## Colophon tags:: url:: https://archive.is/2025.03.14-053746/https://www.ft.com/content/a8016c64-63b7-458b-a371-e0e1c54a13fc %% title:: Have humans passed peak brain power? type:: [[clipped-note]] author:: [[@archive.is]] %% ## Notes > Nobody would argue that the fundamental biology of the human brain has changed in that far-too-short time span. However, across a range of tests, the average person’s ability to reason and solve novel problems appears to have peaked in the early 2010s and has been declining ever since. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/VgixpACuEfCHbWs1E2l0nA/archive.is/2025.03.14-053746/https://www.ft.com/content/a8016c64-63b7-458b-a371-e0e1c54a13fc) > Have humans passed peak brain power? — [view in context](https://hyp.is/Vu02ngCuEfC9DyuEhqweuA/archive.is/2025.03.14-053746/https://www.ft.com/content/a8016c64-63b7-458b-a371-e0e1c54a13fc) ⬆️ date:: [[2025-03-14]] > When the latest round of analysis from PISA, the OECD’s international benchmarking test for performance by 15-year-olds in reading, mathematics and science tests, was released, the focus understandably fell on the role of the Covid pandemic in disrupting education. But this masked a longer-term and broader deterioration. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/ZpuQSgCuEfCcAUemEYYyOA/archive.is/2025.03.14-053746/https://www.ft.com/content/a8016c64-63b7-458b-a371-e0e1c54a13fc) > Longer-term in the sense that scores for all three subjects tended to peak around 2012. In many cases, they fell further between 2012 and 2018 than they did during the pandemic-affected years. And broader in that this decline in measures of reasoning and problem-solving is not confined to teenagers. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/c9MtkACuEfChtxfU9mcu9g/archive.is/2025.03.14-053746/https://www.ft.com/content/a8016c64-63b7-458b-a371-e0e1c54a13fc) > Adults show a similar pattern, with declines visible across all age groups in last year’s update of the OECD’s flagship assessment of trends in adult skills. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/fAeP2ACuEfCVyW_YzDSLjw/archive.is/2025.03.14-053746/https://www.ft.com/content/a8016c64-63b7-458b-a371-e0e1c54a13fc) > But there is a rare exception: every year since the 1980s, the Monitoring the Future study has been asking 18-year-olds whether they have difficulty thinking, concentrating or learning new things. The share of final year high school students who report difficulties was stable throughout the 1990s and 2000s, but began a rapid upward climb in the mid-2010s. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/-ECtAACuEfC44bOzt243hQ/archive.is/2025.03.14-053746/https://www.ft.com/content/a8016c64-63b7-458b-a371-e0e1c54a13fc) ⬆️ Interesting, but also worth pointing out that this is self-reported, so could come with some caveats. Confounding factors are also likely to undetected? > This inflection point is noteworthy not only for being similar to performance on tests of intelligence and reasoning but because it coincides with another broader development: our changing relationship with information, available constantly online.Part of what we’re looking at here is likely a result of the ongoing transition away from text and towards visual media — the shift towards a “post-literate” society spent obsessively on our screens. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/RWCSJgCvEfCd7-O-KnVtZQ/archive.is/2025.03.14-053746/https://www.ft.com/content/a8016c64-63b7-458b-a371-e0e1c54a13fc) > Particularly striking however is that we see this alongside decreasing performance in the application of numeracy and other forms of problem-solving in most countries. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/SVqqkgCvEfCTo4N5133pHQ/archive.is/2025.03.14-053746/https://www.ft.com/content/a8016c64-63b7-458b-a371-e0e1c54a13fc) ⬆️ Basis for this claim/assertion? (maybe there will be something later in the article) > In one particularly eye-opening statistic, the share of adults who are unable to “use mathematical reasoning when reviewing and evaluating the validity of statements” has climbed to 25 per cent on average in high-income countries, and 35 per cent in the US. The share of adults who struggle to process information is risingShare of adults with only basic numeracy or literacy proficiency* (%)OECD20222020201820162014201220102008200620040302010US2022202020182016201420122010200820062004New Zealand2022202020182016201420122010200820062004Netherlands2022202020182016201420122010200820062004LiteracyLiteracyNumeracyNumeracy*Basic numeracy = struggles to use mathematical reasoning when evaluating simple claims. Basic literacy = struggles with inference or integrating multiple pieces of information.Source: OECD PIAAC and Adult Literacy and Lifeskills SurveyFT graphic: John Burn-Murdoch / @jburnmurdoch ©FTSo we appear to be looking less at the decline of reading per se, and more at a broader erosion in human capacity for mental focus and application — [view in context](https://hyp.is/aao-ZgCvEfC-fVdKEyXjuA/archive.is/2025.03.14-053746/https://www.ft.com/content/a8016c64-63b7-458b-a371-e0e1c54a13fc) > Most discussion about the societal impacts of digital media focuses on the rise of smartphones and social media. But the change in human capacity for focused thought coincides with something more fundamental: a shift in our relationship with information. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/dSmPWACvEfCHcbPqM1CYvA/archive.is/2025.03.14-053746/https://www.ft.com/content/a8016c64-63b7-458b-a371-e0e1c54a13fc) > We have moved from finite web pages to infinite, constantly refreshed feeds and a constant barrage of notifications. We no longer spend as much time actively browsing the web and interacting with people we know but instead are presented with a torrent of content. This represents a move from self-directed behaviour to passive consumption and constant context-switching. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/frksuACvEfCxO9sZyf6aOQ/archive.is/2025.03.14-053746/https://www.ft.com/content/a8016c64-63b7-458b-a371-e0e1c54a13fc) > Research finds that active, intentional use of digital technologies is often benign or even beneficial. Whereas the behaviours that have taken off in recent years have been shown to affect everything from our ability to process verbal information, to attention, working memory and self-regulation. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/pGz5sgCvEfCVzNvzFS50-w/archive.is/2025.03.14-053746/https://www.ft.com/content/a8016c64-63b7-458b-a371-e0e1c54a13fc)