johnlernert wrote: ↑Thu Apr 16, 2020 1:51 pm
Since the intelligence test was invented more than 100 years ago, our IQ scores have been steadily increasing. Even the average person today would have been considered a genius compared to someone born in 1919 – a phenomenon known as the Flynn effect.
We may have to enjoy it while we can. The most recent evidence suggests that this trend may now be slowing. It may even be reversing, meaning that we have already passed the summit of human intellectual potential.
Can we have really reached peak intelligence? And if that is the case, what can the subsequent decline mean for the future of humanity?
Surely humankind hasn't reached peak intelligence. There is so much more we are capable of collectively. Maybe it's more like there are many forks in the road for every individual, and the paths of ego, superficiality, religion, etc., lure a greater number of people who are more compelled by or addicted to such things. Such things require less NEW thought and growth, and are more bound up in fantasy and habit and fear. So that definitely seems like a downward spiral for humankind's potential.
However, I've noticed a broadening wave of brilliance in humans too (in the last few years) from my own small sampling/exposure of the globe
(and from discussions with others about what they are seeing too) -- there's a greater ease and desire for connect-ability, openness, and broader thinking -- which could be a naturally occurring counter-balance to all the ignorance that has been surfacing and fighting to maintain its dominance and survival.
Maybe all we need is one good big wave to wash through, and then we'll be able to ride it above and beyond all the murky churning, and there will never be a reason to go back. We already know how the majority of America feels from its popular votes -- it's just a matter of getting past the games that protect old ignorance.
