This book is the best holiday gift designed to satisfy your IQ curiosity and making you even more smarter today than yesterday. Are We Getting Smarter? features fascinating new material on a variety of topics including the effects of intelligence in the developing world; the impact of rising IQ scores on the death penalty, cognitive ability in old age and the language abilities of youth culture; as well as controversial topics of race and gender.
Are We Getting Smarter?
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Flynn has made this field his own ... This book's strengths are the authority of the author, the engaging writing style, the importance of the topics dealt with, and the up-to-date nature of the content."
--Ian J. Deary, University of Edinburgh
"No one but James Flynn could have written this book. It contains his most recent ideas about the causes and implications of the massive rise in IQ test scores that has been termed the "Flynn Effect", and is thus essential reading for anyone wishing to keep up to date with the latest thinking about the nature of IQ."
--Nicholas Mackintosh, University of Cambridge
"The scholarship of this book is detailed and exhaustive. The originality of thinking is sprinkled throughout the beginning chapters, and reaches a peak in the final two. With his unique perspective, Flynn literally is "opening new windows"."
--Jonathan Wai, Duke University
"Reveals new data on the evolution of the mind and predicts which mental abilities will continue to be enhanced...."
--Indie Sleepers, Publishers Weekly
"...Are We Getting Smarter? is full of thought-provoking reflections...
--John Naughton, The Guardian
"...[Flynn] remains one of the most original thinkers in IQ testing."
--Bruce Bower, ScienceNews
"... "If Mr. Flynn's explanation for rising IQ is right, he isn't merely explaining mankind's mental evolution. Reading-and critically evaluating-Mr. Flynn actually makes us smarter. Or at least more modern...."
--Bryan Caplan, Wall Street Journal
"...the book remains valuable for grasping our changing capacity for learning over time-and our room for growth."
--Samantha Murphy, Scientific American Mind
"...in making the case that the Flynn effect is connected to modernity, the book offers a broader indictment of intelligence research and the field of psychology as a whole..."
--Meehan Crist and Tim Requarth, Columbia University, The New Republic
"Flynn asks poignant questions and works hard to provide clear, thorough, well-researched answers.... This is a very worthy read by a leader in the field..."
--Devon Tomasulo, MFA, PsychCentral.com
"It's an uplifting tale, a reminder that human capacity is on the upswing."
--Nicholas Kristof, NYT
"...The book is stuffed with terrific tables of data that detail and support various trends in different places and with respect to different peoples of the world. Flynn has assumed the role of caretaker of our intellectual direction. With a simple, but elegant style and a literate tone, the author portrays our destiny in eye-opening statistical analysis. Then he delivers conclusions. A well-crafted sense of where we're heading. The book drills deep under your skin, constantly ferreting out new vistas-read it!"
--D. Wayne Dworsky, San Francisco & Sacramento Book Review
"...those accepting intelligence as a multidimensional construct, the different aspects of which interact with social developments (and Flynn makes a compelling case for that), will find the book an eye-opener."
--Science
"...Flynn writes clearly, succinctly, and wryly.... Those interested in research on intelligence should read this book.... Recommended..."
- D.S. Dunn, Moravian College, Choice
--Ian J. Deary, University of Edinburgh
"No one but James Flynn could have written this book. It contains his most recent ideas about the causes and implications of the massive rise in IQ test scores that has been termed the "Flynn Effect", and is thus essential reading for anyone wishing to keep up to date with the latest thinking about the nature of IQ."
--Nicholas Mackintosh, University of Cambridge
"The scholarship of this book is detailed and exhaustive. The originality of thinking is sprinkled throughout the beginning chapters, and reaches a peak in the final two. With his unique perspective, Flynn literally is "opening new windows"."
--Jonathan Wai, Duke University
"Reveals new data on the evolution of the mind and predicts which mental abilities will continue to be enhanced...."
--Indie Sleepers, Publishers Weekly
"...Are We Getting Smarter? is full of thought-provoking reflections...
--John Naughton, The Guardian
"...[Flynn] remains one of the most original thinkers in IQ testing."
--Bruce Bower, ScienceNews
"... "If Mr. Flynn's explanation for rising IQ is right, he isn't merely explaining mankind's mental evolution. Reading-and critically evaluating-Mr. Flynn actually makes us smarter. Or at least more modern...."
--Bryan Caplan, Wall Street Journal
"...the book remains valuable for grasping our changing capacity for learning over time-and our room for growth."
--Samantha Murphy, Scientific American Mind
"...in making the case that the Flynn effect is connected to modernity, the book offers a broader indictment of intelligence research and the field of psychology as a whole..."
--Meehan Crist and Tim Requarth, Columbia University, The New Republic
"Flynn asks poignant questions and works hard to provide clear, thorough, well-researched answers.... This is a very worthy read by a leader in the field..."
--Devon Tomasulo, MFA, PsychCentral.com
"It's an uplifting tale, a reminder that human capacity is on the upswing."
--Nicholas Kristof, NYT
"...The book is stuffed with terrific tables of data that detail and support various trends in different places and with respect to different peoples of the world. Flynn has assumed the role of caretaker of our intellectual direction. With a simple, but elegant style and a literate tone, the author portrays our destiny in eye-opening statistical analysis. Then he delivers conclusions. A well-crafted sense of where we're heading. The book drills deep under your skin, constantly ferreting out new vistas-read it!"
--D. Wayne Dworsky, San Francisco & Sacramento Book Review
"...those accepting intelligence as a multidimensional construct, the different aspects of which interact with social developments (and Flynn makes a compelling case for that), will find the book an eye-opener."
--Science
"...Flynn writes clearly, succinctly, and wryly.... Those interested in research on intelligence should read this book.... Recommended..."
- D.S. Dunn, Moravian College, Choice
Book Description
IQ gains are persisting into the 21st century, particularly in the developing world: the 'Flynn effect' marches on! This exciting new book by James R. Flynn aims to make sense of the continued rise in IQ scores and considers what this tells us about our intelligence, our minds and society.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I am not just kidding. Flynn uncovered in the early 80s that individuals' IQs gained about 3 pts per decade (Box 13, pg 74). Nearly 30 years later professionals within clinical psychology, education, law, and healthcare still ignore the impact of the Flynn Effect on their respective cognitive measurements.
He documents the critical consequences of ignoring the Flynn Effect. In the US any criminal with an IQ two full standard deviations below the average (IQ of 70) is deemed incompetent to stand trial and exempt from the death penalty. But, the majority of IQ tests are obsolete. An individual can get an IQ score of 76 (6 pts above incompetence) solely because of the test being outdated. Educators' assessment of children being gifted or cognitively impaired can be highly inaccurate. Giving an old test to children inflates their IQs. As a result, the selected gifted group will be far larger than it should be and many of the children needing special assistance will be ignored. The Flynn Effect also affects memory loss tests. And, health care professionals routinely administer obsolete tests. By doing so, they diagnose elderly individuals as doing just fine when they do need assistance in living.
Flynn proposes two solutions to resolve the Flynn Effect. The first one is updating tests frequently. The second one is adjusting scores downward by 0.3 pts per year. So, someone with an IQ of 120 associated with a test normed 20 years ago would have an adjusted IQ of 114. Somehow, the professions have rejected either approach.
Flynn considers intelligence a relative concept that needs to factor age of individuals (cognitive capabilities have their own lifecycle) and contemporary social context (Flynn Effect). Our society has become increasingly complex especially at work. And, that is the primary cause of our increasing IQ scores over time. Are we getting smarter? On page 163, he answers his own question: "I cannot give an absolute measure of the ability to classify or use logic... but I can say we are much better at both today than our ancestors were in 1900." So, the straightforward answer is "yes, we are."
Flynn contemplates whether developing nations will catch up with developed ones on IQ tests. He debunks many arguments related to climate, nutrition, and health; as he finds they do not cause IQ increases. Instead, IQ results from GDP growth that entails a society becoming increasingly complex. He notes that the IQ of developing nations is often rising rapidly. But, so are the ones of developed countries (Box 11, pg. 57). The issue is whether the societies of the developing world will catch up to the complexity of the developed ones. Some will and make the transition from developing to developed countries such as many Southeast Asian countries have.
Flynn observes that IQ changes with age, especially IQ subcomponents. And, the aging pattern is different for individuals of various brightness levels. The very bright tend to lose more of their analytical skills with age than the not so bright ones. This is because they progressively lose some of their analytical skills upon retirement. The remedy for them is to simply remain actively engaged in research and studies throughout retirement as he has done himself. Flynn is 78. But, with more leisure time in retirement, bright people communicate and socialize more. So, their vocabulary keeps on improving (Box 24, pg. 116).
Flynn observes that girls are far better students than boys. In all reviewed countries, girls have a huge advantage in reading (Box 31, pg 148). Better prepared, many more females go on to university than males. Yet, males average IQs in university are much higher than females. So, some derive that men are more intelligent than women. This is wrong. The males that go on to university represent a smaller self-selected sample than the females. It only makes sense that their average IQs would be higher than females. Flynn notices that in developing countries, women IQs are often lower than men. But, this is solely due to their being deprived of education and working opportunities. Flynn states on pg 157: "I believe that whether or not women achieve [IQ] parity with men is a good test of whether a society has achieved full modernity [men and women civil rights equality].
Flynn explains the superiority in academic achievement of the Asian Americans. By the 1980s, they represented only 2% of the American population, but already accounted for 14% of the students at Harvard, 16% at Stanford, 20% at MIT, 21% at Cal Tech, and 25% at Berkeley (pg. 177). Today all those percentages are much higher. Many believe this group has a far higher IQ. Flynn suggests this is not the case. Just like women are better students and are over-represented vs men in universities so are Asian Americans vs other Americans. It is the exact same issue. Both groups, women and Asian Americans study a lot harder than their counterparts. As a result a far larger percentage of their respective population goes onto universities. It is just that this trend is even more pronounced for the Asian Americans. Flynn states: "... it was not higher IQ scores but sociology of the family [tiger-moms and overall work ethics] that explains the remarkable academic achievements of the Asian Americans."
Within the nature-vs-nurture debate Flynn falls strongly on the nurture side. For him, nurture is having the opportunity to live and work within a complex society. Thus, Flynn weighs much less than his counterparts on nature (intelligence being inherited). Yet, when he addresses the studies on twins (pg. 167 - 169) that demonstrated that nature was a very strong factor (twins brought up apart end up having the same IQ regardless of environmental circumstances); he appears hard pressed to effectively rebut it. He goes on a long explanation regarding an "individual multiplier" that actually confirms the very "nature" argument he attempts to rebut.
In the end, intelligence is probably much less inherited than Flynn's counterparts (Jensen, Murray) suggest; but it is much more than Flynn advances. If you find this topic interesting, I also recommend Flynn's earlier book What Is Intelligence?. If you want to study the other side of the argument check out Murray's recent book Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010.
He documents the critical consequences of ignoring the Flynn Effect. In the US any criminal with an IQ two full standard deviations below the average (IQ of 70) is deemed incompetent to stand trial and exempt from the death penalty. But, the majority of IQ tests are obsolete. An individual can get an IQ score of 76 (6 pts above incompetence) solely because of the test being outdated. Educators' assessment of children being gifted or cognitively impaired can be highly inaccurate. Giving an old test to children inflates their IQs. As a result, the selected gifted group will be far larger than it should be and many of the children needing special assistance will be ignored. The Flynn Effect also affects memory loss tests. And, health care professionals routinely administer obsolete tests. By doing so, they diagnose elderly individuals as doing just fine when they do need assistance in living.
Flynn proposes two solutions to resolve the Flynn Effect. The first one is updating tests frequently. The second one is adjusting scores downward by 0.3 pts per year. So, someone with an IQ of 120 associated with a test normed 20 years ago would have an adjusted IQ of 114. Somehow, the professions have rejected either approach.
Flynn considers intelligence a relative concept that needs to factor age of individuals (cognitive capabilities have their own lifecycle) and contemporary social context (Flynn Effect). Our society has become increasingly complex especially at work. And, that is the primary cause of our increasing IQ scores over time. Are we getting smarter? On page 163, he answers his own question: "I cannot give an absolute measure of the ability to classify or use logic... but I can say we are much better at both today than our ancestors were in 1900." So, the straightforward answer is "yes, we are."
Flynn contemplates whether developing nations will catch up with developed ones on IQ tests. He debunks many arguments related to climate, nutrition, and health; as he finds they do not cause IQ increases. Instead, IQ results from GDP growth that entails a society becoming increasingly complex. He notes that the IQ of developing nations is often rising rapidly. But, so are the ones of developed countries (Box 11, pg. 57). The issue is whether the societies of the developing world will catch up to the complexity of the developed ones. Some will and make the transition from developing to developed countries such as many Southeast Asian countries have.
Flynn observes that IQ changes with age, especially IQ subcomponents. And, the aging pattern is different for individuals of various brightness levels. The very bright tend to lose more of their analytical skills with age than the not so bright ones. This is because they progressively lose some of their analytical skills upon retirement. The remedy for them is to simply remain actively engaged in research and studies throughout retirement as he has done himself. Flynn is 78. But, with more leisure time in retirement, bright people communicate and socialize more. So, their vocabulary keeps on improving (Box 24, pg. 116).
Flynn observes that girls are far better students than boys. In all reviewed countries, girls have a huge advantage in reading (Box 31, pg 148). Better prepared, many more females go on to university than males. Yet, males average IQs in university are much higher than females. So, some derive that men are more intelligent than women. This is wrong. The males that go on to university represent a smaller self-selected sample than the females. It only makes sense that their average IQs would be higher than females. Flynn notices that in developing countries, women IQs are often lower than men. But, this is solely due to their being deprived of education and working opportunities. Flynn states on pg 157: "I believe that whether or not women achieve [IQ] parity with men is a good test of whether a society has achieved full modernity [men and women civil rights equality].
Flynn explains the superiority in academic achievement of the Asian Americans. By the 1980s, they represented only 2% of the American population, but already accounted for 14% of the students at Harvard, 16% at Stanford, 20% at MIT, 21% at Cal Tech, and 25% at Berkeley (pg. 177). Today all those percentages are much higher. Many believe this group has a far higher IQ. Flynn suggests this is not the case. Just like women are better students and are over-represented vs men in universities so are Asian Americans vs other Americans. It is the exact same issue. Both groups, women and Asian Americans study a lot harder than their counterparts. As a result a far larger percentage of their respective population goes onto universities. It is just that this trend is even more pronounced for the Asian Americans. Flynn states: "... it was not higher IQ scores but sociology of the family [tiger-moms and overall work ethics] that explains the remarkable academic achievements of the Asian Americans."
Within the nature-vs-nurture debate Flynn falls strongly on the nurture side. For him, nurture is having the opportunity to live and work within a complex society. Thus, Flynn weighs much less than his counterparts on nature (intelligence being inherited). Yet, when he addresses the studies on twins (pg. 167 - 169) that demonstrated that nature was a very strong factor (twins brought up apart end up having the same IQ regardless of environmental circumstances); he appears hard pressed to effectively rebut it. He goes on a long explanation regarding an "individual multiplier" that actually confirms the very "nature" argument he attempts to rebut.
In the end, intelligence is probably much less inherited than Flynn's counterparts (Jensen, Murray) suggest; but it is much more than Flynn advances. If you find this topic interesting, I also recommend Flynn's earlier book What Is Intelligence?. If you want to study the other side of the argument check out Murray's recent book Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
First of all this book is fairly technical but not above the intelligent layman to comprehend. However, in order to do that one must put in some effort. You are not going to get much out of this book if you aren't at least somewhat familiar with basic statistical concepts and are willing to think your way through it.
The first couple of chapters and the last couple of chapters were outstanding and don't get bogged down in data. I learned a lot from both of them and Flynn seems to have an incredible grip on some complex issues around IQ. Secondly IQ is important regardless of the PC attempts to say it doesn't matter much.
In the middle of this book are some chapters that get heavily into data that I believe are too long. I don't need so many examples say of developing nations to get the point. Some of this material is boring.
I thought the second chapter was great and according to the author it is a summary of his previous book What Is Intelligence?. Therefore I'm going to read that book.
This book is recommended for people interested in the topic and who have a least some basic level of knowledge of statistics. Without that you aren't going to get much out of it.
The first couple of chapters and the last couple of chapters were outstanding and don't get bogged down in data. I learned a lot from both of them and Flynn seems to have an incredible grip on some complex issues around IQ. Secondly IQ is important regardless of the PC attempts to say it doesn't matter much.
In the middle of this book are some chapters that get heavily into data that I believe are too long. I don't need so many examples say of developing nations to get the point. Some of this material is boring.
