3 ms·

Beyond the Flynn Effect (2006)

36 points by tokenadult 12y ago

carsongross 12y ago
The mental retardation paradox is the most humorous indictment of the popular understanding (amongst upper-middles, anyway) of the Flynn Effect. One need only look at the quality and quantity of fin de siecle science, engineering, letters and arts to retire the concept with uproarious laughter.
a8da6b0c91d 12y ago
Egalitarians need the Flynn Effect. They are very bothered by the reams of data showing IQ is over 70% heritable and group differences are persistent over generations. The Flynn Effect is more comforting and makes it possible to wave your hands and say IQs are rising. Nevermind that Flynn is just some random Political Scientist, not a Psychologist or psychometric expert, or genetics expert. And also nevermind that Flynn is active in left wing organizations.
- api 12y ago
  I'm a liberal who kind of agrees with you. If you want to change some miserable condition of the world, you don't start by denying reality. You start by acknowledging the way things are, and then you start thinking creatively about how one might go about changing things. ... which leads me to be an ardent supporter of all kinds of research that often falls under the popular banner of "transhumanism" -- human genetic engineering, cognitive enhancement, augmentation of human intelligence, etc. I also think a great way to "sell" that kind of research is to position it as a way to treat severe cognitive impairment. After all, if we can allow someone born with an IQ of 50 to function normally, what can we do for someone with an IQ of 100? 150? Unfortunately that makes me a lonely liberal indeed. Most liberals today insist on simultaneously ignoring the reality of heritable inequality and taking a naturalistic-fallacy based position against any form of human augmentation or genetic tinkering. "No GMO!" The total takeover of the "left" by naturalistic fallacy thinking is insane. Where in nature do we see equality, fairness, or an active attempt to uplift the disadvantaged outside of very small family and kin groups? Nature is all about selfish genes. Evolution takes some meat, wads it up, and throws it at the wall to see if it sticks. Never mind that it's sentient and gets to experience its success or its failure. Fuck nature.
tokenadult 12y ago
The first two comments here make me wonder how many people will read the submission through to the end. Please do. This is one of the most clear online presentations of what the Flynn effect is all about. (By contrast, the Wikipedia article is still TERRIBLE.) Contrary to what the second comment posted says, Flynn is a very highly regarded researcher on psychology. Arthur Jensen wrote in 1987, in his festschrift Arthur Jensen: Consensus and Controversy "Now and then I am asked by colleagues, students, and journalists: who, in my opinion, are the most respectable critics of my position on the race-IQ issue? The name James R. Flynn is by far the first that comes to mind. His book, Race, IQ and Jensen (1980), is a distinguished contribution to the literature on this topic, and, among the critiques I have seen of my position, is virtually in a class by itself for objectivity, thoroughness, and scholarly integrity." And Charles Murray, surviving author of The Bell Curve, wrote in his back cover description of Flynn's 2007 book What Is Intelligence? "This book is a gold mine of pointers to interesting work, much of which was new to me. All of us who wrestle with the extraordinarily difficult questions about intelligence that Flynn discusses are in his debt." Not everyone knows yet that IQ test scores have been rising steadily around the world throughout the century when IQ tests have been in common use in the developed world. Further gains in IQ are expected in most developing countries, although some developed countries (notably, those in Scandinavia) may be seeing the end of this trend. This phenomenon of IQ test scores rising over time ("secular increase in intelligence," from the point of view of psychologists) is these days called "the Flynn effect" since Herrnstein and Murray referred to it that way in the 1994 book The Bell Curve. That terminology has become mainstream because Flynn was the researcher who did the most to raise awareness of the phenomenon and confirm it across data sets from all over the world. Flynn had some important publications in the flagship psychology research journal in the United States, Psychological Bulletin,[1] that are widely cited to this day. The 2006 lecture text linked here is Flynn discussing the implications of the rise of IQ scores, what they mean for the definition of human intelligence and what societal changes we can expect to go along with rising IQ. AFTER EDIT: I don't fully agree with Flynn's political opinions, but he expresses them very thoughtfully, while introducing a lot of interesting data I don't see often mentioned in other books on social policy, in his book Where Have All the Liberals Gone?[2] I liked that book a lot better and learned more from it than I expected to. [1] Flynn, J. R. (1984). The mean IQ of Americans: Massive gains 1932 to 1978. Psychological bulletin, 95(1), 29. http://www.iapsych.com/iqmr/fe/LinkedDocuments/flynn1984b.pdf http://www.iapsych.com/iqmr/fe/LinkedDocuments/flynn1984b.pd... Flynn, J. R. (1987). Massive IQ gains in 14 nations: What IQ tests really measure. Psychological bulletin, 101(2), 171. http://www.iapsych.com/iqmr/fe/LinkedDocuments/flynn1987.pdf http://www.iapsych.com/iqmr/fe/LinkedDocuments/flynn1987.pdf [2] http://www.cambridge.org/tn/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/american-government-politics-and-policy/where-have-all-liberals-gone-race-class-and-ideals-america http://www.cambridge.org/tn/academic/subjects/politics-inter...
spiritplumber 12y ago
I was hoping this to be about Kevin, rather than James... oh well.
ZeroGravitas 12y ago
Here's a related question: why are race and IQ so intertwined? It seems to me that if you believe IQ is important, and that IQ tests can measure it accurately, then why deal with races at all? Just administer the test to individuals. It seems strange to be that concerned about IQ and then decide to give a low IQ individual the benefit of being arbitrarily grouped with higher IQ individuals, or vice versa,
- vegedor 12y ago
  Well sure, but what if you are someone on the internet who want's to bad mouth people he has no chance of ever meeting? See, I'm not saying that only slanderous comments would remark on the Flynn effect, I only mean that in the absence of chance to test a group of individuals, one might feel pressed to estimate. However, you justified doubt about the accuracy, very well.

