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Some researchers say Victorian era people were more intelligent than people in our present time, and after reading the Victorian guidelines, maybe they're right
by rthomas6 4y ago
Some researchers say Victorian era people were more intelligent than people in our present time, and after reading the Victorian guidelines, maybe they're right.
https://phys.org/news/2013-05-victorian-era-people-intelligent-modern-day-counterparts.html https://phys.org/news/2013-05-victorian-era-people-intellige...
- bibanez 4y agoThis is sincerely, really stupid. General intelligence being measured by reaction time greatly misses the question. Monkeys have significantly higher reaction times than humans. Never surpassed the stone age, did they?
- jonathanyc 4y agoReminds me of a species of small fish passing the mirror test[0] while dogs fail it. [0]: https://www.quantamagazine.org/a-self-aware-fish-raises-doubts-about-a-cognitive-test-20181212/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/a-self-aware-fish-raises-doub...
- bee_rider 4y agoNever seen a monkey get stuck late at work, though.
- rthomas6 4y agoI'm not saying the conclusion is accurate, but there is a correlation between mean reaction time and intelligence in humans. That doesn't mean that you can extrapolate intelligence from reaction time of Victorian era people. Their reaction time could be better for other un-accounted-for reasons. But it's not like the researchers just made up a link between reaction time and intelligence out of thin air because it sounded true. There really is a correlation between the two. I would say this is weak evidence in favor of Victorians having higher intelligence, and insufficient to actually draw that conclusion. But still, evidence.