| Author | Message | ||
     Sifo |
IQ scores are decreasing - and some experts argue it's because humans have reached their intellectual peak There's been lot's of fiction stories about this happening to society. We are now seeing it in reality. | ||
| Oldog |
Tom; I can't answer for the dropping scores, I will say that the IQ test can be slanted depending on the context. | ||
| Blake |
Every time I watch television popular entertainment, I feel less and less intelligent. The opiate of the masses in the free world is "pleasure"/"entertainment". It's a horribly shallow and hollow thing to let be the focus of one's life. Is it any wonder it causes us to lose intelligence, diminishing our ability to reason? Thinking themselves wise... | ||
| 86129squids |
Hey- at least IBM put Watson to work in the kitchen after he whooped Ken Jennings and the other brainiacs... sounds like "he" can cook!  http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/03/03/285326611/our-supercomputer-overlord-is-now-running-a-food-truck http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/07/01/327204491/ibms-watson-is-out-with-its-own-barbecue-sauce (Message edited by 86129squids on August 22, 2014) | ||
| Ratbuell |
Its OK. Our kids will all still get awards, because literate or not, accomplishments or no...they're all still "winners". Telling them any different would be "unfair". Not that dropping scores could be the result of lack of competition and/or laziness... | ||
| Macbuell |
Studies have shown that exposure of children to television for too long in a day slows cognitive development. And this is the chosen way for some raise a child because it is far easier to sit a kid in front of the TV than to actually play with then and read to them. Add in the fact that those that are having the most children today probably shouldn't be the ones having the most children ... less Children coming from Middle and Upper Class families and more children coming from the poor. And then you have laziness, social media, and a ton of others factoring in and I don't find this surprising at all. The movie Idiocracy is proving to be too prophetic. | ||
| Strokizator |
I think there are still plenty of intelligent people out there. It's just that dumb people are multiplying like rabbits, which brings the average down. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
exactly. Smart people have zero to a few offspring. Idiots have a dozen to perpetuate the cycle. Hard to compete when the ignorant human beings multiply exponentially.....Democrats like it tho | ||
| Hughlysses |
Ever seen the movie "Idiocracy"? I can completely see that happening. | ||
| Etennuly |
Started with "grading on a curve" back in the 70's. It developed into "grading for teachers wage increases". Let's see.....You are a teacher. You do your student's grades. You are told your wage increase is based on how well your students do compared to the national average. We all know how hard it is to motivate students so you just set the class room bar lower. The "A" student stays where he is, but the "D's" go to "B" and a well earned "F" becomes a "C+". Walla! Pay raise! Now I am not hating on teachers, bless them for doing their jobs. I could not do it at all, especially without using a big wooden paddle the way my teachers did, even then I would likely be driven to drink(the way some of them did back then). The problem comes from the Federal hineys who set up the whole mess. AND I blame TV! Every way possible. From programming to leaning news programs. They tell you what ever will get money out of your pockets. Why the hell don't they just grade IQ tests on a curve the way every thing else works? | ||
| Xdigitalx |
Oops! thought this was about some new Apple product... iPhone, iPad, iQue ??? | ||
| Alfau |
http://freeweb.siol.net/danej/riverIQGame.swf IQ test | ||
| Gaesati |
Interesting, before I retired from teaching I read studies that said traditional IQ tests were having to be recast because the high result end of the curve was moving upwards. | ||
| Ratbuell |
I think we NEED teachers with paddles again. Positive reinforcement is all well and good...but it isn't always the answer. "What we've got here is...failure to communicate. Some men, you just can't reach." Goes for bratty little kids too. Not all kids are brats...but the ones who are, need to be TREATED like brats. "I don't like it...any more than you men...". But its a fact. I think soft treatment goes hand in hand with lazy, lack of motivation, and lack of drive. If there's no bad response on the horizon if you do poorly (and NOBODY does poorly anymore, that's not fair!), then why make the effort to succeed? That's an awful lot like *work*... And that goes for parents as well as the kids. Its a CHILD, not a deduction. RAISE THEM. Don't plop em in front of a TV and figure that's "enough". | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
"Don't plop em in front of a TV and figure that's "enough"." +1 And don't hand over an Ipad, or an Ipad mini, or a smart phone, and expect any of those devices to raise your kids. You (and the rest of society) will be sorely disappointed with those results. One of the other issues is parents being all wrapped up with their electronic devices. The parent is disengaged from the kid, and oblivious that little Suzy is splashing pool water all over a stranger, just because she is seeking some attention from anyone, be it good or bad. It does take some time and some effort to figure out what things, besides electronic gadgets, that your kid is interested in, but the payoff for doing so benefits us all. | ||
