The subject of intelligence is fascinating to me. Our family has worked hard to do well in school and we have had some success, but we have no illusions about the idea that we are super intelligent. My peers at work are generally a lot smarter than I; the only reason I get to play in their sandbox is because I have worked in the field longer than the vast bulk of them and have picked up a lot of tricks. Experience is the great equalizer. Charles Murray and Richard Hernnstein wrote a controversial book about it titled The Bell Curve about the impact of race and culture on measured intelligence. My take on that was that if culture has an effect on intelligence, maybe work ethic and dedication to lifetime learning might shove my kids up the intelligence curve a little and make their lives better.
The other day, while reading one of my favorite blogs, down in the comments I saw a reference to an something called the Flynn Effect. Wikipedia describes it this way:
The Flynn effect is the substantial and long-sustained increase in both fluid and crystallized intelligence test scores measured in many parts of the world from roughly 1930 to the present day.
Wikipedia does a pretty good job of describing the effect and it makes good sense, but that very same day I ran into this article that says that with the rise in population, intelligence falls. This article has several more references that back up the idea that idea that intelligence is on the decline and for more reasons than just an increase in population. I am kind of not sure what to think about the whole thing. Probably a good mindset to have on all this is to do something about the things over which I have control–teach my kids a strong work ethic and the importance of lifelong learning.
Betty Blonde #155 – 02/18/2009
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