IQ Test Scores are improving continuously, but are Humans getting Smarter?

Two to three decades earlier people were using telephones, radio, television, cameras, and many other things that are very hard to use and handle at that time. But humans progressed so much in those decades that all of the above-mentioned things are in our smartphones, smartwatches. We reached one of the farther planets from the earth like mars, and have so much advanced technology right now that serves our communities. Technologies are making our life easier. AI is one of the best examples of this growth of the human mind. So, can we assume that with every decade or let say with every generation humans are getting smarter?

This question is looked upon by many scientists and they particularly concluded that during the 20th century, the average score of IQ tests increased considerably and this is mostly noticed in the west part of the world. The three IQ points increment has been noticed per decade around the world. This shows that technically, there are more genius people on earth than ever before and numbers are growing continuously slowly but effectively. An increase in IQ scores and intelligence level over a period of time is called the Flynn effect.

But how is this happening?

We can’t say that the mind of humans grows in past decades as we already studied or known many discoveries and inventions over earlier centuries by many great scientists like Newton, Einstein. The human body did not change but how we live and our surroundings improved a lot. Health and nutrition, better education, working conditions, along with the technologies that are developed are some aspects that are nurtured and invested much more. And these aspects are not up to the mark in many countries far now but west countries have put effective efforts.

The 19th century is the century of industrialization that led to overcrowded cities, poor health facilities results in death at an early stage, but the demands of that job and development in many areas lead people to live longer. Researches show that education, living facilities, and food are the main factors that increase IQ. In sub-Saharan African countries the Flynn effect can’t be implemented.

This is not the whole issue, as in past decades many countries have reported a decrement in IQ scores. So can we assume that west people are smarter?

A reverse Flynn effect indicated that this increment may now be slowing. In a Norwegian study, it has been found that humans who were born before 1975 have a three-point gain for each decade, and humans born after 1975 show a decrement in their IQ score. This is difficult to explain but probably it is because of the way children are taught in school. The education systems prefer rote learning to show student growth in many countries than to a scientific problem-solving approach which is followed in the west. Increment in human IQ leads to many unimaginable techniques, but we can’t conclude that HIGH IQ IS THE ONLY THING FOR A PERSON TO BE CALLED AS SMARTER. But what IQ tests calculate?

Conclusion

In past years many questions have been asked about the suitability of IQ tests. As in different places, the one who made that test has a different mindset than another one which put a big question mark on how an IQ should be framed. Also, IQ tests are decreased in schools and colleges in many countries.

So the question about the smartness of human whether it is increased or not it’s hard to say. But what is obvious that lower scores in IQ tests are not the only criteria of human smartness as the way of implementing this criterion may vary over places. It’s also a point that what it calculates and what the word INTELLIGENCE means to us. And IQ tests do not measure aspects like social and emotional intelligence or may even wisdom. Such aspects may bring better results if compared to a high IQ scored person.

Try to build your IQ but don’t consider only this as a criterion of being smart. That’s all for now, be in touch for further interesting facts and articles.