The Smartest People I Know Are Obsessed With a Skill Many Were Told Is Useless
The same technology promising to make us smarter is preventing the one thing our brains need to think
The same technology promising to make us smarter is preventing the one thing our brains need to actually think.
For most of the 20th century, humanity got demonstrably smarter. In a phenomenon known as the “Flynn Effect,” average IQ scores climbed three to five points a decade across dozens of countries, progress fueled by better nutrition, healthcare, and education.
Then, around the turn of the millennium, it stopped, In many Global North countries, IQ scores started moving in reverse.
A 2023 evidence synthesis confirmed a measurable decline in US cognitive performance, with average IQ scores falling since the late 1990s.
Meanwhile, Similar reversals are documented across Europe, from a four-point drop in France to sustained declines in Norway.
What was found most interesting is that it’s not our DNA. A Norwegian study of over 730,000 individuals concluded that the cause of our cognitive decline is environmental. Which means it’s something we are doing.
