The Growth of Intelligence

Christian Lavoie

The Growth of Intelligence

In Nicholas Carr’s, The Shallows, Carr talks about James Flynn’s theory of how IQ scores have been steadily increasing over the years. It explains how this theory has helped people argue the fact that new technology has helped increase common intelligence. It goes on to say that PSAT scores for high schoolers have been steadily decreasing over the years. This evidence helps argue the opposite idea that the new technology is not helping us at all in the intelligence department. Further research finds that our ancestors were not simply less intelligent during their time, but rather intelligent in a different way. They lived in a simpler time and there was no need to think about abstract things. Carr expressed his view that we are not smarter than people were years ago, but just smarter in different ways. I don’t really believe in this theory. I feel that today in 2012 we have all the tools to become much more intelligent with a greater grasp of the entire world than our ancestors ever were. I also feel like most individuals take advantage of these tools. Due to the new technology in today’s age, the range in common knowledge of people today is much greater than it has ever been.

I can agree that intelligence is different than it used to be. I came to this conclusion because of what Flynn wrote in his book. Flynn stated, “If IQ gains are in any sense real, we are driven to the absurd conclusion that a majority of our ancestors were mentally retarded.” (Carr, 146) This means that our ancestors scored in the very lowest of scores in IQ testing. It is hard to believe that the people that built the foundation of this country were that unintelligent. Therefore I agree that there was a different kind of intelligence back then, but I still believe that people today are smarter. The resources that we have today create intelligent people.

In today’s society, it is impossible to make it to the age of ten and not be able to read or write. Hundreds of years ago it wasn’t uncommon for someone to be never taught how to do these things. Even in the early 20^th century it was rare for somebody to make it through a high school education let alone go to college. Most of our great grandparents went to school until about the 6^th grade. Today if a teenager decides not to go to college, they are looked at as if there is something wrong with them. With this social pressure, most young men and woman graduate with a college education. This education gives you a plethora of knowledge and intelligence. 

Another advantage that we have on our ancestors is the technology that most of us possess. Back in the old days, if they were lucky, people would learn from books at the library. To get some knowledge people would have to make a trip to the library. Today that knowledge is just a few clicks away on their laptop. We can literally find out about anything we want just by logging onto the internet. We know more about the world we are living in. If something important happens halfway around the world we will know about it in minutes. We are constantly learning about new things through articles and headlines that we read while surfing the internet.

I think it is no argument that as a whole, we have more knowledge about a greater variety of things than our ancestors ever did. Some may not define that as intelligence but I think it counts for something. In today’s society we are born into a world of knowledge and intelligence. The intelligence continues to build on itself as new people contribute to making efficient ways of improving intelligence. As long as the world turns, intelligence will continue to grow.

Christian Lavoie