IQ Measures Not Just Brains, But Also Culture

Smarts index is rising because the world's more 'demanding'

By Jonas Oransky, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 13, 2007 4:55 PM CST

(Newser) – The average global IQ is rising three points per decade not because humans are getting smarter, but because culture is getting more challenging—and the measure isn’t just a test of our smarts genes. The quotient effectively tests “the quality of the world [a] person lives in,” the New Yorker’s Malcolm Gladwell writes, dissolving the myth that intelligence is fixed.

Far from demonstrating innate race-based brain differences—Asians are smarter than Europeans, white Americans are smarter than black Americans—differing IQ results in different cultures prove that the test measures the effects of culture on cognition. Its mutability over time shows modern cultures are more demanding of abstract thinking—that the brain is dynamic and deserving of a better exam.

[Images (3)]

[Videos (1)]

(Index Open)

James Flynn's latest, "What Is Intelligence?" addresses the implications of his own discovery, known as the "Flynn effect." (© Cambridge University Press)

A hot-air balloon shaped like a human brain is assembled in Vermillion, South Dakota, and will fly over the annual convention for the high-IQ group Mensa in Addison, Texas. (KRT Photos)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

Charles Murray James Flynn Race IQ Debate pt.1 (stodles (YouTube))

View larger videos >>

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next »

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

Even as a Kid, Michael Changed the Game

Black community adopted him as pioneer

(NEWSER) - Michael Jackson took Hollywood with Ben in 1972, at a time when few black Americans had shaped the industry. “Little Michael landed upon the mindset of film-hungry black America when its citizenry was starved for identity on the big screen,” writes Wil Haygood in the Washington Post. The black community took him under its wing, and took pride in him as he grew. More»

Harold and Kumar Transcends Race

Films set new standard for concepts of culture

(NEWSER) - Race underscores the stoner misadventures of Harold and Kumar—whose second film comes out tomorrow—but it’s not the point. The movies, about two friends who “just happen not to be white,” set a multicultural standard that Hollywood hasn’t figured out, writes Mark Olsen in the Los Angeles Times. When it comes to cultural issues, “filmgoers are a bit savvier than they are given credit for,” says a co-director. More»

Scientist Blasted for Racism Has Black Genes

Watson said blacks less intelligent than whites

(NEWSER) - Nobel laureate James Watson, famous for co-discovering DNA and infamous for his theory that black Africans are less intelligent than whites, turns out to have a genetic profile with 16 times as many black genes as the average white European, the Independent reports. Watson's genes are said to be comparable to someone with an African great-grandparent. More»

We Don't Hate the Rich, We Hate the 'New Upper Class'

Charles Murray says this powerful group calls the shots in the US

(NEWSER) - Americans see tensions over income inequality growing, but Charles Murray thinks they've got it all wrong. "Income inequality isn't really the problem," the libertarian author writes in Time . "A new upper class is the problem," a group denoted not by its wealth, but by its power, influence, and culture. Imagine a guy who started his own auto repair shop, and was so successful that he made $100 million. "He's in the top fraction of the 1%—but he's not part of the new upper class." More»

Falling From Favor: The Term 'African American'

Changing tastes have many preferring 'black'—or just 'American'

(NEWSER) - African Americans are increasingly shunning, well, the very term "African American," with many just preferring "black" amid increasingly complex origins and loyalties, reports the AP . "African American" rose to popularity in the 1980s, thanks in large part of Jesse Jackson's 1988 run for the presidency, but it's America that looms larger for many. "Africa was a long time ago," said a Miami entrepreneur who started the Facebook page " Don't call me African American " (now with more than 800 likes). "Are we always going to be tethered to Africa? Spiritually, I'm American. When the war starts, I'm fighting for America." More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

IQ Measures Not Just Brains, But Also Culture