Does Society Help Shape IQ?

For John, BLUF:  Is the Author correct?  I don't know, but it is worth considering.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Connecting the dots the experts won’t

From The American Mind, by Ms Helen Roy, 31 Agust 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

The Flynn effect and its reversal are topics of scientific inquiry by which, should you find yourself inching toward politically incorrect conclusions, cancellation looms ominously.

In 2016, in a systematic literature review of all major accounts of the post-seventies IQ plummet across Western countries, Edward Dutton of the Ulster Institute for Social Research concluded that the best explanation for the dawdling of the Western mind had both environmental and genetic components.  The industrial revolution’s technological advances, he argued, precipitated massive gains on IQ scores “by establishing an environment which compelled us to think in a more scientific way, compelled us to become more educated, and saturated us with knowledge, information, and novel problems.”

But industry simultaneously brought “dysgenic fertility” practices.  It precipitated a decline in fertility, especially for wealthy people, and those with weaker genetic material were able to survive and themselves procreate whereas they would have died in previous centuries.  Dutton determined that the Flynn Effect is best explained as temporary superficial adaptation to new forms of education which disguised postindustrial genetic degradation for a period of time—until the truth of dysgenic fertility could overcome the effects of the new educational environment, a reversal which he identified as the negative Flynn effect.  These conclusions, as well as his other forays into forbidden areas of scientific knowledge caused several problems for Dutton, namely his disaffiliation from the Ulster Institute.

This article asks if sociatal changes post 1970s might have impacted IQ.  The author suggest no-fault divorce, more women in the workforce and day-care for pre-school children.  These are issues worth exploring.  The tradeoffs may well be worthwhile.  However, acceptance of the change in IQ should be with full knowledge of the pluses and minuses.

Who are the people in Lowell who might best kick off an exploration of this issue?  Are there political constraints on people getting off the approved path to look into these kinds of issues?

One quibble.  The writer tags then Governor Ronald Reagan with no-fault divorce.  The legislation came from State Assemblyman Jim Hayes, of Long Beach, a devoted Father.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff