Are we less intelligent because of technology?
The power of technology is infinite, but many claim that our IQ decreases as a result of new inventions
In recent years, the increase and deployment of technologies have changed the way we do things. These changes go from how we feed ourselves to our way of performing in the world.
Leer en español: ¿Somos menos inteligentes por culpa de la tecnología?
While no one denies the infinite power of technology, many people have wondered if it has diminished our human capabilities and is making us dependent on a device to do things. Even, there are those who dare to say that our IQ is decreasing as a result of new inventions.
A recent study conducted by the Ragnar Frisch Economic Research Center in Norway, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Journal (PNAS), confirmed that the IQ scores decrease considerably compared to previous generations.
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Regarding the scores, those responsible for the study said that the decrease is due to a difference in the technique of teaching in the schools of languages and mathematics. However, according to the Infobae newspaper, they warned that it could also be due to the increase in time people spend on technological devices instead of reading books.
On the other hand, a study published by the Royal Society affirms that social media reduce our intellectual capacities, because, despite having infinite access to information, our searches are limited to knowing what our loved ones do and reading news very quickly. In addition, the over-information to which we expose ourselves decreases our concentration and reflection.
However, according to neuropsychologist Katherine Possin, in dialogue with BBC World, "today we need new tools to understand the new way in which the IQ manifests, we need new tests that include different types of intelligence, only then we can really see how they have changed over time".
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"In my opinion, what happens is that in recent times changed the way people learn and work, we live in societies where intelligence is not based on memorization or on the mathematical or vocabulary aspects that measure the traditional tests, but rather that is linked more with resources that can be found increasingly in the digital world,", says the specialist.
That is why, technology, by itself, does not make us less intelligent; simply using these requires other completely different skills than our parents used to perform in the world. It also evidences that the way in which we learn and reason has changed in recent years and will continue to change.
We must remember that technology allows the interconnection of ideas among the members of society in order to facilitate progress and democratize information.
LatinAmerican Post | Luisa Báez
Translated from “¿Somos menos inteligentes por culpa de la tecnología?”
* The opinion of the editor does not represent the newspaper
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