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The total IQ on the planet remains constant even as the number of people increase, I guess. Although I really wasn't expecting the average to go down this fast-

by rcarmo 2y ago

The total IQ on the planet remains constant even as the number of people increase, I guess. Although I really wasn't expecting the average to go down this fast--consider the idealistic and rationally thorough political speeches of the 70s and 80s, and the way things went quickly downhill from there... As someone said, it's no wonder The Matrix chose the 90s as the peak of human civilization.

deleted 2y ago
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mkleczek 2y ago
> The total IQ on the planet remains constant even as the number of people increase IQ, (from “intelligence quotient”), is a number used to express the relative intelligence of a person. So for the whole population it is constant by definition :)
graycat 2y ago
The recent political speeches at the economic clubs of Detroit and Chicago were a little deeper than Dick and Jane! Also 21 Nobel Prize economists found the content to be deep enough to disagree!
- 082349872349872 2y ago
  Yes, I picked SOTU because that's a general audience, unlike economic clubs. And heading in the direction of Dick and Jane doesn't mean that we ever reached it; according to https://community.jmp.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/8926i1237173D264CDB4F/image-dimensions/750x544?v=v2 https://community.jmp.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/8926i... recent SOTUs should be comprehensible to high school freshmen. (full discussion at https://community.jmp.com/t5/JMPer-Cable/Regression-to-model-the-State-of-the-Union-trend/ba-p/49642 https://community.jmp.com/t5/JMPer-Cable/Regression-to-model... ; through 2018 — anyone have 2022?) EDIT: keep in mind that the expected "general" audience for the SOTU has also expanded dramatically due to technological change in between 1790 and 2018...
samatman 2y ago
I'll be generous and pretend you said intelligence, not IQ. What is the mechanism you propose, by which the birth of a child makes every person now living incrementally dumber?
- MarkusQ 2y ago
  Personal anecdote only, but I'd suggest lack of sleep. Every time a kid is born, the total amount of quality sleep extant adults get drops. (Kids, if you ever see this, I'm not saying it wasn't worth it. But seriously, 2AM every night for months?)

by rcarmo 2y ago

deleted 2y ago

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mkleczek 2y ago

> The total IQ on the planet remains constant even as the number of people increase IQ, (from “intelligence quotient”), is a number used to express the relative intelligence of a person. So for the whole population it is constant by definition :)

graycat 2y ago

The recent political speeches at the economic clubs of Detroit and Chicago were a little deeper than Dick and Jane! Also 21 Nobel Prize economists found the content to be deep enough to disagree!

082349872349872 2y ago
Yes, I picked SOTU because that's a general audience, unlike economic clubs. And heading in the direction of Dick and Jane doesn't mean that we ever reached it; according to https://community.jmp.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/8926i1237173D264CDB4F/image-dimensions/750x544?v=v2 https://community.jmp.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/8926i... recent SOTUs should be comprehensible to high school freshmen. (full discussion at https://community.jmp.com/t5/JMPer-Cable/Regression-to-model-the-State-of-the-Union-trend/ba-p/49642 https://community.jmp.com/t5/JMPer-Cable/Regression-to-model... ; through 2018 — anyone have 2022?) EDIT: keep in mind that the expected "general" audience for the SOTU has also expanded dramatically due to technological change in between 1790 and 2018...

samatman 2y ago

I'll be generous and pretend you said intelligence, not IQ. What is the mechanism you propose, by which the birth of a child makes every person now living incrementally dumber?

MarkusQ 2y ago
Personal anecdote only, but I'd suggest lack of sleep. Every time a kid is born, the total amount of quality sleep extant adults get drops. (Kids, if you ever see this, I'm not saying it wasn't worth it. But seriously, 2AM every night for months?)