Flynn effect
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Search complete. 27 mentions across 8 episodes found for "Flynn effect".
Oct 1, 2026
Moiya McTierGUEST
We've also seen on mass that our IQ scores as a society are increasing.
Moiya McTierGUEST
This is called the Flynn effect, where every generation seems to be doing better on IQ tests than the generation before.
Kelly WeinersmithHOST
Huh.
Moiya McTierGUEST
At the same time, our scores on creativity tests are decreasing-
Karl KruszelnickiHOST
Secondly, you are smarter than your parents and me.
Karl KruszelnickiHOST
This is called the Flynn Effect.
Karl KruszelnickiHOST
and the IQ is going up by the rate of nine IQ points every generation.
Karl KruszelnickiHOST
And thirdly, we can stop and reverse global warming by simply keeping fossil carbon in the ground.
Paul BloomHOST
A second factor is that we know IQ can differ radically without any genetic differences at all.
Paul BloomHOST
And the most dramatic evidence of that is the Flynn effect.
Paul BloomHOST
The Flynn effect is one of the freakier findings.
Paul BloomHOST
The Flynn effect is the finding that people have been getting smarter.
Paul BloomHOST
You are much smarter on average than your parents.
Paul BloomHOST
And the IQ tests hide that.
Paul BloomHOST
But what neither of you acknowledge is your test was much harder.
Paul BloomHOST
As people got better they had to make the test harder and harder.
Terry SladekGUEST
And...
Terry SladekGUEST
When you look at where this is really, especially as it pertains to the United States, where the leveling off in this Flynn effect, they're not saying a year because you can't simplistically do it that much.
Terry SladekGUEST
They're saying that this leveling off, this reverse Flynn effect, meaning IQs are no longer going up, Philip.
Terry SladekGUEST
They are saying occurred, Philip, within the year, within the period, 2006 to 2018.
Terry SladekGUEST
Wow.
7 MINS LATER
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Philip TeresiHOST
We got this piece from Daleks Express.
Philip TeresiHOST
Reverse Flynn effect.
speaker_1GUEST
Exactly.
speaker_1GUEST
And to understand the magnitude of the shift, you have to understand a concept called the Flynn effect.
speaker_0HOST
Right.
speaker_0HOST
The Flynn effect.
speaker_1GUEST
Yeah.
speaker_1GUEST
For decades, researchers tracked the steady, reliable rise in average IQ scores across populations worldwide.
Jaramy Eugene WilsonGUEST
And so I was like, "Holy shit, I love AI, but people are going to be hurt."[lips smack] So I'll, I'll try and answer this short as I can, but it's difficult.
Jaramy Eugene WilsonGUEST
Uh, i- if your listeners aren't following, look up the Flynn effect.
Jaramy Eugene WilsonGUEST
The Flynn effect, basically from the 1930s to the 1980s, here in America, our IQ scores were at a compounding increasing rate.
Jaramy Eugene WilsonGUEST
Do you know where the words idiot and moron came from? Those used to be actual intelligent quotients.
Cheri TreeHOST
[laughs]
speaker_0NARRATOR
That's the difference between average intelligence and genius level on the old scales.
speaker_0NARRATOR
This phenomenon has a name, the Flynn effect.
speaker_0NARRATOR
Named after James Flynn, the researcher who first documented it systematically in the 1980s.
speaker_0NARRATOR
And on the surface, it looks like proof that humans are getting smarter.
speaker_0NARRATOR
That whatever happened 30,000 years ago doesn't matter because we're on an upward trajectory now.
speaker_0NARRATOR
Except that's not what the Flynn effect shows at all.
speaker_0NARRATOR
Because here's the thing about those rising IQ scores.
speaker_0NARRATOR
They weren't rising evenly across all types of intelligence.
Kimberley WilsonGUEST
You lose magnesium, which supports synthesis of lots of neurotransmitters.
Kimberley WilsonGUEST
So almost by definition, as soon as you're processing something, a whole food into a processed food, you're losing nutrition and we see that on on a much larger scale so the higher the intake of somebody's diet that is ultra processed the lower their nutritional status in omega-3s in vitamin a in vitamin c in vitamin d in a bunch of minerals and so it's this kind of imbalance that says oh okay the more of my diet is upf the less my brain is getting what it needs to function well and that's a big concern The other big concern is around what's called the reversed Flynn effect.
Kimberley WilsonGUEST
So the Flynn effect, James Flynn was an IQ researcher.
Kimberley WilsonGUEST
And I mean, there are some controversies around IQ, but in as far as IQ does seem to track with things like wealth and academic outcomes, it's kind of a useful concept.
Kimberley WilsonGUEST
And the Flynn effect was that observation that from since records began, since we started recording IQ, global IQs have been increasing.
Kimberley WilsonGUEST
So everyone's been getting smarter.
Kimberley WilsonGUEST
Well done, everybody.