Modern people are not as intelligent as people of the 19th century?

The latest study by a group of scientists has yielded shocking results: modern humans are not as intelligent as people living in the 19th century, even far behind intellectually and reflexively.

The above study was carried out by experts working at Umea University (Sweden), University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) and College Cork (Ireland). This group of scientists compared and contrasted the time taken by human reflexes from the 1800s to the present day.

The reason for using this method is because we cannot directly compare IQ of different periods. Remember people of the 19th century who have not had access to education, improved nutrition and hygiene.

Scientists found that, in 1889, an average man had a reflection time of 0.183 seconds for an action. But in 2004, this number reached 0.253 seconds. Suppose there is a stone flying towards a man in the 19th century, he only takes 0.183 seconds to make a avoidance decision. Meanwhile, if he lived in the 21st century, he needed 0.253 seconds to make a decision. For women is 0.188 seconds in 1889 and 0.261 seconds in 2004.

Reflection time is considered a reliable indicator of a person's intelligence, so researchers have concluded that human IQ is 14 points lower today than the ancestors of the century. 19.

It seems that every decade has passed, people's IQ has dropped by 1.23 points. This number is in conflict with the Flynn effect, which, since the Second World War to this day, has increased by 3 points every decade.

Dr Michael Woodley said: "The actual research results show that IQ decline markedly since the 19th century. Three times more than our previous theoretical estimate."

Meanwhile, Dr. James Thompson emphasized: "Reflection time is a good measure, there is a big, reasonable correlation with IQ. So this is a worrying and necessary finding. more research".

Detailed research results have been published in Intelligence magazine.