ID# 2239:
"Is our national intelligence declining? The genetic point of view." L.S. Penrose
Date:
1939
Pages: (1|2|3|4|5)
Source:
University College London, LP, 65/4

&quote;Is our national intelligence declining? The genetic point of view.&quote; L.S. Penrose

4 [stamped]University College London 65/4 Penrose Papers[end stamp] is that the evidence for declining intelligence is very strong but that the decline is not likely to be as rapid as that predicted by Cattell. The intelligence of the community is most likely to approach the level of the people whose fertility is highest, that is to say, those with I.Q. between 90 and 95. The prospect opened up by this speculation is highly discouraging. Some people may take comfort in the observation that, in many civilized countries, the inferences can be drawn. Others may conclude that differential fertility is no new thing and that there are still intelligent people among us. There is one fact.[sic] however, which gives rise to the hope that these indirect methods of estimating the future of national intelligence may be erroneous. Intelligence is significantly, though loosely, correlated with physical size and stature: normal children are better developed than imbeciles. In spite of differential fertility, the average height and weight of working class children have increased with great regularity ever since the middle of the last century: the increase, which has been attributed to improved hygiene, has been most noticeable since 1900. Is is possible that intelligence, directly measured by systematic testing at intervals, might show a similar increase? [end]

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