More or less intelligent... ? Nay, more or less modern!

Why some groups seem more or less intelligent, and how it ain't necessarily so.

In the New York Times Blog "Room for Debate" (February 26, 2012), five individuals pipe up with what amounts to an even handed estimation of the question; whether, in fact, people are getting dumber.
James R. Flynn, the author of "What is Intelligence" penned "Thinking in More Sophisticated Ways He describes how our grandparents would not have fared as well as we likely could on today's IQ tests. He examines this phenomenon from several perspectives. First, he dismisses any likelihood that we somehow have more cognitive stuff to work with at birth, or any inkling that our ancestors were simply lacking enough intelligence to deal with concrete world of everyday life, instead positing that today we live in a time which offeres us a broad range of cognitive challenges than those of our forbears. We have developed a higher level of cognitive functioning.
Flynn describes the differences between the utilitarian world that grandma and grandpa inhabited, and our modern world. Increasingly we deal with the abstract and the hypothetical. This is good news because we're better equipped to learn about science and also, reason about ethics. He brings up the fact that, in the past, some would have defended racist ideas about an inherent inequality between whites and blacks, but the evidence is not there to support such a claim.
Flynn then links to an article from the "New Yorker" (December, 2007) that describes the Flynn Effect, which is the increase in IQ that has been witnessed through the generations since the tests were developed. The theory that is discussed is "modernity." In other words, we haven't necessarily become more intelligent, but rather, more modern. The distinction is an important one. On the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder, s the world of concrete concerns, of poverty, and hand to mouth existence. It is no wonder then that IQ is also found to be lower. Most of these folks don't have time, money, or inclination to take in Shakespearean theatre, and are very unlikely to be fascinated by the writings of the great philosophers.
Stereotypes about Asians being more intelligent may more accurately understood as Asians are more persistent in their scholarly pursuits, but some prefer the meme that Asians are more intelligent. The article then discusses Flynn's research into the IQ question, and reaffirms that this is overwhelmingly shown to be a nurture issue, not nature.

Flynn, James R. (2012). Thinking in More Sophisticated Ways. Room For Debate: The New York Times. Retreived from: http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/02/26/are-people- getting-dumber/thinking-in-more-sophisticated-ways

Gladwell, Malcolm. (2007). The New Yorker. None of the Above: What I.Q. Doesn't tell you about race. Retreived from: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/12/17/071217crbo_books_gladwell? currentPage=all