I thought the second chapter was great and according to the author it is a summary of his previous book What Is Intelligence?. Therefore I'm going to read that book.
This book is recommended for people interested in the topic and who have a least some basic level of knowledge of statistics. Without that you aren't going to get much out of it.
12 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Are we getting smarter? Not this reviewer, at any rate. The interesting finding that IQ scores are steadily rising from one generation to the next (the Flynn effect) might reflect evolutionary changes in the human brain, but more likely is a societal phenomenon. Our evolving culture is making us better at test-taking and more comfortable with abstract kinds of thought. A number of other factors must be considered as well, for example, improved nutrition, better health, better medical care, educational opportunities, and increased genetic diversity due to outbreeding. Is there an overall intelligence factor, "g," above and beyond the various skills measured by intelligence testing? The author considers these and other questions, and without drawing definite conclusions, leads the readers through some fascinating explorations.
Unfortunately, the book is almost unreadable. Author Flynn writes dense thickets of prose, packed with statistical jargon, tables and charts. Who is the intended audience? Not the average educated layperson. The book seems to be written for a handful of experts in the field of intelligence testing, and for no one else. I found myself skimming the later chapters, pausing at the occasional paragraph of readable prose, and skimming on. The author is passionate about his subject, but has not made his material accessible for most readers.
If you have a background in education or psychology, and some familiarity with intelligence testing, you might find this book enlightening. For the rest of us, it's not recommended. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.
Unfortunately, the book is almost unreadable. Author Flynn writes dense thickets of prose, packed with statistical jargon, tables and charts. Who is the intended audience? Not the average educated layperson. The book seems to be written for a handful of experts in the field of intelligence testing, and for no one else. I found myself skimming the later chapters, pausing at the occasional paragraph of readable prose, and skimming on. The author is passionate about his subject, but has not made his material accessible for most readers.
If you have a background in education or psychology, and some familiarity with intelligence testing, you might find this book enlightening. For the rest of us, it's not recommended. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
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CONTENT
A summary of the Flynn effect and various topics relating to IQ that the author finds interesting. A lot of the content is polemic against other IQ researchers. Read more
A summary of the Flynn effect and various topics relating to IQ that the author finds interesting. A lot of the content is polemic against other IQ researchers. Read more
Published 19 hours ago by Jackal
3.0 out of 5 stars
A scholarly read
This is definitely a tough book to read because of all the tests that author James R Flynn, a cognitive historian, cites and analyses. Read more
Published 1 month ago by CGScammell
5.0 out of 5 stars
very good
Really good piece of book. Flynn make a very good work, particulary revising theory of men advantage hypotesis. It's strongely recomended literacy.
Published 2 months ago by Kamil
4.0 out of 5 stars
the Tipping Point?
Any book about IQ will be controversial. Professor Flynn is a world-reknown cognitive historian. He frequently testifies in U.S. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Aaron Gutsell
2.0 out of 5 stars
We may be smarter but communication still matters
I have been dragging this book around trying to finish it for weeks. I love non fiction and I read a great deal of it. I like challenging material and I read a lot of that too. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Gracie
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Flynn Effect: Are we getting smarter?
Wikipedia defines the "Flynn Effect" thus: "The Flynn effect is the substantial and long-sustained increase in intelligence test scores measured in many parts of the world from... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Steven A. Peterson
2.0 out of 5 stars
Academic piffle
There was a famous hoax a few years back where a paper which was total nonsense was submitted to a respected academic journal - and was published. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Jerry Saperstein
3.0 out of 5 stars
Feel Like I'm Back in Graduate School ...
and I don't think I want to be there.
James R. Flynn is an important figure in our society because of his research and writings on IQ. Read more
James R. Flynn is an important figure in our society because of his research and writings on IQ. Read more
Published 3 months ago by LA
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting but too much technical detail
What has caused the steady increase in IQ scores known as the Flynn effect? It seems unlikely that it is evolution or change in brain structure. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Phyllis T. Smith
3.0 out of 5 stars
Needs a smarter editor
This book was badly written. I want to be diplomatic, but there is no way around this fact. This is an interesting topic, by a brilliant author, with lots of natural appeal to... Read more
Published 5 months ago by BrianB
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