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The data from the study has a giant elephant in the room: war. The participants are 18 year old Norwegians who were forced to take a military examination. The r

The data from the study has a giant elephant in the room: war. The participants are 18 year old Norwegians who were forced to take a military examination. The reason they do an IQ test is to evaluate if they are suited for a more analytic role, such as radar and comms. The peak result is for the birth year 1975, i.e. tests taken in 1993. During the cold war, a soviet attack was a real possibility, but that threat pretty much evaporated in the 90's. I did this exam in 1998 and the general vibe was pretty much: "why are we still doing this?" Few people took it seriously.

ChuckNorris89 4y ago
>During the cold war, a soviet attack was a real possibility, but that threat pretty much evaporated in the 90's It didn't really evaporate, it's happening right now, except not in Norway.
- eurasiantiger 4y ago
  The Simpsons had it right again.
- brokencode 4y ago
  At the very least, the perceived threat evaporated.
- _moof 4y ago
  I'm guessing by your username that you were quite young at the time. But things actually were different thirty years ago.
habibur 4y ago
It's not from one study. From 2nd paragraph of the article. > Similar studies in Denmark, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Finland and Estonia have demonstrated a similar downward trend in IQ scores
- speleding 4y ago
  If the numbers from other countries also come from the military then the point is still valid. I got tested for conscription in the Netherlands in the 90s and a lot of people were wondering if there was any point to it (conscription was abolished soon after). So I can see an earlier generation of conscripts being much more motivated to do well.
  - oriolid 4y ago
    For military test it works the other way too: If you score high you're more likely to end up in officer training or some specialist troops so you have to serve longer. Shorter service is a strong incentive to get a lower score on purpose. (source: I live in Finland and have done the military service)
    - trompetenaccoun 4y ago
      Someone I know pretended to be a drug addicted idiot to get out of the mandatory service. It worked, he was classified not fit for service. I've heard of another case where they pretended to be gay, back in the day when they wouldn't draft gay people. It's absolutely plausible and highly likely if you ask me that people would purposefully perform badly given the right incentives.
      - 6510 4y ago
        Right, when they asked me if I used drugs I replied: Are you asking this because of the urine test?
      - oriolid 4y ago
        I've understood that the army gives the not fit for service grade quite easily, because the people who are willing to go that far to avoid service could be serious trouble if they'd be forced to serve anyway. Back in the day many employers considered missing military service suspicious so serving and doing the bare minimum would be better than trying to avoid it completely.
  - 4y ago
seydor 4y ago
And why would conscripts try harder in 1975? What difference did it make? Another suggestion is that it has to do with the fact that this test is taken at a specific age. My very scientific hunch is that in the past few generations, adolescence was extended by decades, and the real problems in life started way later, while in 1975 people still married young

ChuckNorris89 4y ago

>During the cold war, a soviet attack was a real possibility, but that threat pretty much evaporated in the 90's It didn't really evaporate, it's happening right now, except not in Norway.

eurasiantiger 4y ago
The Simpsons had it right again.
brokencode 4y ago
At the very least, the perceived threat evaporated.
_moof 4y ago
I'm guessing by your username that you were quite young at the time. But things actually were different thirty years ago.

habibur 4y ago

It's not from one study. From 2nd paragraph of the article. > Similar studies in Denmark, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Finland and Estonia have demonstrated a similar downward trend in IQ scores

speleding 4y ago
If the numbers from other countries also come from the military then the point is still valid. I got tested for conscription in the Netherlands in the 90s and a lot of people were wondering if there was any point to it (conscription was abolished soon after). So I can see an earlier generation of conscripts being much more motivated to do well.
- oriolid 4y ago
  For military test it works the other way too: If you score high you're more likely to end up in officer training or some specialist troops so you have to serve longer. Shorter service is a strong incentive to get a lower score on purpose. (source: I live in Finland and have done the military service)
  - trompetenaccoun 4y ago
    Someone I know pretended to be a drug addicted idiot to get out of the mandatory service. It worked, he was classified not fit for service. I've heard of another case where they pretended to be gay, back in the day when they wouldn't draft gay people. It's absolutely plausible and highly likely if you ask me that people would purposefully perform badly given the right incentives.
    - 6510 4y ago
      Right, when they asked me if I used drugs I replied: Are you asking this because of the urine test?
    - oriolid 4y ago
      I've understood that the army gives the not fit for service grade quite easily, because the people who are willing to go that far to avoid service could be serious trouble if they'd be forced to serve anyway. Back in the day many employers considered missing military service suspicious so serving and doing the bare minimum would be better than trying to avoid it completely.
- 4y ago

seydor 4y ago

And why would conscripts try harder in 1975? What difference did it make? Another suggestion is that it has to do with the fact that this test is taken at a specific age. My very scientific hunch is that in the past few generations, adolescence was extended by decades, and the real problems in life started way later, while in 1975 people still married young