36 points by tokenadult 12y ago

The mental retardation paradox is the most humorous indictment of the popular understanding (amongst upper-middles, anyway) of the Flynn Effect. One need only look at the quality and quantity of fin de siecle science, engineering, letters and arts to retire the concept with uproarious laughter.

a8da6b0c91d 12y ago

Egalitarians need the Flynn Effect. They are very bothered by the reams of data showing IQ is over 70% heritable and group differences are persistent over generations. The Flynn Effect is more comforting and makes it possible to wave your hands and say IQs are rising. Nevermind that Flynn is just some random Political Scientist, not a Psychologist or psychometric expert, or genetics expert. And also nevermind that Flynn is active in left wing organizations.

api 12y ago
I'm a liberal who kind of agrees with you. If you want to change some miserable condition of the world, you don't start by denying reality. You start by acknowledging the way things are, and then you start thinking creatively about how one might go about changing things. ... which leads me to be an ardent supporter of all kinds of research that often falls under the popular banner of "transhumanism" -- human genetic engineering, cognitive enhancement, augmentation of human intelligence, etc. I also think a great way to "sell" that kind of research is to position it as a way to treat severe cognitive impairment. After all, if we can allow someone born with an IQ of 50 to function normally, what can we do for someone with an IQ of 100? 150? Unfortunately that makes me a lonely liberal indeed. Most liberals today insist on simultaneously ignoring the reality of heritable inequality and taking a naturalistic-fallacy based position against any form of human augmentation or genetic tinkering. "No GMO!" The total takeover of the "left" by naturalistic fallacy thinking is insane. Where in nature do we see equality, fairness, or an active attempt to uplift the disadvantaged outside of very small family and kin groups? Nature is all about selfish genes. Evolution takes some meat, wads it up, and throws it at the wall to see if it sticks. Never mind that it's sentient and gets to experience its success or its failure. Fuck nature.

