Surprise, surprise, there's mounting evidence that our IQs are falling. "The behaviors that have taken off in recent years affect everything from our ability to process verbal information, attention, working memory and self-regulation." My colleague @jburnmurdoch.ft.com www.ft.com/content/a801... - ThreadSky

edwardluce.bsky.social • 56 days ago

Surprise, surprise, there's mounting evidence that our IQs are falling. "The behaviors that have taken off in recent years affect everything from our ability to process verbal information, attention, working memory and self-regulation." My colleague @jburnmurdoch.ft.com https://www.ft.com/content/a8016c64-63b7-458b-a371-e0e1c54a13fc

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mcrbird.bsky.social•56 days ago

I suggest that you read the New York Magazine’s article about microplastics in the brain.

scale-theory.bsky.social•55 days ago

Yes, if you call "advancement" detrimental to our very existence, we never had much brain power to begin with.

Also look into drugs in food, (ultra processed) wireless everywhere with so many different EMS frequencies, the fabric of space filled with EMS cosmic "noise" we call it; it ain't noise.

justinbeach.ca•56 days ago

I suspect that it's for the same reason we've become fatter - lack of exercise. When I grew up in the 70s/80s if you had a problem you had to solve it using brain power, creativity and collaboration. Now you just type the problem into a search bar.

justinbeach.ca•56 days ago

In a society that values speed and efficiency and has little room for trial and error, there's no upside to doing anything else.

akrubic.bsky.social•56 days ago

i believe we don't give our brains enough rest

excannbiz.bsky.social•56 days ago

how quickly can extinction happen? next Tuesday too soon?

ngmh.bsky.social•56 days ago

Maybe if people just stop breeding with republicans.

thiafin.bsky.social•56 days ago

I don't buy it. Our educational system is definitely letting us down but IQ measures learning as part of the equation. We've been dumbing down our educational system for decades. And that is what we are now seeing, not our capacity to learn but the quality of our educational system.

d-cym.bsky.social•56 days ago

From my days studying psych 40 years ago, there was a long term study started in the early 1800's monitoring motor skills (which are highly correlated to intelligence) in young men admitted to a particular school. The peak occurred in the 40's with a steady decline after. Likely hasn't changed.

edgarallandoh.bsky.social•56 days ago

Also.https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/12/plastic-pollution-leaves-seabirds-chicks-with-brain-damage-similar-to-alzheimers-study-aoe

deborah122.bsky.social•56 days ago

Hmmm, correlation vs.causation, blip caused by disruption rather than an actual cognitive decline? Conflict, Covid, out-of-date tests more appropriate for past generations? What would the results be if GenZ and younger were tested on reactions and problem solving based on computer games?

forbestonow.bsky.social•56 days ago

If the study that showed that moderate to severe covid wiped a few IQ points off (in people who had previously been tested) that could get even worse. (The study was obviously not long term so the effects hopefully were temporary).

rjnietubyc.bsky.social•56 days ago

📌

booraemfrancois.bsky.social•55 days ago

much of the problems start with austerity post 2008, phones and social media are only secondary. lockdowns and domestically (here in the us) doge type cuts will compound the problem. https://doi.org/10.1093/ej/uead092

blue-fire1.bsky.social•56 days ago

Duh. It does not surprise me.

d-cym.bsky.social•56 days ago

The available evidence is that intelligence is not an evolutionarily advantageous attribute. Highly intelligent people and highly educated people are less likely to have large numbers of children, if they have any at all.

crary.bsky.social•56 days ago

Can't read behind the paywall, but that's fascinating, as the Flynn Effect has long had our IQs inching upward ever so slowly.

esockslucius.bsky.social•55 days ago

I blame the dank purple kush my neighbor dealer keeps selling me.

jamesbakerstudio.bsky.social•55 days ago

The rock group Devo was right! From Wikipedia: "The name Devo comes from the concept of "de-evolution" ... instead of continuing to evolve, mankind had begun to regress, as evidenced by the dysfunction and herd mentality of American society." That was in 1973. We've come a long way (down) baby!

normanstrasburg.bsky.social•56 days ago

What?

harrowedsparrow.bsky.social•56 days ago

The last election pretty much proved this, didn't it?

cameron-westerner.bsky.social•56 days ago

20 years of relentless social media.

reader-writer.bsky.social•56 days ago

I think the internet and social media have greatly affected our attention spans, which probably affect IQ in some way too.

diffusedwavelength.bsky.social•55 days ago

AI will be the nail in the coffin. Microsoft released this study in Jan ‘25 (iirc)

The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking: Self-Reported
Reductions in Cognitive Effort and Confidence Effects From a
Survey of Knowledge Workers

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/lee_2025_ai_critical_thinking_survey.pdf

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