Why aren't we smarter already?

[Von Bismarck]

We put a lot of energy into improving our memory, intelligence, and attention. There are even drugs that make us sharper, such as Ritalin and caffeine. But maybe smarter isn’t really all that better. A new paper published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, warns that there are limits on how smart humans can get, and any increases in thinking ability are likely to come with problems.

The authors looked to evolution to understand about why humans are only as smart as we are and not any smarter. “A lot of people are interested in drugs that can enhance cognition in various ways,” says Thomas Hills of the University of Warwick, who cowrote the article with Ralph Hertwig of the University of Basel. “But it seems natural to ask, why aren’t we smarter already?”

Tradeoffs are common in evolution. It might be nice to be eight feet tall, but most hearts couldn’t handle getting blood up that high. So most humans top out under six feet. Just as there are evolutionary tradeoffs for physical traits, Hills says, there are tradeoffs for intelligence. A baby’s brain size is thought to be limited by, among other things, the size of the mother’s pelvis; bigger brains could mean more deaths in childbirth, and the pelvis can’t change substantially without changing the way we stand and walk.

Why aren't we smarter already? Evolutionary limits on cognition

[libstaK]

Personally I think it is because of a little three letter word - EGO.

[Timothy]

I think there are a few counterproductive things we do which slow the increases in intelligence etc. As a population as a whole it's apparent we are getting smarter and have a long way to go.

Whether any exceptional individual has ever come close to any kind of limit is a different story.

But IMO I don't think that would be the case. Evolution would have something to say about it anyway.

[WoIverine]

Reality TV, it's Kim K's fault.

[Mr_Snstr]

Well, "we" aren't much smarter than we've always been as a species. But there are definitely exemplary examples amongst us who are probably smarter than anyone before them.

There was a post similar to this a couple days ago. My take on it was that we are in fact getting smarter/more capable cognitive-wise. But at the same time there is going to be an increase in the disparity between those who are and the average person. That the bulk 90% of people will pretty much stay on the same level of intelligence.

[Paracelse]

Most humans (if we can call it that way) are using technologies developed by smart people to become more lazy. What are the people doing with the time they thanks to new tech? They watch tv, play consoles, follow wannabee stars on twitt and fessebook read the last magazine to learn how to erase to un-erasable wrinkles, the new trend, the last brand of mascara for emo-boys. How many spend their new found time to read? Meditate? Help others without showing it (Yes libstaK ego it is). Are we getting smarter? Some do, very few.

[Mr_Snstr]

Most humans (if we can call it that way) are using technologies developed by smart people to become more lazy. What are the people doing with the time they thanks to new tech? They watch tv, play consoles, follow wannabee stars on twitt and fessebook read the last magazine to learn how to erase to un-erasable wrinkles, the new trend, the last brand of mascara for emo-boys. How many spend their new found time to read? Meditate? Help others without showing it (Yes libstaK ego it is). Are we getting smarter? Some do, very few.

The way I see it right now is that abnormally intelligent people are like a social mutation; or deformity even.

It's not a necessity to become increasingly intelligent; until it is the majority of people are staying right where they're at.

[Lilly]

The way I see it right now is that abnormally intelligent people are like a social mutation; or deformity even.

Even if someone is only slightly intelligent it still stands out against the norm. Recently, I was asked what I had last read. Knowing full well what my response probably would elicit, I answered anyway: "The Role of Autosomal Genetics in Canine Bleeding Disorders". The look I received in response said it all.

[Mr_Snstr]

Even if someone is only slightly intelligent it still stands out against the norm. Recently, I was asked what I had last read. Knowing full well what my response probably would elicit, I answered anyway: "The Role of Autosomal Genetics in Canine Bleeding Disorders". The look I received in response said it all.

Actually it's not even slightly or abnormally intelligent people if you think about it. It's just people who take it upon themselves to learn; and keep learning. Sometimes for a specific reason, sometimes just for the sake of it.

Last book I read was on the history of modern sushi(Mmmmm).

I'm going to use my abnormally high intelligence and cognitive abilities to deduce that you... breed dogs? If not that definitely a dog lover at least.

[Lilly]

I'm going to use my abnormally high intelligence and cognitive abilities to deduce that you... breed dogs? If not that definitely a dog lover at least.

Dog lover, Vet Tech, likes to learn stuff.

[Mr_Snstr]

Dog lover, Vet Tech, likes to learn stuff.

Ironically the title to the article "Why aren't we smarter already?"; is just about the precise reason "we" are not smarter yet. As if we were riding in the back seat; waiting to get there, instead of driving.

[aquatus1]

Honestly, I do believe we are smarter. I simply think that it most of the backwardness in thinking is more culturally based than physical ability. America, for instance, is somewhat anti-intellectual.

[Purplos]

We aren't smarter because we don't need to be smarter to keep breeding.

[Prince David]

Intelligence is a learned art and begins with truth.

You can't be intelligent if you believe the lie that is evolution, whereas God is INTELLIGENCE personified.

The key to gaining intelligence is the Holy Ghost but sadly only a few find out how.

It has all been provided for us but most don't want to look for it

or they believe the lies of others

or they don't care

and people don't think it matters what they know

People focus on money and self

It is difficult to instill the concepts of intelligence being more important than the social situations imposed upon people by those who feign real knowledge and are the highly trained and regarded experts

A few letters behind a name does not guarantee intelligence and truth.

If you want to know the truth first find the wreck of Noah's Ark

Intelligence will then follow.

Truth is the best aid to memory and is one of the conditions of using the Holy Ghost

Generally humanity is in a condition of not knowing the truth and being happy with it.

[Paracelse]

Intelligence is a learned art and begins with truth.

