European countries: (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6042097/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6042097/), contrasted with wider meta-analyses that still show an increase, although less than previously thought, and dependent on age group and country development status. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160289614001718?via%3Dihub https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S01602...)

somenameforme 5y ago

The Flynn effect has been observed to have reversed in a number of nations in Scandinavia and elsewhere. [1] Scandinavia is the typical test bed because of have compulsory military enlistment paired with IQ testing. And the declines are quite substantial with Norway seeing a 5 point decline between individuals born in 1991 compared to those born in 1975, and a 3 point decline compared to those born in 1962. Big meta studies may miss this because its a relatively new trend, and IQ is full of a million biases that can just generate noise when combined. When people are young, their IQ is significantly influenced by environmental factors, but as they age genetic factors become dominant. And in countries without some form of compulsory testing, sample biases abounds. As for the past gains, look at height! Height is reasonable proxy for nutrition and globally it's just skyrocketed [2]. Japan is one of the more extreme examples, with their average height increasing by about half a foot since 1896! [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect#Possible_end_of_progression https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect#Possible_end_of_p... [2] - https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/average-height-of-men?tab=table&time=earliest..1996 https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/average-height-of-men?tab...