| Alfau |
Spark their interest! Read them this and afterwards, ask them if God is an alien! Luke 9:28-36. | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
Nice profile pic, Alf! | ||
| Ratbuell |
It does take some time and some effort to figure out what things, besides electronic gadgets, that your kid is interested in, but the payoff for doing so benefits us all. Amen. When I was little, not only did I learn to do drywall at an early age (patching the wall my dad threw me through when I did something wrong - sometimes we need a paddle for the brats!), but my parents were good enough to send me to a summer camp, where I later became a counselor. I learned to...PLAY SPORTS. Not watch them on TV. Not play them on an Atari. Or Nintendo. Or XBox. Actually going out, in the SUNSHINE, and sweating, and breathing hard, and bleeding, and laughing, and having FUN. To this day, I have never (and WILL never) owned a game console. And even in my achy, rebuilt, full-of-metal current state, I prefer my actual mountain bike to my stationary cycle. Cardio be damned, I like fresh air and sunshine. I push-mow about an acre of my yard every week, because I still can. And because I like to sweat, and work, and breathe hard, and get tired. And thanks to the love of my folks, once I became a counselor at the summer camp, I developed a habit of getting hellions in June...sending home *children* in August...and getting Christmas cards from parents who I'd never met, because Jabba the Kid has never been so well behaved and polite and energetic. No, I didn't throw any kids through drywall...we lived in tents...but I DID make it a point to find out what mattered to them, and spin that into "you need to straighten out because it's a big part of being a great ballplayer/marksman/swimmer/runner/whatever - just look at (insert idol's name here), and think about it next time you have to fold your clothes, or sweep the tent, or bathe, or say thank you, or hold a door open for someone." Not only would they "put on the act" when I was around, but they'd keep doing it around their friends, and tell them why they were doing it. Then they'd get home, and do it around their PARENTS, who would invariably fall over backwards from the change. And call me to find out what I'd done, how I'd done it, and where could they send presents. Most times, it IS just attention that kids crave. Give it to them, they puff up, strut, and do what it takes to keep that attention coming. When adults give them proper feedback, and the RIGHT "stuff to do" in order to get that attention they crave...kids will do it. Of course, that means parents have to...well...PARENT. And give them that correct instruction. Positive reinforcement is EARNED. And kids have to be told (by parents) what gets positive results. Kids of loser parents are losers themselves, because there IS no positive result. Ever. So...screw it. They'll act up, in order to get the ONLY type of attention they've ever known. And that's...a shame. And I think it's one of the root causes of these "falling IQ's". | ||
| Fahren |
Joe, you touch on the other part of upbringing beyond (or adjacent to) parenting: mentoring, or being a role model, or other respected authority figure. Getting the message across as a parent is sometimes tough - having support from other grownups who can teach life lessons - that's so important. Sometimes it's teachers. Or coaches. Or camp counselors. Or just the mom or dad of a friend. We need all the support we can get, to keep our kids from slipping into mediocrity. | ||
| Ratbuell |
The catch with being an "other" authority figure is...there need to be authority figures at home. My friend Karen has a stepdaughter, Sarah. Sarah...kicks ass. 19, works doubles, goes to school, pays her own bills, cooks and cleans for herself...because Sarah lives with Karen, who is probably the most self-sufficient woman I have ever met. Sarah's sister Samantha...is a waste of air. "I want a truck, gimme money", "when can we go shopping", that's all Karen hears from Sam. Sam...lives with her birth mother. No job, smokes, drinks, goes out all hours all nights. THAT is Samantha's "authority figure". Kids learn what they live with. | ||
| Alfau |
Nice profile pic, Alf! floors in my qualifying to be giving such advise it seems! I'll change the profile pic. Thanx | ||
| Aesquire |
http://pjmedia.com/eddriscoll/2014/08/22/has-man-r eached-his-intellectual-peak/?singlepage=true The "Struggle For Stupidity" clip is very worth watching. There's an old book.... I have a lot of them, ....http://www.amazon.com/Brain-Wave-Poul-Anderson/dp/ 144177808X Yes, it's science fiction, yes it's not likely, it's a metaphor and a warning. In a small part of this novel, brave astronauts in mankind's first starship fly into the mental damping field that Earth had finally orbited out of. Suddenly they no longer knew how to astrogate a FTL ship, how to fix it, how to change course. They knew all that just minutes ago, they were smart, brave, and eager, but they suddenly become passengers, and not competent ones on their own creation. It's a scary thought. I work every week with a bunch of bright, eager, college students who IMHO have already made the jump above the crowd