Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Average IQ scores seem to have been falling and population ageing may be why

newscientist.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 171 posts

Re: Average IQ scores seem to have been falling and population ageing may be why

#41

Post by Idontknowmyuser »

subroutine wrote: post #8

It seems like with just a bit more effort the authors could have made a stronger case for their theory that aging is significantly impacting IQ scores by comparing IQ scores among people of the same age (e.g. 20-30 year olds) from decade to decade. They could also look at how IQ changes over a lifespan; there must be some within-subject data available where the same people took an IQ test when they were 60.

You only do enough research to get the p values just right so you can publish. Scientists are not rewarded for more investigations that might weaken their theory.

Re: Average IQ scores seem to have been falling and population ageing may be why

#42

Post by danieltillett »

Idontknowmyuser wrote: post #38
danieltillett wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Older men having children probably does reduce the IQ of future generations given they will pass on more mutations, but no this is not what I meant. Think of all the people you know, think of how smart each person is, and then count up how many children each person has. Unless you you know a very small number of people I think you will see what I mean.

this seems to contradict what you're saying: http://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/older-men-have-geek...

The older men who have the opportunity to have children are not representative of all older men. The average 50 year old man is not having children, just the small percentage partnered to much young women. Have a guess what attributes they might have?

Re: Average IQ scores seem to have been falling and population ageing may be why

#44

Post by danieltillett »

Ygg2 wrote: post #35
danieltillett wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Older men having children probably does reduce the IQ of future generations given they will pass on more mutations, but no this is not what I meant. Think of all the people you know, think of how smart each person is, and then count up how many children each person has. Unless you you know a very small number of people I think you will see what I mean.

Yeah, but your explanation conflicts with the article explanation.

Not at all as there are two effects going on.

You become dumber as you get older (I unfortunately know this from personal experience), while the average intelligence of each generational cohort can also be changing through differential reproduction.

Re: Average IQ scores seem to have been falling and population ageing may be why

#46

Post by justinclift »

jrimbault wrote: post #11
asfdsfggtfd wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A stutter is a disability not a sign of lack of intelligence/education.

He didn't stutter when speaking. He just couldn't read as fast as he was talking so he had to stop every few syllables. In other words, he was 17 and couldn't read fluently. But he wasn't stupid. He was quite conscientious about his side business and bookkeeping. ps: I stuttered when I was a child.

Any chance he's dyslexic or similar? That description kind of sounds like it.

Re: Average IQ scores seem to have been falling and population ageing may be why

#47

Post by [deleted] »

amelius wrote: post #27
terminalcommand wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think being wise and being intelligent are different qualities. You might solve a puzzle in shorter time if you're intelligent, or remember more things. But if you're wise you will spend your energy to solve the right puzzle and remember the right things.

How do we measure wisdom? Is there a "WQ test"?

[deleted]

Re: Average IQ scores seem to have been falling and population ageing may be why

#48

Post by thriftwy »

titanix2 wrote: post #43

I can’t access the original study (sci-hub too slow), which countries are affected by the effect and which aren’t? It would be interesting if China, Japan, Korea aren’t affected while Western countries are.

At least Japan and South Korea are going to be hit by more severe problem: They'll have much fewer people to even take those IQ tests.

Re: Average IQ scores seem to have been falling and population ageing may be why

#49

Post by jrimbault »

danieltillett wrote: post #33
jrimbault wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you, I edited my original comment.

Not a problem. English is an easy language to begin, but a very hard one to master.

I knew the correct word and expression, I just didn't have it in mind at the right time ^^

I've read and written in English everyday for 10 years. I just can't speak it. One day I realized most news article I read were only translations of other articles. So I decided to skip the middle man.

Post reply on HN