TED2013
James Flynn: Why our IQ levels are higher than our grandparents'
Hvorfor vores IQ niveau er højere end vores bedsteforældres
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Det hedder "Flynn effekten" -- faktummet at hver generation scorer højere i IQ tests end den foregående generation. Bliver vi faktisk klogere, eller tænker vi bare anderledes? I denne hurtiggående udlægning gennem det 20. århundredes kognitive historie, foreslår den moralfilosoffen James Flynn at ændringer i måden vi tænker på har haft overraskende (og ikke altid positive) konsekvenser.
James Flynn - Moral philosopher
James Flynn challenges our fundamental assumptions about intelligence. Full bio
James Flynn challenges our fundamental assumptions about intelligence. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
We are going to take a quick voyage
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Vi tager en hurtig rejse
00:15
over the cognitive history of the 20th century,
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gennem det 20. århundredes kognitive historie,
00:18
because during that century,
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fordi i det århundrede,
00:20
our minds have altered dramatically.
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har vores sind ændret sig voldsomt.
00:23
As you all know, the cars that people drove in 1900
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Som I alle ved, har de biler som folk kørte i i 1900
00:26
have altered because the roads are better
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ændret sig fordi vejene er bedre
00:28
and because of technology.
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og på grund af teknologi.
00:31
And our minds have altered, too.
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Vores sind har også ændret sig.
00:33
We've gone from people who confronted a concrete world
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Vi er gået fra at være mennesker der stod overfor en konkret verden
00:37
and analyzed that world primarily in terms
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og analyserede primært den verden med hensyn til
00:40
of how much it would benefit them
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hvor meget den ville gavne dem
00:42
to people who confront a very complex world,
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til at være mennesker der står overfor en meget kompleks verden,
00:47
and it's a world where we've had to develop
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og det er en verden hvor vi har skullet udvikle
00:49
new mental habits, new habits of mind.
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nye mentale vaner, nye vaner i sindet.
00:52
And these include things like
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Og dette inkluderer ting som
00:54
clothing that concrete world with classification,
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at påklæde den konkrete verden med klassificering,
00:59
introducing abstractions that we try to make
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introducere abstraktioner som vi prøver at gøre
01:01
logically consistent,
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logisk konsistente.
01:04
and also taking the hypothetical seriously,
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og også tage det hypotetiske alvorligt,
01:06
that is, wondering about what might have been
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det vil sige, at undre sig over hvad der kunne have været
01:09
rather than what is.
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i stedet for hvad der er.
01:11
Now, this dramatic change was drawn to my attention
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Denne dramatiske forandring blev jeg først opmærksom på
01:15
through massive I.Q. gains over time,
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gennem massiv fremgang i IQ over tid,
01:18
and these have been truly massive.
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og disse har i sandhed været massive.
01:21
That is, we don't just get a few more questions right
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Det vil sige, vi svarer ikke rigtig på et par flere spørgsmål
01:25
on I.Q. tests.
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på IQ testen.
01:27
We get far more questions right on I.Q. tests
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Vi svarer rigtigt på langt flere spørgsmål i IQ testen
01:30
than each succeeding generation
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end hver tidligere generationer
01:32
back to the time that they were invented.
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tilbage til den tid de blev opfundet.
01:35
Indeed, if you score the people a century ago
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Bestemt, hvis man tester menneskerne fra et århundrede siden
01:39
against modern norms,
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mod moderne normer,
01:40
they would have an average I.Q. of 70.
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ville de have en gennemsnitlig IQ på 70.
01:43
If you score us against their norms,
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Hvis man tester os imod deres normer,
01:46
we would have an average I.Q. of 130.
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ville vi have en gennemsnitlig IQ på 130.
01:50
Now this has raised all sorts of questions.
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Dette rejste en masse forskellige spørgsmål.
01:53
Were our immediate ancestors
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Var vores nærmeste forfædre
01:55
on the verge of mental retardation?
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på randen af mental retardering?
01:58
Because 70 is normally the score for mental retardation.
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Fordi 70 er normalvis scoren for mental retardering.
02:02
Or are we on the verge of all being gifted?
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Eller er vi på kanten af at være genier?
