Current Generations Are Less Smart than Their Victorian Ancestors

Current generations are not in the least as clever as their Victorian ancestors used to be. Quite the contrary: they have significantly less brainpower, and their reflex speed is not something they can brag about either.

These statements are the result of a research carried out by specialists working with the Umea University, Sweden, the University of Amsterdam and University College Cork.

According to Daily Mail, said scientists reached these conclusions after taking the time to compare and contrast reaction times recorded since the 1800s until present day.

Thus, they discovered that the average man had switched from having a reaction time of just 183 milliseconds back in 1889 to having one of 253 milliseconds in 2004.

Within the same time frame, the average woman's reaction time changed from 188 milliseconds to 261 milliseconds, the same source informs us.

Since reaction times are considered to be a trustworthy indicator of an individual's general intelligence, the researchers were left with no choice except conclude that current generations have about 14 IQ points less than their Victorian ancestors.

“Reaction times can be used to meaningfully compare historical and contemporary populations in terms of levels of general intelligence,” the researchers explain.

All things considered, it appears that each decade has witnessed a troubling 1.23 drop in IQ points.

This figure contradicts the so-called Flynn effect, which makes a case of how, ever since World War II until present day, IQ has gone up by 3 points each decade.

“They [the results] actually indicate a pronounced decline in IQ since the Victorian era, three times bigger than previous theoretical estimates would have us believe,” researcher Dr. Michael Woodley argued.

“Reaction times are a real measure, with a reasonably large correlation with IQ, so this is an alarming finding and needs further investigation,” Dr. James Thompson wished to emphasize.

A detailed account of this study is made available to the general public in the journal Intelligence.