with an interest in history, and more important, an interest in DOING something to learn more. I help them with Arts & Science projects, mostly building armor. Old, obsolete, silly skill building? Sure. The metal armor worn by a Knight Of Old is useless against the Snipers we see perched on armored cars in Ferguson. ( might be better than you think against IED's ) No one is going to defend their family with a mace nowadays, right? ( you would be brutally surprised ) So why do I do it? Because the metal and leather work, and even plastic work ( I'm not a purist ) was, in it's day, they Apex of skill and talent. NASA borrowed Henry XIII's Tournament Armor's Boot from the tower of London, so they could figure out how to armor man against space. The secrets of articulation, of building multi part metal clothing that you could move like an Olympic Pentathlon athlete, and deflect or stop the most powerful blows from the deadliest weapons on Earth in the 14th Century, had become a lost art, known only to a very few who worked for Museums. A literal handful on the entire planet. So NASA had to borrow technology from the 15th century, and, to be honest, they still are not even close to as good at it. A discussion I have had at length with an Astronaut Trainer who has spend weeks in Spacesuits in a swimming pool in Houston teaching Astronauts how to turn a wrench, follow a plan, while surrounded by Death Pressure, near a tiny spacecraft, and not a fracking thing else.... back in the 14th century there simply wasn't as MUCH knowledge to learn. Even then No ONE could learn it all. But the people known as experts probably knew what they did better, and much deeper than your typical college graduate today. But "knowing something" about the workings of an Ipad, a V-twin, the human circulatory system, or a scramjet, isn't smart. It's knowledge, and there is more of it than ever. The Smart part seems to be lacking... but fortunately, it's a statistical thing. Any person you meet may be much smarter than average. Or much dumber. Unfortunately, it's a statistical thing. as the bell curve slides towards cretin, the majority of people will be less and less capable of understanding the complex world they live in. And they will vote based on their own ignorance. Some believe that slide is deliberate, orchestrated by evil people who need the human race to be dumb enough to rule. I have seen no evidence to dispute that belief. | ||
| Panhead_dan |
Genetic degradation. We are devolving, no doubt. | ||
| Tootal |
One of my instructors told us that you don't have to know it all, you just need to know where to find the answer. But I'm thinking if we loose access to books and computers we're really stupid! I remember reading an 8th grade test in the 1940's. They say most collage students couldn't pass it. It's the dumbing down of America. Lack of discipline has been a large part of it. I have learned so much about history in the last five years from reading a lot more, I'm amazed at what I didn't know about America's history. Did anybody know we had Black representatives in Congress before Woodrow Wilson!!? Amazing how ignorant I am...but I'm trying to fix that! A man that knows his past will also know his future! | ||
| Torquehd |
Genetic degradation. We are devolving, no doubt. Order does turn to chaos. Despite what your evolutionist science teacher indoctrinated you into believing. | ||
| Hootowl |
The sum of human knowledge is growing exponentially. The last figure I heard was a doubling every 5 years. It isn't possible to know everything. Still, I would rather live in these times than at any time in the past. Although, I'll grant you, the music was better. | ||
| Daddio |
"One of my instructors told us that you don't have to know it all, you just need to know where to find the answer." A few years ago, my wife and I we visiting out young-20s-something son and his wife, and my son was showing off to my wife, a bathroom tile job he had done. I was just around the corner in the bedroom. She asked him how he learned to do tile like that, did Dad teach you? He replied with the biggest compliment I have ever received in my life, "No, I wasn't around when Dad did tile, but he did teach me to learn how to do stuff." Wow. My job here on this earth is fulfilled. | ||
| Pwnzor |
No finer tribute has ever been given from a son to a father... that is awesome! | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
"No, I wasn't around when Dad did tile, but he did teach me to learn how to do stuff." Wow. My job here on this earth is fulfilled. Well done, dad! It is so important to encourage trying new things, and knowing that if the results are not perfect, it is not the end of the world. I come from a long line of "tinkerers" and "tradespeople" and the thought that those tendencies have been somewhat discouraged by some of our education systems just plain old sucks. My dad always encouraged me to pick up a wrench and fix it myself. My friend from Jr. high had an engineer for a dad and had a similar influence. Mid-life, we both consider ourselves lucky. On a lighter note, we recently had freshman orientation at our son's h.s. and they have created a geometry in construction curriculum to help address the shortage of trained labor force that has bolted from construction to the better paying oil jobs. Hats off to them. | ||
| Aesquire |
Correction Henry the VIII. I know better. Oops. |