02:05
Because 130 is the cutting line for giftedness.
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Fordi 130 er på kanten af genialitet.
02:10
Now I'm going to try and argue for a third alternative
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Nu vil jeg prøve at argumentere for et tredje alternativ
02:13
that's much more illuminating than either of those,
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der er meget mere oplysende end de andre,
02:17
and to put this into perspective,
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og for at sætte dette i perspektiv,
02:19
let's imagine that a Martian came down to Earth
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lad os så forestille os at en marsboer kom ned på Jorden
02:22
and found a ruined civilization.
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og fandt en falden civilisation.
02:25
And this Martian was an archaeologist,
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Og denne marsboer var arkæolog,
02:28
and they found scores, target scores,
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og de fandt test resultater, mål resultater,
02:30
that people had used for shooting.
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som mennesker havde brugt til at skyde på.
02:33
And first they looked at 1865,
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Og først så de på 1865,
02:36
and they found that in a minute,
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og de så at på et minut,
02:38
people had only put one bullet in the bullseye.
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havde mennesker kun skudt én kugle i pletskud.
02:42
And then they found, in 1898,
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Og så så de i 1898,
02:44
that they'd put about five bullets in the bullseye in a minute.
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havde de ramt cirka fem pletskud på et minut.
02:48
And then about 1918 they put a hundred bullets in the bullseye.
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Og så omkring 1918 havde de ramt 100 pletskud.
02:53
And initially, that archaeologist would be baffled.
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Og i første omgang, ville den arkæolog være forbløffet.
02:57
They would say, look, these tests were designed
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De ville sige, se engang, disse test blev opfundet
02:59
to find out how much people were steady of hand,
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til at finde ud af hvor rolige hænder mennesker havde,
03:03
how keen their eyesight was,
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hvor godt syn de havde,
03:06
whether they had control of their weapon.
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om de havde kontrol over deres våben.
03:08
How could these performances have escalated
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Hvordan kunne disse præstationer have eskaleret
03:11
to this enormous degree?
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i så voldsom grad?
03:13
Well we now know, of course, the answer.
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Jamen vi kender nu, selvfølgelig, svaret,
03:16
If that Martian looked at battlefields,
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Hvis den marsboer havde set på slagmarken,
03:18
they would find that people had only muskets
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ville de se at mennesker kun havde musketer
03:21
at the time of the Civil War
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under borgerkrigen
03:23
and that they had repeating rifles
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og de havde repeterende rifler
03:25
at the time of the Spanish-American War,
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under den spansk-amerikanske krig,
03:28
and then they had machine guns
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og så havde de maskingeværer
03:30
by the time of World War I.
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i tiden under Første Verdenskrig.
03:33
And, in other words, it was the equipment
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Og, med andre ord, det var udstyret
03:35
that was in the hands of the average soldier
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der var i hænderne på den gennemsnitlige soldat
03:38
that was responsible, not greater keenness of eye
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der var årsagen, ikke bedre syn
03:41
or steadiness of hand.
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eller roligere hænder.
03:43
Now what we have to imagine is the mental artillery
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Det vi skal forestille os er at det mentale skyts
03:46
that we have picked up over those hundred years,
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som vi nu har indsamlet i løbet af de sidste hundrede år,
03:50
and I think again that another thinker will help us here,
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og jeg tror igen at en anden tænker vil hjælpe os med det,
03:54
and that's Luria.
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og det er Luria.
03:56
Luria looked at people
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Luria så på mennesker
03:58
just before they entered the scientific age,
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lige inden de gik ind i den videnskabelige alder,
04:02
and he found that these people
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og han oplevede at disse mennesker
04:04
were resistant to classifying the concrete world.
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var imod at klassificere den konkrete verden.
04:07
They wanted to break it up
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De ville dele den op
04:08
into little bits that they could use.
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i små dele som de kunne bruge.
04:11
He found that they were resistant
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Han oplevede at de var imod at
04:13
to deducing the hypothetical,
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udlede det hypotetiske,
04:17
to speculating about what might be,
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at spekulere over det der kunne ske,
04:19
and he found finally that they didn't deal well
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og han oplevede til slut at de ikke håndterede
04:22
with abstractions or using logic on those abstractions.
