Do all Americans go through a process of dumbening?
IQ scores in the US are on the wane for the first time ever — and experts are saying that technology is to blame.
A report from 2023 revealed the depressing reality — that the average intelligence test score fell from 100 to 98, a dismal, two point decline after a previously uninterrupted 30 point rise that began in 1905.
Test-takers are quizzed on matters of logic, spatial reasoning, visual and mathematical problem-solving and vocabulary. Scores have only been tracked since the beginning of the 20th century.
Now, experts theorize that the problem dates back to the millennium, when Americans began relying more heavily on tech in their daily lives — a reliance that has only grown.
“I do suspect that increased technology use could be playing a role in impacting our nation’s overall literacy levels,” Dr. Stefan Dombrowski, a psychology professor at Rider University, told the Daily Mail.
“It is well known that people who read and write more, generally score higher on IQ tests — of course, this is a chicken/egg scenario,” he explained.
“Do these individuals engage in reading and writing activities more frequently because they are brighter, or do they become brighter…on IQ tests because they read more?”
The data shows there is now a gap of approximately eight points between the smartest state — New Hampshire, with an average IQ of 103.2 — and the least smart, New Mexico, all the way down at 95, according to World Population Review.
Behind New Hampshire are Massachusetts (103.1), Minnesota (102.9) and Vermont (102.2), with North Dakota and Wyoming tied at number five (101.7).
The bottom five in 2024 are New Mexico (95), Louisiana (95.2), Mississippi (95.8), Alabama (96.4) and Nevada (96.6).
According to scientists, the average person ought to be able to score around 100 on an IQ test. Anyone managing 115-130 would be considered “gifted,” while an elite group — labeled as “genius” — will score between 130-145.
Hetty Roessingh, professor emerita of education at the University of Calgary, told the Mail previously that young children are no longer meeting traditional academic benchmarks as they grow up, now that technology has become so widely available.
‘There is a level of academic underachievement, where students are underprepared for college,’ Roessingh said.
The professor said that time spent with devices like phones and iPads means less time for more effective methods of increasing one’s intelligence level.
Adult brains are also at risk, as we spend more time asking Siri and Google for information than we might have previously stored in our brains, the Mail suggested.
The list of smart and not-so-smart states contained a significant number of surprises.
California, for example, ranked all the way down at no. 36, with an average score of 97.1.
New Yorkers shouldn’t gloat — the Empire State also found itself in the bottom 50 with an average score of 98.4, below states like Kentucky.
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David Landsel
