Yes and no.

Our English has become very dumbed down and many of our math calculations are done for us.

More people can read yet more people choose not to read or even care about the classics or history because today’s pleasures are more appealing.

Huxley is completely right.

This post was edited by ofthevoid on May 24 2019 12:33pm

Languages change. It has nothing to do with being dumbed down.

Most people didn't need to do much math in the past. Even basic algebra was beyond most people. My dad does/did surveying and before a calculator and GPS he used a chart of approximate trig solutions, no theory or calculation involved.

Gonna disagree that more people choose not to read. What are we doing now? Reading is far more ubiquitous now than ot was eighty years ago when you could function in polite society being illiterate. As for appreciating the classics, that isnt good in itself. It was largely a function of limited access than inherent quality

I think you overestimate the education available to the average person at the time Huxley was alive and writing.

This post was edited by Thor123422 on May 24 2019 01:21pm

I think back in Huxley's time, the gap between commoners and elites in terms of their education was just a lot bigger.
On a different timescale, I think it is very well justified to ask if the education and intelligence in Western societies are regressing since ~the 80s or so.

Both are going up. This isnt something in dispute among any informed circles lol

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect

Intelligence, at the very least IQ, is in constant increase.

This is a theory with assumptions.

The american iq has dropped over the past 20 years. Partly because of stupid third world democratic immigration policy.

why do you link to wikipedia without even reading the article in your link?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect#Possible_end_of_progression



the raw IQ test scores across most of the developed world are declining, not rising, and have been for at least 20 years.

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/iq-rates-are-dropping-many-developed-countries-doesn-t-bode-ncna1008576
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/06/13/health/falling-iq-scores-study-intl/index.html
https://www.sciencealert.com/iq-scores-falling-in-worrying-reversal-20th-century-intelligence-boom-flynn-effect-intelligence
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289617302787

The populations we’ve been comparing since the 80’s have changed a lot. I don’t buy that the "native population" IQ has been decreasing. Not with the current literacy rates, social programs, access to education, etc.

We'll see if it stops, but we're still significantly higher than we were, especially since Huxlwy was alive

how does it compare on racially & socio-economically normalized samples?
it would be pretty simple explained by something like "all demographics experience an average rise in IQ, but demographics shift proportions to increase the weight of lower IQ populations"
there's also the question of age bubbles. Would homogeneous Japan follow this trend, or would a senile population decrease on average?

This post was edited by Goomshill on May 24 2019 03:09pm