In November 2013, the journal Intelligence published a study entitled, “Were the Victorians cleverer than us? The decline in general intelligence estimated from a meta-analysis of the slowing of simple reaction time.”
In it they re-evaluate the Flynn Effect, a sort of bell curve for modern IQ test-takers, because as the abstract states:
The Victorian era was marked by an explosion of innovation and genius, per capita rates of which appear to have declined subsequently. The presence of dysgenic fertility for IQ amongst Western nations, starting in the 19th century, suggests that these trends might be related to declining IQ. This is because high-IQ people are more productive and more creative. We tested the hypothesis that the Victorians were cleverer than modern populations, using high-quality instruments, namely measures of simple visual reaction time in a meta-analytic study. Simple reaction time measures correlate substantially with measures of general intelligence (g) and are considered elementary measures of cognition. In this study we used the data on the secular slowing of simple reaction time described in a meta-analysis of 14 age-matched studies from Western countries conducted between 1889 and 2004 to estimate the decline in g that may have resulted from the presence of dysgenic fertility. Using psychometric meta-analysis we computed the true correlation between simple reaction time and g, yielding a decline of − 1.16 IQ points per decade or − 13.35 IQ points since Victorian times. These findings strongly indicate that with respect to g the Victorians were substantially cleverer than modern Western populations.
However, I’m wondering if, since 1889, for whatever reason, it’s become much more difficult to produce, create and innovate. Certainly innovation in the medical and technological fields are booming, but what about elsewhere? Perhaps the recent industrial revolution, combined with democracy-inspired political revolutions, laid open the field for such a variety of untapped ideas that latecomers in the 20th century were born with fewer outlets for their genius.
With this statement, I am not trying to necessarily counter the study, since this sort of research isn’t my area of expertise, but I do find think what I say is worth considering. I’d like to hear other excuses for the lack of cleverness in modern Western civilization.
Estimated IQs of Selected Victorian Age Figures
To finish off this blog, I thought it would be fun to post the estimated IQs of some selected Victorian, which I’ve gathered from a 1926 study by Catharine M. Cox found in Genetic Studies of Genius, which lists geniuses going back to 1450. Cox looked at anecdotes and writings of historical figures up until they reach 26 years of age. For whatever reason, this was the cut off age for analyzing genius.
I’ll list both the adult IQ and the IQ with the Flynn Effect for the geniuses that lived as adults anytime between 1840-1900:
IQ 190/168
Friedrich Schelling, German philosopher
IQ 185/163
Auguste Comte, French philosopher
Alexander von Humboldt, German naturalist & explorer
IQ 180/158
Francois Arago, French mathematician, physicist & prime minister
Henry Brougham, British Lord Chancellor & scientist
Victor Cousin, French philosopher
Charles Dickens, English author
Victor Hugo, French author
Justus von Liebig, German chemist
John Stuart Mill, English philosopher
Alfred de Musset, French author
Hans Christian Oersted, Danish physicist & chemist
Sir Robert Peel, British prime minister
IQ 175/153
John Quincy Adams, American president
Louis Agassiz, Swiss-American naturalist
Robert Bunsen, German chemist
J. L. Gay-Lussac, French chemist & physicist
Wilhelm von Humboldt, German philosopher & diplomat
Hughes de Lemennais, French theologian & philosopher
Thomas Macauley, British politician & historian
Robert Southey, English author
IQ 170/148
Thomas Chalmers, Scottish theologian
Alexandre Dumas, French author
Michael Faraday, English scientist
Washington Irving, American author
David Livingstone, Scottish explorer
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet
Ernest Renan, French philologist & philosopher
Johann Strauss the Younger, Austrian composer
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, English poet
Richard Wagner, German composer
IQ 165/143
Charlotte Bronte, American author
George Canning, British prime minister
Thomas Carlyle, Scottish philosopher, essayist & author
Charles Darwin, English naturalist
Benjamin Disraeli, British prime minister
Francois Guizot, French prime minister & historian
Thomas Hastings, British admiral and artist
Heinrich Heine, German poet and essayist
Giuseppe Mazzini, Italian politician and activist
Felix Mendelssohn, German composer
John Henry Newman, English theologian
Thomas Robertson, English dramatist & stage director
Charles Sainte-Beuve, French literary critic
Ludwig Tieck, German author
Max Weber, German sociologist & philosopher
Noah Webster, American lexicographer & author
William Wordsworth, English poet
IQ 160/138
J. J. Berzelius, Swedish chemist
Count Covour, Italian statesman
William Channing, American theologian & philosopher
Francois de Chateaubriand, French politician, author & diplomat
Charles Dupin, French mathematician & economist
George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans), English author
Charles Etienne, French dramatist
Elizabeth Gaskell, English author
Jacob Grimm, German philologist & author
George Grote, English political activist & historian
Alphonse de Lamartine, French author & politician
Harriet Martineau, English sociologist
George Sand (Amantine Dupin), French author
Charles Sumner, American politician
Adolphe Thiers, French prime minister, president & historian
IQ 155/133
Honore de Balzac, French author
Pierre de Beranger, French poet & songwriter
Edward Bulwer, English author & politician
Richard Cobden, manufacturer & political activist
Ralph Waldo Emerson, author & essayist
Leon Gambetta, French prime minister
Nathaniel Hawthorne, American author
Hugh Miller, Scottish geologist & author
Daniel O’Connell, Irish politician
William H. Prescott, American historian
William Seward, American statesman
IQ 150/128
Henry Blake, British colonial administrator
Richard Bright, English physician
John Franklin, British admiral & explorer
Abraham Lincoln, American president
Auguste Marmont, French military leader
Nicolas Soult, French prime minister & military leader
William Thackeray, English author
IQ 145/123
Hans Christian Andersen, Danish author
William Lloyd Garrison, American social activist
Andrew Jackson, American president
Mehmed Ali (Ludwig Detroit), German-born Ottoman military leader
Gioachino Rossini, Italian composer
William Tecumseh Sherman, American military leader
IQ 140/118
Charles IV John (Jean Bernadotte) Swedish king & French military leader
Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian military leader, politician & political activist
Robert E. Lee, American military leader
IQ 135/113
David Farragut, American admiral
Philip Sheridan, American military leader
IQ 130/108
Ulysses S. Grant, American military leader, president & author
Conclusion
This list compiled by Dr. Cox in 1926 has overlooked numerous people. However, it should be noted that she wasn’t focusing solely on the Victorian Age. Canadian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Belgian and Eastern Europeans have been ignored.
Robert E. Lee is the sole representative of the South for the United States. For the North, almost all of these Americans are from Massachusetts or lived there.
My own great-great grandfather, Charles Johnson Maynard, a Massachusetts naturalist of this generation, was friends with two of the individuals on this list: Louis Agassiz & Henry Blake. In fact, when researching his life, it seems he was consistently running into people in Massachusetts that could make this list.
Have we, in fact, decreased in per capita rates of innovation and genius as the article suggests? Does the 21st century make it harder for some people to express their genius? Have we mastered the art of distraction so much that no amount of genius can ignore it? There seems to be countless questions, some rhetorical, in trying to figure out this answer.
What do you think?
HistoryMonocle 