Are Americans getting smarter?

1. 75

   PlanksandNailsposted 12 years ago

   Are Americans getting smarter?
   
   If Americans IQ scores have been climbing over the past 100 years, but the quality of education has plummeted, what does that mean?
   
   

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2. 81

   Dr Billy Kiddposted 12 years ago

   Good question. I used to administer IQ tests. I had the same question. Best I can tell, worldwide, the intelligence scores are going up. That's because more people are exposed to the media and to reading, so they understand the questions better. This increase of about 3 points every 10 years in industrial nations only occurs in the lower half of the scale--those at 100 or below.
   
   That's because more and more kids go to school and watch TV and get simple facts. So they do better on vocabulary, arithmetic and general information. There's been no increase in geniuses. Too bad. We could use a couple hundred Einsteins to figure out why, in groups, people continue to act stupildly.

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   1. 81

      Dr Billy Kiddposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Supposedly, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale measures innate talent, not learned knowledge. But you have to have both in order to be tested. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wechsler_A … ence_Scale

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3. 60

   MickSposted 12 years ago

   Which Amaerican country are you referring to in the two continents.  I don't know about the US eduucational system the Mexican education system, or the ones in Sout America.  I have heard that the Canadian educattion  system, is the best.
   Of course it may all depend on the quality and repair of the clothe they wear that determines smartness.
   Does IQ really reflect ordinary, everyday inteligence.  I once new someone with a towering IQ;  however, his wife had to stitch his hat to his jacket to stop him losing it. If there was no one there when he got home, he had no idea of how to make a drink or something to eat, in other words, quite useless.

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   1. 81

      Dr Billy Kiddposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      IQ reflects basic knowledge and basic skill potential. Can you add such and such. Repeating a series of numbers that you hear. Repeating them backwards. Who is the president? If a series of patterns is continued, what pattern would come next?

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   2. 60

      MickSposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I am familiar with IQ tests, they are really not an indication of inteligence, despite the name.

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   3. 75

      PlanksandNailsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      There are social, emotional, and communication skill sets that are factors. Also, there are those who have a cognitive disability, but co-exist with a high IQ.
      
      Is there a distinction between IQ (genetic) and education (acquiring)?

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4. 87

   Pamela99posted 12 years ago

   I think the last statistics I read put us in about 18th place in the world. I think parents and the schools are failing to educate our children. It is really sad when we used to be on top. I also read there are more geniuses in India than any other country, which of course has little to do with education. I have known people that were very intelligent, but had little common sense. I think it goes back to the 3 R's.

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   1. 81

      Dr Billy Kiddposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I know dysfunctional geniuses. One man is so focused of seeing the world through the eye of a camera that he no longer notices people. Another flunked out of college because he couldn't remember to go to class. Mensa people generally seem normal.

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   2. 87

      Pamela99posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      That's exactly what I was referring to. Thanks for the comment.

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   lostdogrwdposted 12 years ago

   no. this is the most educated stupidest people on the face of this earth for they DON'T SEE HOW THE WALL STREET BANKERS ROB THEM. THEY FIGHT HARD FOR THE RICH NOT TO PAY THERE FAIR SHARE OF TAXES, THE RISE OF HEALTHCARE HAS GONE FROM 2 PERCENT TO OVER  AS HIGH AS 60 PERCENT  OF PAY TO COVER IN JUST 20 YEARS, $100000 DEBT JUST TO GO TO COLLAGE AND THE SADIST PART OF ALL IS THEY HAVE THE POWER TO STOP IT BUT ALWAYS LOOKING AT WHAT AND WHO GET SOMETHING. SO MUCH HATE. LEARN ABOUT THE REPEAL OF THE GLASS STEAGALL ACT AND YOU WILL KNOW WHY THE U S ECONOMY CRASH AND WHY SMALL BANKS AND ANY OTHER BIG BUSINESS COMBINED WITH OTHER. NOT GO OUT OF BUSINESS BUT CONSOLIDATED FIRED THE PEOPLE AND MAKE THE MONEY.

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   1. 81

      Dr Billy Kiddposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Groups of people are very easy to manipulate. That does not mean that each has low intellectual skills. It means no one taught them to analyze political events or to care about them. If that emotional part is not there, people don't bother.

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