Does devolution have any basis?

[CianHunt]

For those of you who don't know devolution is that theory that the average intelligence of the human species has been going down in the past ten years.Do the people of the escapist think that this could actually be proof of devolution or is it sort of a recetion in human inteligence (much like the dark ages before the renisance)and if you do belive its just a recetion what do you belive could have caused it? Could it have been the giant resurgence of religion (much like the the dark ages) or could it be a different cause?

 

[Kortney]

No. It's a load of rubbish.

Don't really know what else to say. Human intelligence isn't on a downward slide at all.

 

[New Troll]

Damn. Didn't know you meant de-evolution. Was hoping for a Devo movement in the making. I was ready to Whip It! Whip it good!

 

[Blue_vision]

First question that stands out: Why would religion lower intelligence?

On a very large (evolutionary) scale, one could reason that we may be headed towards lower IQ in general is the prevalence of higher birth rates among people of lower education and IQ. But given that intelligence as a learned/raised trait vs. intelligence as genetic, an environmental factor as simple as a lack of money for good textbooks could probably outdo hundreds of years of "devolution" due to higher birth rates. The worst you may get is a large social stratification and a huge low-education mass if public education continues to deteriorate. Less educated people give birth to more children, who are trapped in a cycle of poverty. Similar to how there are huge numbers of uneducated people still in developing countries (and even in developed ones.)

My bet, if there is actually any basis for "devolution" (though all the reports that I've read have shown the opposite,) it simply rests in schooling. Perhaps Western/American schooling quality has dropped recently (I feel like that's an incredibly likely explanation, given the state of the American education system.) Though that said, common markers for intelligence (IQ tests,) have gone nowhere but up, though this may not be as much a case of people getting smarter, but simply being better acquainted with the more standard test format.

I'll also point out that "devolution" is a bit of a misnomer, as humans would still be evolving if we were moving towards less intelligent individuals.

Still, the more you know...
cheers

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Do you have a source for this? The only thing I've heard that sounds anything like this is that the average individual is better educated today than they were 80 or more years ago, and as a result, the IQ tests are harder. A genius in 1920 would have a hard time passing an IQ test from 2011, whereas a genius from 2011 would be way off the curve on a 1920 test. I haven't heard anything about IQ scores dropping in the last 10 years, and I would be suspicious of anyone who claimed they had.

 

[Hader]

For those of you who don't know devolution is that theory that the average intelligence of the human species has been going down in the past ten years.Do the people of the escapist think that this could actually be proof of devolution or is it sort of a recetion in human inteligence (much like the dark ages before the renisance)and if you do belive its just a recetion what do you belive could have caused it? Could it have been the giant resurgence of religion (much like the the dark ages) or could it be a different cause?

Average intelligence?

Doesn't sound like the most thoroughly researched demographic to me. Overall, the human race is doing fine.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I can guess where it's coming from with Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection. The dumb ones die out, the good ones survive? In the world of today-land, dumb ones can easily live.

I have no clue if intelligence is de-evolving. I'm no expert, what I said above is just a guess.

 

[Nimcha]

Since when is intelligence the only marker for evolution?

 

[guardian001]

No, it's just far easier for the stupid to make themselves noticed than before. The average is the same, but everybody is actually paying attention to the stupid section for some reason.

 

[lacktheknack]

Religion is having a massive resurgence? What?

And, no. Intelligence is not all genetic.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

No.

Longer answer, no because this is all just fearmongering put forward by an elitist middle and upper class. We don't even have definitive proof that intelligence is affected by genes on such a small level. The child of two average or below average parents could be genius level, and a child from two geniuses could be average intellect.

The only thing we know for sure is that teaching and the methods thereof raise performance on test scores, which aren't even really a good indicator of intelligence. They are an indicator that the child can pass the test they were set, not that they really understood what was going on.

Perhaps a slightly better indicator would be to say that attendance at university is rising despite the entrance criteria also rising, overall performance (at least in Britain) on national standard tests increases year on year for the last ten years, and there are now more academics and noted intellects in specific fields than there were fifty years ago.

If you're going to make broad sweeping statements, make sure you have evidence, documented and available as source, for people to read.

And yes, I'm aware of the hypocrisy of that last statement, but he didn't quote sources first, and I'm petty like that.

 

[Blue_vision]

Religion is having a massive resurgence? What?

And, no. Intelligence is not all genetic.

That's pretty much the only true thing in the OP. It's true, in the West, religious extremism is on the rise (though possibly a shorter-term trend, coming from the recent recession.)

 

[Drummie666]

As stupid as people are, no, we aren't getting stupider. In fact we are getting smarter. People have the freedom to chose their religion in, last time I checked, about 30% of the world. That's better than a hundred years ago. Women are respected in a few parts of the world. That's better then a few decades ago. We are become smarter just... very... very...... very slowly.

 

[lacktheknack]

Religion is having a massive resurgence? What?

And, no. Intelligence is not all genetic.

That's pretty much the only true thing in the OP. It's true, in the West, religious extremism is on the rise (though possibly a shorter-term trend, coming from the recent recession.)

And atheism is also on the rise, counterbalancing it. Besides, higher rate of extremism =/= higher rate of religion.

Also, one country/continent =/= "massive resurgence" (unless that continent is Asia).

 

[thedoclc]

http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4235

Intelligence (as measured by IQ) is rising globally.

Much of this is likely due to better nourishment, allowing better physiological development, and greater global access to education. Naturally, gains are usually heavily influenced by local factors, IQ is an imperfect measure, etc, etc, blahblahblah, write a freshman paper about it.

So no.

Also, a minor point about evolution. Evolution isn't about "progress." It's about different rates of survival and - more importantly - reproduction. When simpler is more successful than complex, simple is selected for. This has happened for species which have "stripped down," but humans are -not- such a species. There is no such thing as de-evolution. I know this is not the OP's point, but let's head off those comments before they are made.

 

[New Troll]

Hundreds of years from now we will not be any more dumber than we are right now.

Though we might find new ways to get lazier.

 

[Blue_vision]

And atheism is also on the rise, counterbalancing it.

Also, one country/continent =/= "massive resurgence".

It means that there may be fewer religious people overall, but there are more crazy religious people, which is the real (and pretty much only,) negative force in religion.

And based on OP's statement, I'm assuming that they're referring to the west, as there isn't even untrue media hype about the developing world having decreased intelligence/IQ (it's all going up, up, up.) So in reference to the West, yes there is a massive resurgence of religious extremism in recent years.

 

[New Troll]

I also don't think there's a rise in religious fanatism. There's just bigger ways for the few to show themselves.

 

[Spencer Petersen]

Evolution as a concept does not always imply that the direction of genetic change is necessarily for the better. Evolution simply means that species adapt to their surroundings, good or bad. "Devolution" as a concept doesn't exist, because evolution cant work backward, it simply works in other ways. If our habitat today encourages the survival of less intelligent individuals over more intelligent individuals then we evolve in that direction. There's nothing "devolving" about it.