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abstraktioner godt eller at bruge logik på disse abstraktioner.
04:26
Now let me give you a sample of some of his interviews.
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Lad mig nu give er et eksempel på nogle af disse interviews.
04:30
He talked to the head man of a person
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Han talte til en persons overhoved
04:32
in rural Russia.
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i det landlige Rusland.
04:34
They'd only had, as people had in 1900,
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De havde kun, som mennesker havde i 1900,
04:36
about four years of schooling.
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cirka fire års skolegang.
04:38
And he asked that particular person,
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Og han spurgte den bestemte person,
04:41
what do crows and fish have in common?
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hvad har krager og fisk til fælles?
04:44
And the fellow said, "Absolutely nothing.
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Og fyren sagde, "Intet overhovedet.
04:47
You know, I can eat a fish. I can't eat a crow.
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Du ved, jeg kan spise en fisk. Jeg kan ikke spise en krage.
04:50
A crow can peck at a fish.
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En krage kan hakke på en fisk.
04:53
A fish can't do anything to a crow."
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En fisk kan ikke gøre noget ved en krage."
04:56
And Luria said, "But aren't they both animals?"
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Og Luria sagde, "Men er de ikke begge dyr?"
04:59
And he said, "Of course not.
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Og han sagde, "Selvfølgelig ikke.
05:00
One's a fish.
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Den ene er en fisk.
05:02
The other is a bird."
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Den anden er en fugl."
05:04
And he was interested, effectively,
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Og han blev interesseret, fra det tidspunkt,
05:06
in what he could do with those concrete objects.
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i hvad han kunne gøre med disse konkrete objekter.
05:10
And then Luria went to another person,
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Og så gik Luria til en anden person,
05:12
and he said to them,
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og han sagde til dem,
05:15
"There are no camels in Germany.
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"Der er ikke nogen kameler i Tyskland.
05:17
Hamburg is a city in Germany.
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Hamborg er en by i Tyskland.
05:20
Are there camels in Hamburg?"
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Er der kameler i Hamborg?"
05:22
And the fellow said,
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Og fyren sagde,
05:23
"Well, if it's large enough, there ought to be camels there."
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"Jamen, hvis den er stor nok, bør der være kameler."
05:27
And Luria said, "But what do my words imply?"
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Og Luria sagde, "Men hvad indebærer mine ord?"
05:31
And he said, "Well, maybe it's a small village,
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Og han sagde, "Jamen, måske er det en lille by,
05:34
and there's no room for camels."
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og der er ikke plads til kameler."
05:36
In other words, he was unwilling to treat this
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Med andre ord, var han uvillig til at behandle dette
05:38
as anything but a concrete problem,
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som andet end et konkret problem,
05:41
and he was used to camels being in villages,
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og han var vant til at der var kameler i landsbyer,
05:44
and he was quite unable to use the hypothetical,
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og han var helt ude af stand til at bruge det hypotetiske,
05:48
to ask himself what if there were no camels in Germany.
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til at spørge sig selv, hvad nu hvis
der ikke er nogen kameler i Tyskland.
der ikke er nogen kameler i Tyskland.
05:53
A third interview was conducted
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Et tredje interview blev gennemført
05:55
with someone about the North Pole.
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med nogen om Nordpolen.
05:58
And Luria said, "At the North Pole, there is always snow.
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Og Luria sagde, "På Nordpolen, er der altid sne.
06:03
Wherever there is always snow, the bears are white.
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Hvor der altid er sne, er bjørnene hvide.
06:06
What color are the bears at the North Pole?"
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Hvilken farve har bjørnene på Nordpolen?"
06:10
And the response was, "Such a thing
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Og svaret var, "Sådan noget
06:12
is to be settled by testimony.
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skal afgøres ved vidneudsagn.
06:14
If a wise person came from the North Pole
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Hvis en vis person kom fra Nordpolen
06:17
and told me the bears were white,
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og fortalte mig at bjørnene er hvide,
06:19
I might believe him,
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ville jeg nok tro på ham,
06:21
but every bear that I have seen is a brown bear."
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men alle de bjørne jeg har set er brune."
