Book review/summary: What is Intelligence? by James Flynn

What’s it about: The book "What is Intelligence?" by James Flynn deals with the effect of large increases in intelligence quotient (IQ) test scores over time, the ingredients behind what makes us intelligent, and the influences of our brains, individual differences, and social trends on intelligence. In a nutshell, how can we empower the measurement of intelligence since today’s approach is clearly deficit [my words].

 James R. Flynn, a Professor Emeritus from the University of Otago New Zealand, came to learn about massive gains in IQ over time during his career, after obtaining a large number of IQ datasets. In every western country where IQ tests have been administered since the early 20th century scores on these tests increased by over 30+ points. It is like we all became a lot smarter since our parents’ generation, and our parents became smarter than our parents parents, a phenomenon now named the Flynn effect.