3 ms·
It's always frustrating when a headline says exactly the opposite of what the article itself does: Headline: > American IQ Scores Have Rapidly Dropped Articl
by sgbeal 2y ago
It's always frustrating when a headline says exactly the opposite of what the article itself does:
Headline:
> American IQ Scores Have Rapidly Dropped
Article:
> Dworak, a research assistant professor at Northwestern University and one of the authors on the study, is very clear that these results don't necessarily mean Americans are getting less intelligent. "It doesn't mean their mental ability is lower or higher; it's just a difference in scores that are favoring older or newer samples," she said in a press release. "It could just be that they’re getting worse at taking tests or specifically worse at taking these kinds of tests."
- xethos 2y agoBut that's... not the opposite? Ms. Dworak doesn't say Americans are getting dumber, just that recent IQ scores are lower. I.E. there has been a drop in IQ scores. This feels pretty straightforward, to the point it feels like I'm missing something?
- sgbeal 2y agoFWIW, i already regret my above comment. In common, everyday English there is an undeniably strong correlation between IQ and intelligence, to the point that the two are often used as synonyms. The article's author certainly knows that and needlessly provokes the reader with the assumption that the average reader (myself included!) will _not_ know that the two terms are _not_ interchangeable.