IQ is calibrated so that the average IQ is 100. If the average IQ is going down, something has gone very wrong somewhere

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Cthulhu_ 4 hours ago | 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.

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Sharlin 2 hours ago | 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.

	▲	an hour ago \| parent [-]
		[deleted]

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everfrustrated 6 hours ago | parent | prev | 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.

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voidUpdate 5 hours ago | 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 5 hours ago \| 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 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		The median IQ of successive generations may absolutely be falling

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vidarh 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Look up the Flynn effect. You're right in the first paragraph, but wrong about the direction.

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inigyou 4 hours ago | parent [-]

The Flynn effect ended several years ago and started reversing.

	▲	vidarh 3 hours ago \| 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.

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mrheosuper 5 hours ago | parent | prev | 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)

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energy123 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

IQ gets manually recalibrated downwards when people get stupider so it's mean 100 by construction.

	▲	vintermann 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Hmm, who does the calibration, and how scientific are they about it? Can we check their work?

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dinkumthinkum 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I feel like this post unironically proves the point.