Dr. James Flynn on the Flynn Effect

December 4th, 2007 by zen

I’m not sure this hypothesis decisively knocks a hole in the important role of heritability on IQ, given the mounds of evidence in it’s favor, but Flynn is certainly proposing a reasonable explanation for the scattershot outcomes of “the Flynn Effect”. Nor is it true that ” this is the first time in history” everyone is benefiting from superior environments created by a few. That has always been the case and there is a proper name for it – ” civilization”. What is different today is the greater magnitude of scale, accelerated velocity and connectivity of such superior environments due to globalization and the information revolution.

I’d like to hear Dan of tdaxp  weigh in here.

ADDENDUM:

Herrick of Gene Expression already has with “10 Questions for James Flynn“

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Posted in brain, cognition, education, intellectuals, intelligence, psychology, science, society, theory | 4 comments

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  1. Fabius Maximus:

    December 4th, 2007 at 5:31 am

    For anyone interested in this field, Gene Expression is the place to go for discussion of basic issues or current events!

  2. Dan tdaxp:

    December 4th, 2007 at 1:26 pm

    Mark,

    Excellent thoughts!  I <a href="http://www.tdaxp.com/archive/2007/12/04/the-hierachy-of-intelligence-s-tests.html">responded on my blog</a>.

    Good catch on his "first time in history" line.  My guess is that he wants to limit the possibility that g could have been under any selective pressure..  It’d be bad enough if it geographically differentiated on account of genetic drift, so if never before did it matter, then it’s just a spandrel that’s recently been coopted by civilization.

    Still, Flynn’s larger point is that genes express themselves in an enironment, and that is valid.

  3. Dan tdaxp:

    December 4th, 2007 at 1:28 pm

    Drat!    Too used to typing straight HTML!

    Here’s my post.

    Also, gnxp has a sister-blog that is even more science-y!

  4. Chicago Boyz » Blog Archive » Turning the Sow's Ear into a Silk Purse:

    January 30th, 2008 at 6:00 pm

    […] and power, those skills are emphasized, and we see the Flynn Effect in IQ scores as described by Zenpundit: One of the well-documented aspects regarding IQ testing on which you can safely make broad […]