06:25
Now you see again, this person has rejected
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Nu ser man igen, at denne person har afvist
06:28
going beyond the concrete world
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at gå uden for den konkrete verden
06:30
and analyzing it through everyday experience,
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og analysere den gennem hverdagsoplevelser,
06:33
and it was important to that person
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og det var vigtigt for den person
06:35
what color bears were --
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hvilken farve bjørnene havde --
06:37
that is, they had to hunt bears.
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det vil sige, de skulle jage bjørnene.
06:39
They weren't willing to engage in this.
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De var ikke villige til at gå ind på dette.
06:41
One of them said to Luria,
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En af dem sagde til Luria,
06:43
"How can we solve things that aren't real problems?
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"Hvordan kan vi løse ting der ikke er ægte problemer?
06:47
None of these problems are real.
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Ingen af disse problemer er ægte.
06:49
How can we address them?"
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Hvordan kan vi gøre noget ved dem?"
06:51
Now, these three categories --
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Men, disse tre kategorier --
06:55
classification,
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klassificering,
06:56
using logic on abstractions,
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ved at bruge logik på abstraktioner,
06:58
taking the hypothetical seriously --
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at tage de hypotetiske alvorligt --
07:01
how much difference do they make in the real world
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hvor stor forskel gør de i den virkelige verden
07:04
beyond the testing room?
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uden for testlokalet?
07:05
And let me give you a few illustrations.
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Og lad mig give jer et par eksempler.
07:08
First, almost all of us today get a high school diploma.
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For det første, næsten alle os her i dag har gået på gymnasiet.
07:12
That is, we've gone from four to eight years of education
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Det vil sige, vi er gået fra mellem fire og otte års uddannelse
07:15
to 12 years of formal education,
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til 12 års formel uddannelse,
07:18
and 52 percent of Americans
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og 52 procent af amerikanere
07:20
have actually experienced some type of tertiary education.
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har faktisk oplevet en eller anden form for højere uddannelse.
07:24
Now, not only do we have much more education,
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Ikke nok med at vi har meget mere uddannelse,
07:28
and much of that education is scientific,
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og meget mere af den uddannelse er videnskabelig,
07:30
and you can't do science without classifying the world.
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og man kan ikke lave videnskab uden at klassificere verden.
07:34
You can't do science without proposing hypotheses.
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Men kan ikke lave videnskab uden at foreslå hypoteser.
07:38
You can't do science without making it logically consistent.
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Man kan ikke lave videnskab uden at gøre det logisk konsistent.
07:42
And even down in grade school, things have changed.
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Og selv i folkeskolen, har tingene ændret sig.
07:46
In 1910, they looked at the examinations
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I 1910, så de på eksaminerne
07:49
that the state of Ohio gave to 14-year-olds,
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som staten Ohio gav deres 14-årige,
07:53
and they found that they were all
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handlede de alle om
07:55
for socially valued concrete information.
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socialt værdsat konkret information.
07:58
They were things like,
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Det var ting som,
07:59
what are the capitals of the 44 or 45 states
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hvad er hovedstaderne i de 44 eller 45 stater
08:02
that existed at that time?
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der fandtes dengang?
08:05
When they looked at the exams
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Når de så på eksaminerne
08:06
that the state of Ohio gave in 1990,
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som staten Ohio gav dem i 1990,
08:09
they were all about abstractions.
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handlede de alle om abstraktioner.
08:12
They were things like,
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Det var ting som,
08:13
why is the largest city of a state rarely the capital?
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hvorfor er den største by i en stat sjældent hovedstaden?
08:19
And you were supposed to think, well,
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Så var meningen at man tænkte, jamen,
08:20
the state legislature was rural-controlled,
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statens lovgivende forsamling var landligt kontrolleret,
08:23
and they hated the big city,
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og de hadede storbyen,
08:25
so rather than putting the capital in a big city,
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så i stedet for at lægge hovedstaden i en stor by,
08:28
they put it in a county seat.
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lagde de den på landet.
08:29
They put it in Albany rather than New York.
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De lagde den i Albany i stedet for New York.
08:32
They put it in Harrisburg rather than Philadelphia.
