A popular tv show is "Ow My Balls!" in which male contestants are kicked in their junk for audience amusement, and the President of the United States, a former porn star and professional wrestler, drinks 40oz. beers on his monster truck and fires high-powered weaponry into the air. The movie is hilarious and quotable- and some would say prescient.
A 2013 Huffington Post article echoes this same concept of intelligence decline due to intelligent people having fewer children, and a more recent DailyMail article is citing other research to show how IQ's are dropping around the world by about 1 percentage point (but still it's a drop).
Looking at current trends in pop culture and the onslaught of things like text language (WTF?) it can be a little scary to think that scientists are telling us that we're slowly getting dumber by the year. It doesn't help to know that some of those scientists even believe that we've reached our genetic potential and we're bound to start seeing the decline happen now.
There's a few problems I have with all of this. The concept of IQ as an indicator of a person's intelligence level is flawed. Originally, the IQ test was developed to measure how well a child was able to do in school in order to determine which children needed assistance. It wasn't a way to find out how smart a person was and that's that. It never was intended to mean that your IQ is fixed, and that you'll never become more or less intelligent than you were at the time of the test. In fact, it was meant to give teachers a way to identify which students needed help becoming more intelligent.
Are IQ tests a true measure of intelligence? There are numerous categories that are tested for and anyone can practice the skills for each category and increase their test scores, therefore raising their IQ. But would that mean that they are more intelligent? Without getting into the semantics of what intelligence is, I will say that I have met more than a few people that were members of the genius MENSA Society, and while they were smart people with a lot of knowledge, they weren't exactly the most clever. MENSA members can still be easily taken by well-crafted propaganda and unchecked personal beliefs. They're not often the most street smart, either, and their people skills and sense of humour can leave something to be desired.
I know, I know, I'm totally generalizing, but I'm also reporting on my own personal experience. There are plenty of personable and street smart geniuses and idiots alike, but intellectuals have a tendency to be boring and dry, let's be honest. And the less intelligent amongst us are often times the most lovable. Where they lack in brains they excel in heart, often using their "gift of gab" and personality to get things done, rather than rational planning and abstract, intellectual dialogue. I like to promote a healthy balance of intellect and charm, to seek the best of both worlds. In fact, I think that true genius should be measured in both directions- head and heart.
Another factor that isn't taken into consideration in this intelligence debate is the cultural context that is currently surrounding us. Technology has become an almost indispensable part of our lives, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's making us any more intelligent or wise. We have smart phones but stupid people. Distraction is everywhere and, especially for the children born into this techno-culture, is getting hardwired into our brains. Attention spans get shorter and shorter, the ability for emotional depth becomes limited, and language is shortened, bastardized, and LOL'd. The brain is a genius engine but it needs proper neural networks to optimize its potential, and 24 hour YouTube videos and outdated educational methods are not going to give it the structure that it needs.
And that's the last thing I want to mention, our educational methods. While I don't have a degree in modern educational practice, I have school aged children and I've been doing research of my own into what is being taught nowadays, and how it is being taught. There is a growing interest in the field of Educational Neuroscience, as well as the studies of Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE), but in general our pedagogical practices are way behind the curve and are not producing the results that I know are possible. There are other factors such as large class sizes and over-administration that get in the way of innovation, but there are also so many new techniques and perspectives that many teachers are unaware of (or they've just been presented a very watered down version of them at some boring Professional Development seminar). As we go forward in this 21st Century, I think it's important that we look at what neuroscience is telling us about the brain, and that we also look to what we find works with students and with ourselves to become better learners, and more optimized geniuses. Intuition and taking risks should be standard protocol, what works best isn't what used to work, or what someone with a degree says will work. And parents need to absorb these cutting edge practices just as much as the teachers do!
So, to sum this all up from my perspective, while it may be true that IQs are dropping, an IQ isn't a final verdict on a person's intelligence, intelligence can be increased or decreased through practice or disuse, and before we even begin to say that people are getting stupider we must understand the context in which people are being educated as well as the methods used to educate them.
It is my hope that going forward, our educational practices will offset any cultural influences that cause a drop in average intelligence, and maybe even see a slow and steady rise on the whole. It would be funny to see our culture descend more into the world of Idiocracy, but only funny in the sense that you laugh as your soul dies because that's all you can do to keep from crying.
For more perspective on the genius mindset and skills for cultivating your potential:
Mindset by Carol Dweck (Explains the falsehood of the "fixed" mindset and explains the science behind the "growth" mindset. It's true, we can all be geniuses!)
Learning Skills and the Trivium (My own essay, and while it's the first thing I wrote in ten years and is thus poorly written, the skills section highlights many techniques that anyone can incorporate into their practice to optimize their genius.)
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