Lesson:

Flynn in Reverse

Apparently, we are not as bright as we think, and we are becoming less intelligent all the time. Back in the good old days, we used to have to memorize our math times tables. I remember going as high as 12 X 12 = 144. We also had to remember phone numbers. My childhood number was XXX-2826, or I could dial 2826 if I were in the same community. Did you have to memorize poems or parts for a play? I sure did. Just imagine we carried all that information around in our heads, and most of us Gen Xers still have it there today. From the end of the Second World War until about the early 1970s, a person’s Intelligence Quotient (IQ) increased on average by three points every ten years. It’s not happening anymore. Scientists seem to have discovered that we are getting dumber or perhaps even smarter, depending on how you look at it. Our devices are replacing our memories. Let me ask you a quick question. What is my email address? Well, you may be able to remember because it’s easy, but how many email addresses, if any, can you retain? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? It’s something to consider.