/sci/ - Science & Math

The average IQ of a college student has fallen by 17 points over the past 85 years

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1309142/abstract

>Meta-analysis: On average, undergraduate students' intelligence is merely average

According to a widespread belief, the average IQ of university students is 115 to 130 IQ points, that is, substantially higher than the average IQ of the general population (M = 100, SD =15). We traced the origin of this belief to obsolete intelligence data collected in 1940s and 1950s when university education was the privilege of a few. Examination of more recent IQ data indicate that IQ of university students and university graduates dropped to the average of the general population. The decline in students' IQ is a necessary consequence of increasing educational attainment over the last 80 years. Today, graduating from university is more common than completing high school in the 1940s. Method. We conducted a meta-analysis of the mean IQ scores of college and university students samples tested with Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale between 1939 and 2022. Results. The results show that the average IQ of undergraduate students today is a mere 102 IQ points and declined by approximately 0.2 IQ points per year.

>>15993759
>/sci/ - trades & common sense from the man on the street

Grandiose delusions of intellectual superiority are the last refuge for people who have failed at every other aspect of life.
Since intellect is intangible one can always lie and brag about it without risking the possibility of found to be lacking. Its unlike athletic ability, height, good looks, wealth or even sense of humor in that respect. Anyone can imagine themselves to be intelligent and anyone can pose as an intellectual so the result is that the dregs of society gravitate towards academia and science in particular.