By some accounts, the effect is not spread out over everything that is counted as “intelligence”, but has a disproportionate effect on faculties such as impulse control. Which could explain a lot (“we voted for X and things still suck? We’re voting for Y next!”)

SwingingTheLamp@midwest.social · 4 pts · 234d

Damn, I misread that as "Shrank IQ Scores of Americans by Half," and thought, "Hmm, that tracks."

deacon@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 234d

We know, we are literally living through that shit now. Hope we survive it.

reddig33@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 234d

You’ll be happy to know that small planes are still spewing lead exhaust all over the US.

https://www.popsci.com/technology/epa-small-plane-leaded-fuel/

Pretty sure these are the same planes used to spray pesticides all over food crops. So you’re getting two times the brain damage and cancer for the price of one!

DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 234d

Three points per person average, seven points in worst cases. Doesn't sound very significant.

Why a high IQ doesn't mean you're smart

A high IQ is like height in a basketball player," says David Perkins, who studies thinking and reasoning skills at Harvard Graduate School of Education in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "It is very important, all other things being equal. But all other things aren't equal. There's a lot more to being a good basketball player than being tall, and there's a lot more to being a good thinker than having a high IQ.

Also, it's good to keep this in mind, especially considering current events:

Intelligence Quotient

Historically, many proponents of IQ testing have been eugenicists who used pseudoscience to push later debunked views of racial hierarchy in order to justify segregation and oppose immigration. Such views have been rejected by a strong consensus of mainstream science, though fringe figures continue to promote them in pseudo-scholarship and popular culture.