Posted on 12/14/2015 8:42:26 AM PST by marktwain
Abstract
The Victorian era was marked by an explosion of innovation and genius, per capita rates of which appear to have declined subsequently. The presence of dysgenic fertility for IQ amongst Western nations, starting in the 19th century, suggests that these trends might be related to declining IQ. This is because high-IQ people are more productive and more creative. We tested the hypothesis that the Victorians were cleverer than modern populations, using high-quality instruments, namely measures of simple visual reaction time in a meta-analytic study. Simple reaction time measures correlate substantially with measures of general intelligence (g) and are considered elementary measures of cognition. In this study we used the data on the secular slowing of simple reaction time described in a meta-analysis of 14 age-matched studies from Western countries conducted between 1889 and 2004 to estimate the decline in g that may have resulted from the presence of dysgenic fertility. Using psychometric meta-analysis we computed the true correlation between simple reaction time and g, yielding a decline of − 1.16 IQ points per decade or − 13.35 IQ points since Victorian times. These findings strongly indicate that with respect to g the Victorians were substantially cleverer than modern Western populations.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedirect.com ...
Isn't there a movie out called "Idiocracy"
Considering that global civilization peaked around 1910 (and has declined ever since...I’d add the Edwardians in there as well.
We killed off enormous numbers of the best in WWI.
Suppose Region A has an average IQ of 105.
Suppose Region B has an average IQ of 85.
Now, if you’ve imported enough people from Region B into Region A, wouldn’t it make sense that the average IQ in Region A is going to decline?
Very good point!
Even more than our tools, the fact that more intelligent people have to work harder to subsidize the lifestyles of their lower IQ brethren doesn't help either. In fact, many higher IQ folks have been brainwashed into not having kids 'cause its bad for the environment, diversity, social justice, etc.
They weren’t smarter. They were Christians whose minds were full of hope and Americans whose minds were full of freedom, not indoctrinated Marxists obsessed with being conformist, dumbed down and easily led by lying, thieving elitists.
An 8th grader in a rural area of the US in the early 20th Century got an education in one room schoolhouses that high school students today would fail to achieve.
If you look at F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first novel, This Side of Paradise, considered at the time a charming book about flappers and their beaus, you’d be amazed at its erudition and difficult vocabulary. That would have been around 1919.
We’ve definitely gotten more stupid.
Certainly, there were a lot more highly disciplined people in that era. Schools were for learning the known basics of reading, writing and basic forms of classic mathematics, including the serious practice of arithmetic, all of which was done by rote and extensive memorization. Most of the upper class of Victorians could quote extensively from Latin, Greek, Shakespearian and Biblical roots, and figure return on investment virtually in their heads. And write lengthy, well-composed letters in a beautiful cursive handwriting, to each of a wide circle of acquaintances.
But life then, as it had been for most of human history, was notoriously short and subject to a number of threats and hazards we know nothing of today.
Their reading and writing skills were superior as well. Also look at some of the old architecture with artistic sculpting and other hand carved quality ornaments on building facades. Plus they revered and had the utmost respect for the Bible— not that they were all goody two shoes but also generally not arrogant know-it-alls either nor deluded by cheap thrills of this modern culture.
I see stupid people everywhere..
At least the ones with wealth.
Correct.
There is a bi-modal (almost tri-modal) distribution to IQ, but don’t tell anyone because that’s racist.
With the wealth came excellent education and impressive cultural opportunities.
There was a whole lot of "survival of the fittest" going on. Life was quite brutal for the less fortunate.
“Isn’t there a movie out called “Idiocracy””
The most brilliant bad movie ever made.
They were definitely less wimpy.
The funny thing is that during the Victorian age there were many articles decrying how soft people had become compared to the Colonial period.
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