NEW 𧡠Is human intelligence starting to decline?
Recent results from major international tests show that the average personβs capacity to process information, use reasoning and solve novel problems has been falling since around the mid 2010s
What should we make of this?
https://www.ft.com/content/a8016c64-63b7-458b-a371-e0e1c54a13fc
Recent results from major international tests show that the average personβs capacity to process information, use reasoning and solve novel problems has been falling since around the mid 2010s
What should we make of this?
https://www.ft.com/content/a8016c64-63b7-458b-a371-e0e1c54a13fc
Comments
Empirical validation of the readily apparent!
Thank you, science!! β€οΈπ
I doubt that much research will be supported during the trump regime, so perhaps these questions will not be answered n any time scale that matters.
As the teens represented here grow older, I would watch for additional evidence that reinforces or refutes this data.
Full disclosure: I misspelled stupider, and also misspelled somehow(?!), before the phone fixed the spelling of both automatically. Doh!
happy reading,
Lud
https://adhdwisdomtools.substack.com
JUST WAIT & SEE...........
Lack of need 4 knowledge
Sars-cov-2
Nobody would choose that once, let alone twice.
Suspect itβs the latter which makes interpretation more difficultβ¦ but interesting nonetheless.
π€
No chimp ever had to deal with as much input as we do now. People's neurotransmitter levels are sky high from energy drinks, extreme everything, work stress, etc.
Is there a comparison of these declines vs amount of rec time/relaxation? GREAT posts! Thanks
reliance on computers
microplastics in the brain
embrace of anti-science and knowledge in the general population as encouraged by a deliberate campaign of disinformation
a stupid citizenry is a controllable one
But there is growing evidence that the extent to which people can practically apply that capacity has been diminishing.
But one source that has consistently tracked this is the Monitoring The Future survey, which finds a steep rise in the % of people struggling to concentrate or learn new things.
However the established trend in test performance is clear and reliable.
Something is going on.
I would recommend Johann Hariβs Stolen Focus.
This suggests a broader erosion in peopleβs capacity for mental focus and application.
The shares of adults in high-income countries who are unable to use mathematical reasoning when evaluating simple statements, or who struggle to integrate multiple bits of information from a piece of text, have climbed to 25 per cent.
It was extraordinary and terrifying in equal measure. Makes one realise cream doesn't always rise to the top.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/mar/06/new-poll-finds-40-of-britons-have-not-read-a-book-in-the-past-year
https://youtu.be/sP2tUW0HDHA?si=x2a6fCVaK28slvpk
https://bsky.app/profile/watershed-i.bsky.social/post/3lkdm6rdrbc26
Like, watch a video on differentials and that was supposed to be advanced understanding back in the 50's. It's still complex today, but it's foundational instead.
Seriously, though, if razorbill chicks brains are affected by marine microplastics, how are ours not?
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/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.forbes.com/sites/charlestowersclark/2025/03/14/how-ai-changes-critical-thinking-new-microsoft-research-findings/
β¦like, duh
And they state "Performance in mathematics dropped sharply in 2022 on average across OECD countries after remaining stable in 2003-2018."
First obvious question: why are adults sitting these tests? Are they randomly selected or consistent year on year?
How big are the error bars per year?
Our systems need stress to stimulate the adaptation of fitness.
We can also rely on it to do the information processing for us.
AI will make it worse, unfortunately.
It was already predicted by 2006
.
.
anyway I'm going back to scrolling