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Re: Flynn Effect: IQ/G/etc... -- Bradley Kovach, 21:58:07 02/21/07 Wed
Instead of comparing cacti and trees try using the analogy of seeds. Everyone is given a different amount of seeds to begin with, some just a few seeds, others handfuls. Now, the person with just a few seeds, even if they plant all their seeds and water them everyday are still only going to be able to fill a flower box. On the other hand, the person with handfuls of seeds has the potential to grow a forest, but only if they plant all of their seeds and put in the effort to feed and water them. But we still have to describe the Flynn effect. The Flynn Effect would be comparable to the genetic engineering and chemicals and hydroponic technologies that allow us to have crops and plants larger than ever before.
>Okay- I dont know why this is bothering me so much but
>I cant seem to quit pondering our class discussion
>about intelligence. It seems that the overall opinion
>is that there is a "g",an underlying intelligence,
>kinda like a tree with branches of different types of
>intelligence steming from "g". But then there is the
>Flynn Effect that we are attributing to exposure and
>not evolution because it has transpired too quickly?
>Exposure should have nothing to do with an underlying
>intelligence; this is genetics. Hear me out-I can
>have all the best nuturing, healthy diets, and
>opportunity in the world but if I am a cactus at
>creation-I will never be a 1000ft Sequoia. I may be
>the greatest cactus that ever lived but I am still a
>cactus. So, if genetics are the cause of g, which I
>truly believe, then Flynn Effect is the result of a
>rapidly occuring variation of natural selection. And
>if there is one area in which natural
>selection--survival of the fittest-- would benefit
>most--it would be intelligence. Besides, who says
>evolution cant evolve too? Any thoughts?
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Re: Flynn Effect: IQ/G/etc... -- Derwin Sisnett (more metaphors . . .), 08:58:01 02/22/07 Thu
The Flynn effect does seem tricky . . . instead of comparing two different elements, it might be easier to look at two cacti as mental capacities and the sun as knowledge (creative, analytical, etc.). Oh, and let's throw a mountain in there, too--this can address social influences! At one point in time one of the cacti might have grown on the bottom of the mountain where it might have had fair exposure to the sun. As time progressed, and its roots spread upward, the new cactus that sprouted was exposed to more sun; in time, every new cactus is exposed to more sun (intelligence) than the previous cactus.
Of course this could be more confusing than just looking at intellgence and social influence for what it is. It is common to "teach to the test," so it is inevitable that as a time progresses, students will perform better. Does this make this generation smarter than the last? I would venture to say no, but when comparing apples to apples one generation might have an advantage over another in several areas.
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