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American IQ scores have rapidly dropped, proving the 'Reverse Flynn effect'

(www.popularmechanics.com)
256 points hirundo | 1 comments | 10 Apr 23 13:00 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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xkcd1963 ◴[10 Apr 23 22:19 UTC] No.35518082[source]▶
Intelligence can't be generalised.
replies(1): >>35518597 #
8f2ab37a-ed6c ◴[10 Apr 23 23:18 UTC] No.35518597[source]▶
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G_factor_(psychometrics)
replies(1): >>35519275 #
xkcd1963 ◴[11 Apr 23 00:48 UTC] No.35519275[source]▶
You could put the most intelligent person in the Savanna and they would just die, whilst a bushman will survive. Who was smarter in the end?
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ForestCritter ◴[11 Apr 23 03:15 UTC] No.35520321[source]▶
hmmm, but if you have two bushmen, one with a high IQ and one with a low IQ who will better survive. Or what if the most intelligent person in the Savanna was a bushman...So it depends on what you consider intelligence. Critical thinking is part of IQ testing and I would expect a wiley bushman to be good at critical thinking if he is going to survive.
replies(1): >>35533070 #
1. xkcd1963 ◴[11 Apr 23 23:21 UTC] No.35533070[source]▶
Exactly. People that want to apply IQ see it as a general performance metric. But general performance has many different aspects. In the example of the bushman it does not matter how fast you can count the alphabet,.it won't be helping your survival.