[ExI] Silence in the sky-but why?

[BillK]

On Sun, Sep 1, 2013 at 6:46 PM, Adrian Tymes  wrote:
> No offense, spike, but making conclusions based on that is a fallacy just
> like assuming that there must be other civilizations out there just because
> there are so many stars.
>
> Sure, we may be.  Or we may not be.  The hard, non-anecdotal evidence - the
> IQ tests and performance, as you mention - suggests we are not.  Therefore
> the most likely conclusion is that we are not.
>
>

As you probably know (and what I think Spike was referring to) there
is a lot of dispute about the IQ test results. Are IQ results rising
just because people are getting used to them and treating them as a
problem-solving game? Using the same abilities they have honed over
years of playing computer games? And what about all the abilities not
measured by IQ tests?

What points in this direction is that the results on performance tests
are not increasing (and even falling). Without calculators students
struggle with maths problems. Computers do spelling and grammar
checking. The internet answers questions and holds knowledge. Relying
on their their own brain leaves most students failing miserably at
anything that requires stored knowledge.

They might have a high IQ, but what do they actually *know*?

BillK