It’s true that average human intelligence is falling across the West. But it’s not because of smartphones:
Human intellectual abilities such as reasoning and problem-solving are diminishing, possibly due to increased exposure to visual media, the Financial Times has reported.
Human intelligence appeared to peak in the early 2010s and has been in decline since, the FT added, citing PISA, an international benchmarking test for 15-year-olds that includes reading, mathematics and science, and adult cognitive evaluations. The reported trend comes amid a rise in artificial intelligence (AI) which, by some estimates, may surpass human IQ in a matter of years.
The recorded spike in the share of high school students who reported difficulties in PISA tests coincides with a broad change in people’s relationship with information, such as the transition away from reading and towards visual content, the publication explained.
I suspect they’d find that accounting for demographic changes will suffice to explain the entire decline in human intellectual abilities. I pointed that the average US IQ is on track to fall considerably back in 2015, a decline entirely due to the changes in US population demographics.
If you import millions of third-worlders, you’re not going to see the average IQ rise. The dirt is not magic. All you’re doing is gradually transitioning into a third-world country.