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De lagde den i Harrisburg i stedet for Philadelphia.
08:35
And so forth.
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Og så videre.
08:37
So the tenor of education has changed.
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Så indholdet i uddannelsen har ændret sig.
08:40
We are educating people to take the hypothetical seriously,
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Vi uddanner mennesker til at tage det hypotetiske alvorligt,
08:44
to use abstractions, and to link them logically.
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til at bruge abstraktioner, og til at linke dem logisk sammen.
08:47
What about employment?
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Hvad med beskæftigelse?
08:50
Well, in 1900, three percent of Americans
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Jamen, i 1900, praktiserede tre procent af amerikanere
08:53
practiced professions that were cognitively demanding.
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et erhverv der var kognitivt krævende.
08:57
Only three percent were lawyers or doctors or teachers.
186
525513
4055
Kun tre procent var advokater eller læger eller lærere.
09:01
Today, 35 percent of Americans
187
529568
2863
I dag, praktiserer 35 procent af amerikanere
09:04
practice cognitively demanding professions,
188
532431
3319
kognitivt krævende professioner,
09:07
not only to the professions proper like lawyer
189
535750
2626
ikke kun de abstrakte professioner som advokat
09:10
or doctor or scientist or lecturer,
190
538376
2549
eller læge eller forsker eller adjunkt,
09:12
but many, many sub-professions
191
540925
1818
men mange, mange, under-professioner
09:14
having to do with being a technician,
192
542743
1941
der har at gøre med at være tekniker,
09:16
a computer programmer.
193
544684
2025
en computerprogrammør.
09:18
A whole range of professions now make cognitive demands.
194
546709
4324
En hel række professioner er nu kognitivt krævende.
09:23
And we can only meet the terms of employment
195
551033
2930
Og vi kan kun imødegå beskæftigelses vilkårene
09:25
in the modern world by being cognitively
196
553963
2497
i den moderne verden ved at være lang mere fleksible
09:28
far more flexible.
197
556460
2261
kognitivt set.
09:30
And it's not just that we have many more people
198
558721
3223
Og det er ikke kun det at vi har mange flere mennesker
09:33
in cognitively demanding professions.
199
561944
2990
i kognitivt krævende professioner.
09:36
The professions have been upgraded.
200
564934
2403
Professionerne er blevet opgraderet.
09:39
Compare the doctor in 1900,
201
567337
2111
Sammenlign lægen i 1900,
09:41
who really had only a few tricks up his sleeve,
202
569448
3049
der i virkeligheden kun havde et par tricks oppe i ærmet,
09:44
with the modern general practitioner or specialist,
203
572497
2808
med den moderne praktiserende læge eller specialist,
09:47
with years of scientific training.
204
575305
2679
med års videnskabelig træning.
09:49
Compare the banker in 1900,
205
577984
2269
Sammenlign bankieren i 1900,
09:52
who really just needed a good accountant
206
580253
2413
der i virkeligheden bare havde brug for en god bogholder,
09:54
and to know who was trustworthy in the local community
207
582666
3176
og at vide hvem der var pålidelig i det lokale samfund
09:57
for paying back their mortgage.
208
585842
2291
til at betale deres lån tilbage.
10:00
Well, the merchant bankers who brought the world to their knees
209
588133
3229
Jamen, forretningsbankerne der bragte verden i knæ
10:03
may have been morally remiss,
210
591362
1766
har måske ingen moral,
10:05
but they were cognitively very agile.
211
593128
3139
men de var kognitivt set meget behændige.
10:08
They went far beyond that 1900 banker.
212
596267
4611
De var langt foran den bankier fra 1900.
10:12
They had to look at computer projections
213
600878
2167
De skulle se på computermodeller
10:15
for the housing market.
214
603045
2000
over boligmarkedet.
10:17
They had to get complicated CDO-squared
215
605045
3905
De skulle få complicerede CDO'er
[gælds forpligtelser stillet til sikkerhed] godkendt
[gælds forpligtelser stillet til sikkerhed] godkendt
10:20
in order to bundle debt together
216
608950
2450
for at binde gæld sammen
10:23
and make debt look as if it were actually a profitable asset.