tokenadult 12y ago

The first two comments here make me wonder how many people will read the submission through to the end. Please do. This is one of the most clear online presentations of what the Flynn effect is all about. (By contrast, the Wikipedia article is still TERRIBLE.) Contrary to what the second comment posted says, Flynn is a very highly regarded researcher on psychology. Arthur Jensen wrote in 1987, in his festschrift Arthur Jensen: Consensus and Controversy "Now and then I am asked by colleagues, students, and journalists: who, in my opinion, are the most respectable critics of my position on the race-IQ issue? The name James R. Flynn is by far the first that comes to mind. His book, Race, IQ and Jensen (1980), is a distinguished contribution to the literature on this topic, and, among the critiques I have seen of my position, is virtually in a class by itself for objectivity, thoroughness, and scholarly integrity." And Charles Murray, surviving author of The Bell Curve, wrote in his back cover description of Flynn's 2007 book What Is Intelligence? "This book is a gold mine of pointers to interesting work, much of which was new to me. All of us who wrestle with the extraordinarily difficult questions about intelligence that Flynn discusses are in his debt." Not everyone knows yet that IQ test scores have been rising steadily around the world throughout the century when IQ tests have been in common use in the developed world. Further gains in IQ are expected in most developing countries, although some developed countries (notably, those in Scandinavia) may be seeing the end of this trend. This phenomenon of IQ test scores rising over time ("secular increase in intelligence," from the point of view of psychologists) is these days called "the Flynn effect" since Herrnstein and Murray referred to it that way in the 1994 book The Bell Curve. That terminology has become mainstream because Flynn was the researcher who did the most to raise awareness of the phenomenon and confirm it across data sets from all over the world. Flynn had some important publications in the flagship psychology research journal in the United States, Psychological Bulletin,[1] that are widely cited to this day. The 2006 lecture text linked here is Flynn discussing the implications of the rise of IQ scores, what they mean for the definition of human intelligence and what societal changes we can expect to go along with rising IQ. AFTER EDIT: I don't fully agree with Flynn's political opinions, but he expresses them very thoughtfully, while introducing a lot of interesting data I don't see often mentioned in other books on social policy, in his book Where Have All the Liberals Gone?[2] I liked that book a lot better and learned more from it than I expected to. [1] Flynn, J. R. (1984). The mean IQ of Americans: Massive gains 1932 to 1978. Psychological bulletin, 95(1), 29. http://www.iapsych.com/iqmr/fe/LinkedDocuments/flynn1984b.pdf http://www.iapsych.com/iqmr/fe/LinkedDocuments/flynn1984b.pd... Flynn, J. R. (1987). Massive IQ gains in 14 nations: What IQ tests really measure. Psychological bulletin, 101(2), 171. http://www.iapsych.com/iqmr/fe/LinkedDocuments/flynn1987.pdf http://www.iapsych.com/iqmr/fe/LinkedDocuments/flynn1987.pdf [2] http://www.cambridge.org/tn/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/american-government-politics-and-policy/where-have-all-liberals-gone-race-class-and-ideals-america http://www.cambridge.org/tn/academic/subjects/politics-inter...

spiritplumber 12y ago

I was hoping this to be about Kevin, rather than James... oh well.

ZeroGravitas 12y ago

Here's a related question: why are race and IQ so intertwined? It seems to me that if you believe IQ is important, and that IQ tests can measure it accurately, then why deal with races at all? Just administer the test to individuals. It seems strange to be that concerned about IQ and then decide to give a low IQ individual the benefit of being arbitrarily grouped with higher IQ individuals, or vice versa,

vegedor 12y ago
Well sure, but what if you are someone on the internet who want's to bad mouth people he has no chance of ever meeting? See, I'm not saying that only slanderous comments would remark on the Flynn effect, I only mean that in the absence of chance to test a group of individuals, one might feel pressed to estimate. However, you justified doubt about the accuracy, very well.