Although there are no biological changes in our brain, cognitive testing has fallen in recent decades, in a trend in many countries.
In an age where digital information is constantly on the tip of our fingers, a worrying trend in human intellectual capacity is emerging.
Although the biology of the human brain has kept practically unchanged in recent decades, the data suggest that our ability to reason, solve problems and maintain concentration is decreasing.
Recent data from the OECD’s international comparative evaluation test, Pisa, which evaluates the performance of 15 -year -olds in subjects such as reading, mathematics and sciences, reveals that students’ performance has reached their peak around 2012 and has been coming to constantly decrease since then.
Interestingly, the descent of the results observed during the pandemic seems to be part of a Largest and long -term trend. Between 2012 and 2018, the decline in test classifications was more significant than the fall caused by pandemic disorders. This descending trend is not limited to adolescents, with adults of various age groups to have a similar decline in their reasoning and problem solving abilities.
The study “Monitoring the Future”, which has been following the mental well-being of 18-year-olds since the 1980s, also shows a remarkable increase in the number of students who confess Difficulties in thinkingfocus or learn new information.
Although this number remained stable over the 1990s and 2000 increasingly In the mid -2010s, coinciding with a broader change in the way we deal with information, explains the.
The core of this question may be in the transformation of the way we consume content. As society goes from traditional text -based media for visual formats, we are increasingly immersed in “Postliterary” world and dominated by screens. This change resulted in a remarkable decline of reading.
But the problem is not limited to reading. The investigation shows that people also debate with numbered and problem solvingwith many adults unable to apply basic mathematical reasoning.
The main cause of these declines is probably linked to changing our relationship with information. In the past, we interacted with books in search of information. Today we are constantly bombarded with notifications and we can quickly get answers without having to rather. After all, what are we going to look for something in a book when We may ask the chatgpt? And why are we going to make an account when we have a calculator on the mobile phone?
Although the intellectual capacity of the human brain remains intact, the way we perform this potential has been increasingly compromised. The challenge that is placed in the future will be to find ways of Audion the harmful effects of constant digital stimulus and restore our ability to concentrate and critical thinking.
