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I feel like the world has lost 30 IQ points over the last two years. I can’t think of a better way to describe it, the dumbing down of everything is palpable an

I feel like the world has lost 30 IQ points over the last two years. I can’t think of a better way to describe it, the dumbing down of everything is palpable and accelerating.

mmarian 3mo ago
IQ levels are same as before, it's just easier to spot differences.
- dr_dshiv 3mo ago
  Oddly, getting spotted for being dumb might be intelligent. As I click another AI generated ad to tell which company could possibly have so little integrity…
- Barrin92 3mo ago
  IQ levels have decreased in the 21st century, it's known as the reverse Flynn effect, Norway did a large scale study on almost a million people because they have a lot of military data and accounting for genetics IQ peaked for people roughly born in the late 70s and has been declining since. We've actually wiped out a fair amount of 20th century gains in intelligence.
  - dredmorbius 3mo ago
    Oddly: this coincides with the period in which leaded petrol has largely been phased out on most countries. The use of lead in motor-vehicle fuel is though to have shaved a few points off IQ by itself. Much as with some other widespread phenomena that come to mind, it's an observed trend the reverse of what might otherwise be expected.
    - iamnothere 3mo ago
      Lead exposure can damage the reproductive system, so perhaps it’s to be expected if a whole generation of parents were exposed to leaded gasoline. Theoretically this effect would wear off with the next generation, unless there was durable damage to genetics that gets passed on. A cursory search suggests this may be possible, but I’m not a biologist or geneticist.
      - dredmorbius 3mo ago
        My read is that whatever benefits lead reduction is conveying are being compensated for in greater magnitude, in the opposite direction, by other factors. Those might be behavioural, cultural, environmental substances, information/media stressors, or others. More research is needed....
  - tptacek 3mo ago
    "Accounting for genetics"?
dredmorbius 3mo ago
And it had already lost about 30 points through mobile devices and touchscreens, as I've commented before: See: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37521911 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37521911>, also <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42787831 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42787831> and <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38659367 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38659367> For the past several years (since at least 2020, if not a few years earlier), I've commented/posted to HN exclusively from desktop systems. The bad news is that this is as good as it gets ;-)

I feel like the world has lost 30 IQ points over the last two years. I can’t think of a better way to describe it, the dumbing down of everything is palpable and accelerating.

mmarian 3mo ago

IQ levels are same as before, it's just easier to spot differences.

dr_dshiv 3mo ago
Oddly, getting spotted for being dumb might be intelligent. As I click another AI generated ad to tell which company could possibly have so little integrity…
Barrin92 3mo ago
IQ levels have decreased in the 21st century, it's known as the reverse Flynn effect, Norway did a large scale study on almost a million people because they have a lot of military data and accounting for genetics IQ peaked for people roughly born in the late 70s and has been declining since. We've actually wiped out a fair amount of 20th century gains in intelligence.
- dredmorbius 3mo ago
  Oddly: this coincides with the period in which leaded petrol has largely been phased out on most countries. The use of lead in motor-vehicle fuel is though to have shaved a few points off IQ by itself. Much as with some other widespread phenomena that come to mind, it's an observed trend the reverse of what might otherwise be expected.
  - iamnothere 3mo ago
    Lead exposure can damage the reproductive system, so perhaps it’s to be expected if a whole generation of parents were exposed to leaded gasoline. Theoretically this effect would wear off with the next generation, unless there was durable damage to genetics that gets passed on. A cursory search suggests this may be possible, but I’m not a biologist or geneticist.
    - dredmorbius 3mo ago
      My read is that whatever benefits lead reduction is conveying are being compensated for in greater magnitude, in the opposite direction, by other factors. Those might be behavioural, cultural, environmental substances, information/media stressors, or others. More research is needed....
- tptacek 3mo ago
  "Accounting for genetics"?

dredmorbius 3mo ago

And it had already lost about 30 points through mobile devices and touchscreens, as I've commented before: See: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37521911 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37521911>, also <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42787831 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42787831> and <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38659367 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38659367> For the past several years (since at least 2020, if not a few years earlier), I've commented/posted to HN exclusively from desktop systems. The bad news is that this is as good as it gets ;-)