5 ms·
Undergraduates' average IQ has fallen 17 points since 1939. Here's why
- rogerkirkness 3y agoI'd go further and say that among the intellectual elite, having a degree is more based on whether or not your interests overlap with things that colleges have to offer than some default for very smart people. It is not the default now.
- billy99k 3y agoI think it's also because there are now lots of colleges in the US that have almost no minimum academic requirements to get into and because of this, they also need to water-down the curriculum so they don't have high failure rates.
- jrflowers 3y agoTLDR: More people go to college now
- pests 3y agoI thought IQ measured intelligence and not knowledge?
- anemoiac 3y agoIQ still measures the same thing...
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- BenjiWiebe 3y agoCorrect, hence why more people going to college (instead of just the top 50% or whatever) brings the college-goers' IQ closer to average.
- pests 3y agoI had a brain fart, apologies. I forgot the article was about undergraduates.
- sneed_chucker 3y agoWhat's the point of this article? 1939 was a radically different world and country from 2024. In 1939, most Universities were there for the elite and the exceptional. In 2024, most Universities are "High School 2: Away from Home". The article basically says as much, but the headline really smells like it's trying to make the "people are getting dumber" case.
- marklubi 3y ago> the headline really smells like it's trying to make the "people are getting dumber" case. It's from Big Think, so it's likely clickbait. There's so much clickbait on HN lately that I've started checking the domain name before clicking through.
- s1artibartfast 3y agoThere are also a number of studies that observe similar trends in the general population.