Maybe this is causing all the crazy.

[Phlem]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/22/people-getting-dumber-human-intelligence-victoria-era_n_3293846.html

yeay us!

-p

[Warpy]

1. Oh, dear, I see eugenics rearing its ugly head again

and proving no idea is bad enough to be permanently discarded.

"What exactly explains this decline? Study co-author Dr. Jan te Nijenhuis, professor of work and organizational psychology at the University of Amsterdam, points to the fact that women of high intelligence tend to have fewer children than do women of lower intelligence. This negative association between I.Q. and fertility has been demonstrated time and again in research over the last century," fails to recognize that a lot of men with high IQs prefer wives who are smart enough to keep the house clean and keep the kids alive but far too dumb to keep up with the conversation with colleagues.

Things generally even out, in any case, and people with astonishing abilities seemingly come out of nowhere quite frequently, or did before we got into such a horrible state of class rigidity and diminished opportunity for all but the wealthy.

[Phlem]

3. I know.

But I cannot personally can not stand not being able to have an intelligent conversation with a friend, but especially my wife. What sucks is I have to do all the house work.

[TygrBright]

4. Yep. Right on time.

Last round was when that "Bell Curve" crap was all over and the notion of requiring birth control for welfare recipients was mooted about in the late 1970s, early 1980s.

The only thing on the "credit" side of the ledger for the blastocyst-worshippers is having put paid to that crap.

disgustedly,
Bright

[Cirque du So-What]

2. Perhaps it's because humans are using their brains differently

Consider that in the Victorian era, there were no computers, no smart phones, no calculators. People had to keep much more of the important everyday information in their heads than nowadays. Before the invention of the printing press, it was even harder to keep all the info they needed readily at hand, so they resorted to mnemonic devices like the 'memory gallery,' where data was sorted - in their mind - into a long gallery that branched off into separate compartments, each containing specific types of facts. Consider the minstrels of the middle ages, who could memorize all the words to songs with 24 stanzas or epic poetry comprising 100s of lines. Then consider how helpless some modern people are when they don't have access to their smart phone.

As I mentioned, our brains must be used in different ways nowadays. In a contest between a troubador from the middle ages and a modern person to memorize the lyrics to every song Katy Perry ever performed, I know who'd I choose. By the same token, I know who I'd pick in a contest to see who could enter the entire text of Beowulf using a smart phone keyboard - even if it was still in Middle English.

[Phlem]

5. True but

I have read an opinion about how the citizen in the US treat their voting responsibility and information consumed politically from a , I think it was a Czechoslovakian.

" It's a luxury we cannot afford in our country. " I took that to mean that every citizen absolutely needs to be informed and politically savy.

I wish every citizen in the US felt the same way.



-p

[Cirque du So-What]

6. You're right in that regard

Too many complacent people. Hate to say it, but I believe it'll take something catastrophic, both on a widespread and on a personal level, to shake people to the point that they finally start paying attention. I just hope that, by that point, it's not too late.

[datasuspect]

7. because brawndo has electrolytes?

[Phlem]

8. you mean

"wreck your pants like the incredible hulk" Brawndo?



-p

[siligut]

9. Inaccurate headline and conclusion

Reaction time reflects a person's mental processing speed, and so is considered an indication of general intelligence.

---snip---

In the late 19th Century, visual reaction times averaged around 194 milliseconds, the analysis showed. In 2004 that time had grown to 275 milliseconds. Even though the machine gauging reaction time in the late 19th Century was less sophisticated than that used in recent years, Dr. te Nijenhuis told The Huffington Post that the old data is directly comparable to modern data.

---snip---

Other research has suggested an apparent rise in I.Q. scores since the 1940s, a phenomenon known as the Flynn Effect. But Dr. te Nijenhuis suggested the Flynn Effect reflects the influence of environmental factors -- such as better education, hygiene and nutrition -- and may mask the true decline in genetically inherited intelligence in the Western world.

So, this cheesy conclusion is reached by amplifying the value of one possible measure of intelligence, which may or may not matter when combined with other measurements. While completely dismissing a more complete study which uses a spectrum of indicators.

[Phlem]

10. I'm sure there are holes in his conclusions

and I assumed the article as a general observation not an accurate one. As with all hypothesis, observation and tests will refine the data and it's conclusion.

I'm just glad it's posted for all to see so that we may try just a little harder than succumb to mental laziness that's been growing all around me for years.

Excuse me for my ignorance but I was curious where you drew this conclusion from. "So, this cheesy conclusion is reached by amplifying the value of one possible measure of intelligence". Were you getting this from the response time?



-p

[siligut]

11. Generalized conclusion drawn from a single criterion

I called it cheesy because I am irritated.

[Phlem]

12. I hear ya buddy.

I get that way on DU too.

Take care and I hope you a better day.



-p