The American IQ
It’s another one of those seemingly cynical ideas that have become increasingly discussed these days – the idea that Americans are “getting dumber”. We hear it from family members, coworkers; see it in movies, on TV. Some people look at the notion like a simple punchline or topic for a comedy movie, and others take it a little more seriously. But when it comes down to it, what does that entail? Is it really the truth? If so, how are we dumber? Why are we dumber? This year the US is ranked 19 on a list of the top 25 nations with the the highest average IQs at an average score of 98. We are below a handful of Asian and European nations on the list, with Hong Kong ranked highest at 107. Naturally, on the same study’s listing of nations with the lowest averages you see under-developed nations such as Equatorial Guinea at 59 and Ethiopia at 63. This is obviously due to a difference in development as nations and the varying availability of education and access to educational media.
According to one of the most common IQ test systems, the WISC (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children), about every ten years there is an increase in average IQ scores by 3-or-so points. This correlates with what is called the Flynn effect, which speaks to the increase of average IQs from around the world since the 1930’s based on the updating of standardized testing to maintain an average of 100 points. Simply put, IQ test batteries are updated every so often to try and keep the “average” score as close to 100 as possible. Test samples given the most recent tests and scoring 100 points scored higher across the board when given the predecessor tests. The ethnicity of the test samples also play a role in average results and it is shown that tests containing fewer culture-specific references and images breed higher scores in samples with high ethnic diversity, as they focus more on logical analysis. This can suggest two things; either intelligence is truly on the rise and people are becoming smarter, or people are simply becoming more adept at test taking. These two viewpoints are naturally debated by psychologists as are the possible reasons for either being true.
So what does all this malarkey mean? Well, from the looks of it people aren’t really getting dumber. In fact, statistics suggest we’re getting smarter. So why is it that so many of us find ourselves shaking our heads at others when we’re driving, shopping, or watching TV? What is it about the American culture specifically that makes us seem less refined, more inclined to crime, and less intelligent overall than other nations or Americans of yesteryear? There are no simple answers to these kind of questions; they all delve into other topics and other theories that can be political, moral, philosophical, and down-right controversial. Is it what we’re eating, what we watch on TV, the music we listen to, or the technology we rely on that makes us use our growing mental abilities less? Is it a combination of all those things and more? However you look at it, the basic idea is that if we appear less intelligent it must be just that – our appearance, and not something reflecting our actual aptitude and test scores.
Technology surely must be a factor. Look at all the mental strain we no longer have to go through to remember phone numbers an addresses. No more reading maps now that we have GPS. No more climbing ladders in libraries searching for specific volumes to educate ourselves about specific topics when we can watch YouTube videos that are sometimes just as efficient as a college lecture. There’s even a drastically lessened need for social skills in a time when most all of our communication is done through text. Meeting new people isn’t the stressful experience it once was when all you have to do is look at your “recommended friends” to extend your circle a bit by “adding” or “following” someone new. All of this means we exercise parts of our brains less.
Media factors such as music, movies, TV, advertising; this also must play a roll. For people on the go and who are mentally worn down from working the multiple jobs and overtime needed to support a family in today’s economy the only entertainment that is enjoyable is seemingly mindless comedy and over-the-top action. The music is loud, repetitive, explicit; the TV shows are zany, also explicit, and strikingly similar and uninventive; the movies are full of fancy effects and kick-ass explosions – but what kind of mental stimulation really comes from this? Creative stimulation is one thing, but we’re obviously losing out on other aspects of mental exercise. Most people don’t want to watch documentaries all night after a hard day’s work.
People focus on one thing or another and in the end they are seeming to lose sight of the big ideas. Life is busier and more confusing than ever; we are all bombarded with so much information to take in and so many decisions to make that it’s hard not to get burnt out. How to change that? One can’t quite say. The best we can do is remember that we aren’t unintelligent at our core, we just get caught up in unintelligent ideas. The more we use our minds to create and innovate the better. It’s just sifting through the filler and identifying the things out there that are truly inspirational.
Related posts:
Share This Blog
