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Why our IQ levels are higher than our grandparents' | James Flynn

TED

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  • Recommended by 3 people, in Hacker News, across 3 different months.
  • Presented by James Flynn, moral philosopher, as the video describes them
  • Debated among experts. Its central claim is contested, so look for the other side.

For anyone, no background needed. Education, not medical advice.

3.1M views13 years ago3 recommendations

Brain and nervesMemory and learning

James Flynn explains the Flynn effect, showing how cognitive demands and abstract thinking have changed over the past century.

In 1900, only 3% of Americans practiced professions that were deemed "cognitively demanding." Today, 35% of us do, and we have all learned to be flexible in the way that we think about problems. In this fascinating and fast-paced spin through the cognitive history of the 20th century, moral philosopher James Flynn makes the case that changes in the way we think have had surprising (and not always positive) consequences. TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more. Find closed captions and translated subtitles in many languages at ted.com/translate Follow TED news on Twitter: twitter.com/tednews Like TED on Facebook: facebook.com/TED Subscribe to our channel: youtube.com/user/TEDtalksDirector

Why it's here

3 people recommend this

What people say. Highly recommended for its insights into how modern culture has shifted human cognitive processing and abstract reasoning.

Mirioronin Hacker News • Recommends

On “You can't tell people anything (2004)”

…or?0 For someone to take an argument like this seriously they have to be willing to engage in a hypothetical scenario. Waking up with a different skin color is as fantastical as the stories you're talking about. This means that they won't engage with your hypothetical scenario. 0 This is an argument made by James Flynn in his amazing TED talk: link to this video…
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Mirioronin Hacker News • Recommends

On “Laura Deming, founder of the Longevity Fund, on being homeschooled”

This is an off-topic point, but perhaps this TED talk by James Flynn might give you a perspective to understand why your parents and grandparents tought: link to this video It posits the idea that the way of thinking back then was different, because they had to overcome different cognitive challenges from us today. This would shape how people back then viewed the world.
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Aerroonin Hacker News • Recommends

On “McDonald’s Theory on How Best to Rescue Conversations”

I think TED talks used to be better. Perhaps it's nostalgia, but I really enjoyed TED talks in the past. Martin Rees talking cosmology, Richard Dawkins talking about why the universe seems so strange, James Flynn talking about the Flynn effect0, Barry Schwartz talking about the paradox of choice etc are enjoyable to me even today. There are many others, but I've not enjoyed as many in the recent years. 0 link to this video
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Phrenzyin Hacker News • Recommends

On “Why are so many adults acting just like children?”

…l the chicken and make a meal. Whereas a modern human would most likely group the chicken and crow, and the stick and tree together. The tendency to think abstractly has exploded over the last hundred years or so, and it has fundamentally changed how we see and react to the world. A great explanation of this comes from the Ted-talk of James Flynn. link to this video…
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whilenot-devin Hacker News • Mentions

On “Helen Keller on her life before self-consciousness (1908)”

I think James Gleick is missing a lot of context her. James Flynn0 also gave a TED talk and mentioned those interviews1. Apparently it's based on interviews done by Alexander Luria2 and he put those in writing in one of his books The Making of Mind: A Personal Account of Soviet Psychology (Chapter 43). 0: link 1: link to this video 2: link 3: link
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Flynn effecton WikipediaMentions

Linked from the Wikipedia article "Flynn effect" (WikiProject Medicine).
Read the article