You can't be intelligent if you believe the lie that is evolution, whereas God is INTELLIGENCE personified.

The key to gaining intelligence is the Holy Ghost but sadly only a few find out how.

It has all been provided for us but most don't want to look for it

or they believe the lies of others

or they don't care

and people don't think it matters what they know

People focus on money and self

It is difficult to instill the concepts of intelligence being more important than the social situations imposed upon people by those who feign real knowledge and are the highly trained and regarded experts

A few letters behind a name does not guarantee intelligence and truth.

If you want to know the truth first find the wreck of Noah's Ark

Intelligence will then follow.

Truth is the best aid to memory and is one of the conditions of using the Holy Ghost

Generally humanity is in a condition of not knowing the truth and being happy with it.

Intelligence is something you're born with... or not. It's not something you learn, it's something you develop either through mathematics or through hand work if you're a Rodin like person or both if you're someone like Da Vinci.. It doesn't come from a external source. What each one of do with it is altogether what makes us smart or not.

[The Id3al Experience]

Personally I think it is because of a little three letter word - EGO.

[Xanthurion2]

two words: jersey shore

[Lilly]

two words: jersey shore

When I hear those two words, I think of these two words: spay/neuter (not just for dumb pets!)

[Paracelse]

Funny when I see the world today (not only in France where I'm located for the moment but everywhere I go throughout EU or US when I'm there, looking at most many folks around I think of the movie Idiocracy.

[Mr_Snstr]

We aren't smarter because we don't need to be smarter to keep breeding.

The simplicity of this answer I think sums it up.

Funny when I see the world today (not only in France where I'm located for the moment but everywhere I go throughout EU or US when I'm there, looking at most many folks around I think of the movie Idiocracy.

That movie was hilarious. Until you start seeing the signs; that it was based in part on non-fiction.

[markdohle]

Why aren't we smarter already? Evolutionary limits on cognition

It is our reptilian brain :-) http://bodylanguageuniversity.com/public/238.cfm.

Peace

Mark

[Rlyeh]

Intelligence is a learned art and begins with truth.

You can't be intelligent if you believe the lie that is evolution, whereas God is INTELLIGENCE personified.

Thanks for showing your lack of intelligence.Maybe you could ask God if he has enough to share? Edited December 13, 2011 by Rlyeh

[Sulleymon]

well, humans have existed for around 200,000 years in one form or another. it's only recently that we developed language, then farming, then a religion that led us to cover the face of the planet. our intelligence as a species has been predicated on our ability to communicate concepts with one another. we know many things that our ancestors did not, and our descendants will know more than we do. That's not intelligence, that's knowledge. since we generally learn by cognition, we technically are smarter than we were before, as we know more. we know relatively little about the brain, but a lot about cognition. we can continue to build upon what we already know, using the tools of technology, and become exponentially "smarter", but that doesn't mean our capacity to learn has improved at all. Nor would 10,000 years of written, measurable history really be a long enough timeline to judge whether our capacity for learning has improved.

[Saard]

Why aren't we smarter already? Evolutionary limits on cognition

Purplos hit the nail on the head.

From an evolutionary point of view, if you needed to be smarter to breed, then we'd get smarter as a species.

Were society different, we could have a radically higher average IQ but the upper limit is set by biology. Outside of eugenics, I see no way to change that upper limit.

[Spring Heeled Jerk]

Why don't I understand the question?..........Oh!

This is quite a naive enquiry and this is reflected in the equally naive article summary (I presume it is a summary). The present understanding of intelligence has existed for a short time only and panders to the mainstream craving of the discipline of psychology to achieve the status of science or indeed natural science. Psychology has strived for some time to punch through it's external visage of pseudo-science with a paradigmatic shift into positivism and has managed very well in the areas where there is a crossover between psychology and more established science (the beahaviourists still hold their ground and ethology has always held its weight), but when purely human variables are considered it all gets a little more fuzzy. Intelligence is one of these areas. Now there are folks out there going 'What about artificial intelligence?' or 'What about observed animal intelligence?', but NO. This is pure anthropomorphism since the measures of artificial intelligence and animal intelligence are all taken from human behavioural markers and ergo are only the observance of so called human intelligence in something not human. Whatever human intelligence is.

Now we know it isn't academic ability, though common sense (psychologists traditionally hate this term) tells us different, we know it isn't purely the ability to be successful in the world or make money or get a lot of sexual partners....etc So what exactly is it? If we're talking in terms of original thought and creativity (though these are hardly scientific benchmarks) then the answer to the proposed question is easy....... original thought is rare and true creativity something to be admired, we will never involve into a species of Leonardos....... who would clean the toilets and empty the bins and look after granny when she soils herself? That's right folks, there are social reasons why 'we aren't more intelligent' (lol) as well as evolutionary ones. The traits that get passed on to the next generation are the ones that are needed as well as those perceived as the desirable ones, Even Huxleys Brave New World recognised the need for us '''Epsilon minuses'''.

A world of ''alpha pluses''' would soon die out, because no one would have a clue how to pick spuds. The richness of our society is what is needed for the success of mankind, and in all it's diversity. Intelligence is nearly, but perhaps not quite, another term used to marginalise folk and label those that don't fit in with the main scheme. Does anyone remember Douglas Adams Life the Universe and Everything. I believe that the human race expired in that fiction due to a disease contracted from a lack of telephone kiosk sanitisers after they were expelled from earth for being pointless.

Intelligence is not the beginning and end of the human condition and I reckon that a superior race observing us would be hard pushed to tell the difference between us, much in the same way we observe sh!t flinging chimps.

I'm rambling.

Peace.

Edited December 14, 2011 by Spring Heeled Jerk