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Environment and Increasing Intelligence

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Human Intelligence and Medical Illness

Part of the book series: The Springer Series on Human Exceptionality ((SSHE))

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Abstract

Rising IQ certainly cannot be attributed to genetic change; evolution is a far slower process than that. If evolution alone were responsible for increasing intelligence, it is likely that the rate of IQ increase would be less than 1% of what it is now. In other words, if evolution were the driving force, we would not expect IQ to increase by a point every 2 years; we might expect it to increase by a point every 200 years. Clearly, there must be another reason for increasing intelligence. We have spent some effort in the last few chapters showing that the increase in IQ score also cannot be explained by flaws in the tests or in the way that the tests are administered. Neither is rising IQ a function of accelerated child development, since it is not clear whether development actually is happening any faster than it was before. What is left, if we are to explain the Flynn effect? The only remaining possibility seems to be an answer that is almost too simple to be true; the environment is changing in a way that enables IQ to rise.

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  1. Medical Communications Consultants, LLC, 103 Van Doren Place, Chapel Hill, NC, 27517, USA

    R. Grant Steen

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Steen, R.G. (2010). Environment and Increasing Intelligence. In: Human Intelligence and Medical Illness. The Springer Series on Human Exceptionality. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0092-0_5

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