At present we live in an age where we have access to all the knowledge and facts in a matter of seconds. Even though we use technology to educate us, something seems to be terribly wrong. We, instead of growing more intelligent, our IQ level seems to be dropping. Recently scientists were interested in studying why we aren’t getting any smarter.

Flynn Effect. This was named after the intelligence researcher James Flynn. In this theory, it was identified that there is a rise in each successive generation’s average IQ throughout the 20th century. Phenomena. The Flynn effect was a phenomenon that identified an upward trend in intelligence level throughout the 20th century. In each decade, Techs times reported a three-point rise in average measured intelligence.

Impressive. Many experts believe that this upward trend was due to better education, improved nutrition, and better health care. But then something weird happened. Recent studies have identified that the Flynn effect has come to an end.

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Study. Researchers from “Norway’s Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic research” in their recent study, analyzed 230,000 IQ results from people who joined the national service between 1970 and 2009. The team was shocked to see that for each generation, the score has been dropped by 7 points on average.

Troubling. The results of this study do conclude that we are getting dumber with time. But this research grabbed the attention of many experts as it shows a red light for humanity.

Reversal. According to Stuart Ritchie of the University of Edinburgh “This is the most convincing evidence yet of a reversal of the Flynn elect, if you assume their model is correct, the results are impressive and pretty worrying.”Dropped. Edward Dutton who was a researcher in London also carried out a similar study for almost a decade. His findings also revealed that many western countries including Germany and France have experienced a drop in the average IQ.

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Documentary. He featured in a documentary called “Tomorrow, everyone’s an Idiot?” where he claimed “We are becoming stupider. This is happening. It’s not going to go away, and we have to try to think about what we’re going to do about it.”

Knowledge. In this world, we have all types of knowledge at our fingertips. Therefore, we have easy access to educate ourselves with a few simple clicks through phones and computers. So why is this happening?

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Genetics. According to a certain research, It has found that dropping IQ level is nothing to do with the genetics. Across the familial spectrum, IQs everywhere are falling, turning this into more of a natural, not nurture problem.

Composition. According to researchers, they explained ““The trends are not due to a changing composition of families, and that there is at most a minor role for explanations involving genes (e.g., immigration and dysgenic fertility) and environmental factors largely fixed within families (e.g., parental education, socialization effects of low-ability parents, and family size). Their influence is negligible compared with other environmental factors.”

Environment. As per the Marginal Revolution blogger and economist Tyler Cowen told Inc, “In other words, we have started building a more stupidity-inducing environment.” But scientists are still struggling to find the cause.

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Shift the Blame. Some people are shifting the blame on to technology because people have been very dependable on technology. However, that theory has been stomped out since the decline first started in the 1970s.

Quality. Now a day, People are lazy to read things, due to this reason people are absorbing more “trashy media.” Addition to that, quality in education has been falling down pretty rapidly.

Outdated. IQ tests are outdated, therefore, they tend to measure our crystallized intelligence. Those days we used to memorize everything due to education evolvement. Scientists are still working hard to figure out the exact reason though.