Something the Hanrahans of this world never seem to notice – over the past century the human race has been getting smarter, at least smarter at the sort of abstract reasoning that IQ tests measure. But interestingly in the most “advanced” human societies we have – the Scandinavian ones – this progress has stopped.

So says the researcher who found this:

If we are to make any further progress, we will have to start exercising different parts of our brain, particularly the parts controlling language acquisition and empathy, according to Professor Flynn, an emeritus professor at the University of Otago in New Zealand….
The challenge for humanity now is to enhance our ability to debate moral and social questions intelligently. One way to do this might be to concentrate on reading great works of literature which expand our vocabulary, critical acumen and emotional maturity.
But the fact that, as a society, we are unwilling to make the sacrifices necessary to preserve the environment, suggests we still have a long way to go on this front, Professor Flynn said.