Are younger generations destined to become increasingly stupid with the passage of time? This question, regularly raised by elders to support their theory of "it was better before," is now finding an echo in scientific research. Some international studies document a worrying decline in cognitive abilities. global scale, a phenomenon that predates the Covid-19 pandemic and appears to be accelerating over time.
Is social media to blame?
In 2018, Norwegian economists Bratsberg and Rogeberg highlighted a progressive decline in IQ, estimated at 0.33 points per year by analyzing 730,000 tests. More recently, a 2023 meta-analysis of 300,000 individuals in 72 countries revealed a similar phenomenon: while the intelligence quotient increased by an average of 2.4 points per decade between 1948 and 1985, this trend has reversed since 1986, with an estimated decrease of 1.8 points per decade.
International assessments seem to confirm these observations. The PISA 2022 survey shows an unprecedented decline in the performance of French students, with a score of 474 points in mathematics, a drop of 21 points since 2018 – the largest drop in two decades. In the United States, the University of Michigan's "Monitoring the Future" project has documented a significant increase in self-reported concentration difficulties among 18-year-olds since the mid-2010s.
This decline in IQ among young people is due to a multifactorial environment that does not hesitate to point the finger at the role of new technologies. The decrease in time spent on Reading for the benefit of screens contributes significantly to this: in 2021, only 37.6% of Americans reported having read a novel or short story, compared to 45.2% in 2012. In France, the National Book Center study reveals that one in three young people between the ages of 16 and 19 never reads for pleasure. At the same time, the omnipresence of screens is transforming our relationship with information and knowledge, while disrupting sleep and reducing attention span. Added to this are educational factors (evolution of teaching methods), environmental factors (exposure to pollutants) and sociocultural factors (changes in lifestyles), for an explosive cocktail, and a catastrophic outcome. Really?
An evolution rather than a decline
Should we therefore give in to alarmism? While the Financial Times points out that there is no evidence to indicate “irreversible damage” to human intelligence, this trend above all calls into question the relevance of historical intelligence tests such as IQ. Young people are still reading as much as ever; they've simply changed their habits, swapping paper volumes for ebooks and webtoons. On social media, certain genres are creating real buzz among young readers.
Finally, regarding cognitive abilities overall, it's our entire relationship with technology that needs to be questioned. Because while young people (on a global scale) are less efficient in certain subjects, they're also acquiring a lot of new knowledge: coding and programming, using artificial intelligence, and even increased awareness of cybersecurity threats... so many things that we don't yet learn on the benches of an elementary school.
0 Comments