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Modern Mysteries

Is the human race losing intelligence ?

By T.K. Randall
February 21, 2013 · Comment icon 243 comments

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Some experts believe that we are becoming less intelligent and losing some cognitive capabilities.
Despite huge advancements over the last few thousand years, it seems that far from being more and more intelligent our minds may actually be declining. While controversial, there are grounds on which to base this idea. Geneticist Dr. Gerald Crabtre believes that adverse genetic mutations could be a prime cause of this and that in addition to affecting intellectual capabilities these could also make us less emotionally stable.

"I would wager that if an average citizen from Athens of 1000 BC were to appear suddenly among us, he or she would be among the brightest and most intellectually alive of our colleagues and companions," he wrote. "Furthermore, I would guess that he or she would be among the most emotionally stable of our friends and colleagues."[!gad]Despite huge advancements over the last few thousand years, it seems that far from being more and more intelligent our minds may actually be declining. While controversial, there are grounds on which to base this idea. Geneticist Dr. Gerald Crabtre believes that adverse genetic mutations could be a prime cause of this and that in addition to affecting intellectual capabilities these could also make us less emotionally stable.

"I would wager that if an average citizen from Athens of 1000 BC were to appear suddenly among us, he or she would be among the brightest and most intellectually alive of our colleagues and companions," he wrote. "Furthermore, I would guess that he or she would be among the most emotionally stable of our friends and colleagues."
Despite our advancements over the last tens or even hundreds of years, some ‘experts’ believe that humans are losing cognitive capabilities and becoming more emotionally unstable.


Source: Natural Society | Comments (243)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #234 Posted by spud the mackem 10 years ago
Some kids don't want to be taught subjects so they "switch off" no matter how hard the Teacher tries to educate them,I used to switch off during Music lessons but I excelled in Maths,English and Geography,nowadays in English schools you are allowed to drop subjects that you aren't interested in, but Maths and English are Mandatory.
Comment icon #235 Posted by toast 10 years ago
At a supermarket shopping last year I buyed some stuff including a fresh savoy cabbage. At the cashpoint a 18-20yo nice young lady was on duty, she fingertipped the savoy cabbage and asked me: "What kind of salad is that?" I: "It´s a savoy cabbage, darling." "Never saw one before. Hihihi." No comment.
Comment icon #236 Posted by JGirl 10 years ago
and here i was thinking sort of the opposite recently. i'm in my fifties but i interact at work and on certain forums online with people in their early twenties a lot of the time. i'm amazed at the intelligence and maturity level of so many of these young adults and can't help remembering what the headspace of my generation was at that stage. we certainly weren't that intellectual or philosophical lol
Comment icon #237 Posted by spud the mackem 10 years ago
and here i was thinking sort of the opposite recently. i'm in my fifties but i interact at work and on certain forums online with people in their early twenties a lot of the time. i'm amazed at the intelligence and maturity level of so many of these young adults and can't help remembering what the headspace of my generation was at that stage. we certainly weren't that intellectual or philosophical lol Ask any young adult to do Long Division or percentages in maths and they look at you blankly,because they have calculators to do this and these are now allowed in exams.
Comment icon #238 Posted by Frank Merton 10 years ago
With better nutrition people probably are smarter, just as they are taller and live longer.
Comment icon #239 Posted by JGirl 10 years ago
Ask any young adult to do Long Division or percentages in maths and they look at you blankly,because they have calculators to do this and these are now allowed in exams. this is true, but it doesn't make them less intelligent. it just means they don't learn that particular skill.
Comment icon #240 Posted by XenoFish 10 years ago
That is a interesting question, what really is intelligence? I've had friends who were dumb as dirt but could rebuild a car engine like it was nothing. In my own case I was always a poor math student. Factions and converting factions to decimals was my strong point. Now I program CNC machines like it's nothing. I would honestly say I'm above average in intelligence but not by much. Yet I can turn what I imagine into a reality though math, art, and heavy machinery. Maybe real intelligence is a combination of other skills, such a communication and mental/physical ability?
Comment icon #241 Posted by Sir Smoke aLot 10 years ago
Well stupidity rulez this days. Take 'selfie' for example. Not to mention other things.
Comment icon #242 Posted by Professor T 10 years ago
I had the pleasure of talking to a retired Industrial Chemist this weekend.. Our topic of conversation touched on everything from human intelligence to Robert Oppenheimer & Nuclear fission occurring naturally in the ancient past.. He was in his 80's.. Retired... He said something quite profound that has stuck.. "We only know a tiny fraction of a percent of what there is to know.. And even then, our knowledge is shrinking and what we think we know isn't necessarily the truth.." That was pretty much the closest thing to truth I've heard this year.. And when you think about it, it's kind of s... [More]
Comment icon #243 Posted by Mikko-kun 10 years ago
Intelligence needs to reform, yeah... can't have all those cobwebs. Seriously. People have a need to put things to words, for obvious reasons, but when you do that either words or thought are different from intended, you adapt your words or your thoughts unless your thoughts are already adapted to that mold. Language-thinking thing. I think our use of intelligence is off balance. You focus too much on one thing, forget the other, is what it means to look with just one eye. I sometimes focus a good deal on weighting things out inside, letting thoughts mould out sort of. Too much deep pondering.... [More]


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