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voidUpdate | on: Don't be a meat proxy
IQ is calibrated so that the average IQ is 100. If the average IQ is going down, something has gone very wrong somewhere
everfrustrated | parent | next
IQ is a relative measure not an absolute one. 100 IQ in 2026 can be massively different in absolute terms to 100 IQ in 1956.

If you look at old test papers - the lack of intelligence in modern times is very stark.

voidUpdate | root | parent | next
Yes, but the comment was about IQ, not absolute intelligence. The median intelligence is, by definition, 100 IQ, so the median IQ cannot be decreasing
debugnik | root | parent | next
There's always a lag, you calibrate the test based on previous results, not future ones. If intelligence is decreasing I'd expect every IQ test to keep scoring a median lower than 100 unless taken immediately after calibration. Once it stops decreasing they'd converge again.
darkerside | root | parent
The median IQ of successive generations may absolutely be falling
vidarh | root | parent
Look up the Flynn effect. You're right in the first paragraph, but wrong about the direction.
inigyou | root | parent
The Flynn effect ended several years ago and started reversing.
vidarh | root | parent
Even if that turns out to be true, rather than it starting to hit a ceiling where we can expect it to not consistently go in a single direction it does not alter anything I wrote, which addressed a comparison between 1956 and 2026.

The claim of a "lack of intelligence in modern times" is flat out contradicted by the data. It'd take a lot of regression to get back to 1956 levels.

Cthulhu_ | parent | next
IQ is a measure that tests how well people can do IQ tests, I don't think it's an objective measure at all.
Sharlin | root | parent
People love to say this, but the whole point of IQ is that it happens to correlate well with many other, more practical measures of cognitive capability. That’s why it is used.
tptacek | root | parent | next
Other things also correlate well with many practical measures of cognitive ability, but you wouldn't be so quick to say that they're privileged the way IQ is, so there must be more to the explanation.
loading story #49158853
| root | parent
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mrheosuper | parent | next
I wonder why is that, what the point of having a score that you can not compare them without external context (the day of taking exam)
energy123 | parent | next
IQ gets manually recalibrated downwards when people get stupider so it's mean 100 by construction.
vintermann | root | parent
Hmm, who does the calibration, and how scientific are they about it? Can we check their work?
dinkumthinkum | parent
I feel like this post unironically proves the point.