[Tublecane]

No. Culture and learning are in decline, not intelligence, which is innate. Natural selection does not account for decline, if there is such. Human intelligence varies little from person to person. A few geniuses and some regards, but most people are moderately stupid.

[wastedyears]

Moderately to incredibly. You can’t refute the stupidity of Obama voters.

[jmcenanly]

We look bad by comparison to what remains from our past. For every Shakespeare, there were probably 100 hacks whose works didn't survive. For every Isaac Newton, there were millions who struggled with arithmetic, but didn't leave any trace behind.
The problem seems worse today because, now, every idiot has a worldwide forum. Look at the comments section of any You-tube video, or in some cases, the videos themselves. I'm surprised that some of these people can type, or operate a camera.

[RFEngineer]

“No. Culture and learning are in decline, not intelligence, which is innate.”

Perhaps that explains it. Then again, a culture which does not encourage the rigorous application of innate intelligence will seem like the innate intelligence does not exist.

Living overseas for a time, I spoke Spanish fluently as a young boy. I never used it after I returned to the US, and lost it completely.

point is, unexercised, certain aspects of intelligence are indistinguishable from not having possessed the intellect to begin with.

THAT is what we are suffering from - a culture that does not value the effort of pushing one’s intellect to the limit.

Further, the use of automation has also diminished human intellectual accomplishment over time. I look at all the discovery of the past couple hundred years - these folks knew math - they did it in their heads, or on paper. Look at Maxwell, Faraday, Gauss or any of the namesakes of our systems of physical units today - and you find astounding genius in comparison with the “educated class” today.

I think that has something to do with it too.