IQ is IQ, you would say. Yet that is not entirely true. Every generation is smarter than the last, although it seems that in some Western countries it has reached its peak. The IQ is adjusted accordingly. What is the reason for this and what is the situation in the Netherlands now? Are we also getting smarter here? According to Statistics Netherlands (Central Bureau of Statistics), more and more Dutch young people are following a HBO or WO education. This already indicates that we are smarter (or at least more educated) than ever, but there is more.
Adjusting the IQ
The intelligence quotient is a measurement in which the average intelligence is always set at 100. Every ten years the intelligence quotient in the Netherlands increases by three points. Nobody notices this because the average is always adjusted to 100. In the Western world we seem to be getting smarter. However, this is not the case everywhere. IQ is also measured and adjusted in England. Here the IQ has dropped three points compared to ten years ago. The adjustment of the average IQ is called the Flynn effect, after James Flynn, a psychologist from New Zealand who has researched this phenomenon.
The conclusion drawn from this by scientists is that we are at an evolutionary peak in terms of intelligence. Our brains have slowly increased in mass from generation to generation. They now make up two percent of our total body mass. The brain uses twenty percent of all energy in our body. That is a lot, a lot and probably also the reason that our brains can no longer grow. More growth means even more energy consumption. When we have indeed reached the top, the question is whether England has set the trend. Will the future generation become less intelligent? In any case, it seems that the top has also been reached in Norway, where there is no longer any growth.
Reasons we are getting smarter
Better nutrition, better living conditions and better health certainly contribute to a higher IQ. We have also come to consider intelligence more and more important, which means that children are mentally stimulated and challenged more than before. It is also striking that some children generally score slightly higher.
Steven Berlin Johnson wrote a book in 2005 called Everything Bad Is Good for You. According to this book, our contemporary culture is responsible for the development of our minds. According to him, we owe our higher IQ to the computer and to watching TV. By watching TV we are forced to pay attention, make connections and adjust theories, and by playing computer games we learn to switch quickly and devise strategies. He also claimed that watching soap operas with complicated social relationships can positively influence one’s emotional intelligence.
His ideas are highlighted by Wired magazine. This magazine is about technology and its influence on culture, economics and politics.
This is not to say that Steven Berlin Johnson and Wired magazine are advocating unlimited gaming and TV viewing. In fact, with their statement they only want to say that both TV and games are evolving and becoming increasingly complex. You have to be able to make connections quite well and think complexly to be able to follow the different storylines. Despite this nuance of the statement, Steven Berlin Johnson does not discuss the negative consequences of watching TV and playing games, such as our increasingly fat youth and increased aggression.