217
611400
3759
og få gæld til at se ud som om det faktisk
var et indbringende aktiv.
var et indbringende aktiv.
10:27
They had to prepare a case to get rating agencies
218
615159
3100
De skulle forberede en case for at få
kreditoplysningsbureauerne
kreditoplysningsbureauerne
10:30
to give it a AAA,
219
618259
1111
til at give det en AAA,
10:31
though in many cases, they had virtually bribed the rating agencies.
220
619370
4234
selvom det i mange cases, havde de faktisk
bestukket kreditoplysningsbureauerne.
bestukket kreditoplysningsbureauerne.
10:35
And they also, of course, had to get people
221
623604
2029
Og de skulle, selvfølgelig, også få folk
10:37
to accept these so-called assets
222
625633
2687
til at acceptere disse såkaldte aktiver
10:40
and pay money for them
223
628320
1500
og betale penge for dem
10:41
even though they were highly vulnerable.
224
629820
2587
selvom de var utrolig sårbare.
10:44
Or take a farmer today.
225
632407
1590
Eller se på en landmand i dag.
10:45
I take the farm manager of today as very different
226
633997
3280
Jeg ser på en gårdbestyrer i dag som en meget anderledes
10:49
from the farmer of 1900.
227
637277
2491
fra landmændene fra 1900.
10:51
So it hasn't just been the spread
228
639768
1838
Det er ikke kun spredningen
10:53
of cognitively demanding professions.
229
641606
3191
af kognitivt krævende professioner.
10:56
It's also been the upgrading of tasks
230
644797
2380
Det har også været opgraderingen af opgaver
10:59
like lawyer and doctor and what have you
231
647177
2567
som advokater og læger og så videre
11:01
that have made demands on our cognitive faculties.
232
649744
3777
der har gjort krav på vores kognitive evner.
11:05
But I've talked about education and employment.
233
653521
3159
Men jeg har talt om uddannelse og beskæftigelse.
11:08
Some of the habits of mind that we have developed
234
656680
3339
Nogle af sindets vaner som vi har udviklet
11:12
over the 20th century
235
660019
1607
i løbet af det 20. århundrede
11:13
have paid off in unexpected areas.
236
661626
2595
har givet pote i uventede områder.
11:16
I'm primarily a moral philosopher.
237
664221
2271
Jeg er primært en moralsk filosof.
11:18
I merely have a holiday in psychology,
238
666492
3688
Jeg har blot en ferie i psykologi,
11:22
and what interests me in general is moral debate.
239
670180
4408
og det der interesserer mig generelt er moralsk debat.
11:26
Now over the last century,
240
674588
2731
I løbet af det sidste århundrede,
11:29
in developed nations like America,
241
677319
2350
i udviklede nationer som Amerika,
11:31
moral debate has escalated
242
679669
1981
er den moralske debat eskaleret
11:33
because we take the hypothetical seriously,
243
681650
3339
fordi vi tager det hypotetiske alvorligt,
11:36
and we also take universals seriously
244
684989
3215
og vi tager også almenbegreb alvorligt
11:40
and look for logical connections.
245
688204
2796
og ser på logiske forbindelser.
11:43
When I came home in 1955 from university
246
691000
3735
Da jeg kom hjem i 1955 fra universitetet
11:46
at the time of Martin Luther King,
247
694735
2307
i tiden med Martin Luther King,
11:49
a lot of people came home at that time
248
697042
2322
kom mange mennesker hjem dengang
11:51
and started having arguments with their parents and grandparents.
249
699364
3750
og begyndte at have diskussioner med
deres forældre og bedsteforældre.
deres forældre og bedsteforældre.
11:55
My father was born in 1885,
250
703114
3228
Min far blev født i 1885,
11:58
and he was mildly racially biased.
251
706342
2563
og han var mildt racistisk forudindtaget.
12:00
As an Irishman, he hated the English so much
252
708905
2103
Som irer, hadede han englænderne så meget
12:03
he didn't have much emotion for anyone else.
253
711008
2321
at han ikke havde følelser for nogen andre.
12:05
(Laughter)
254
713329
3271
(Latter)
12:08
But he did have a sense that black people were inferior.
255
716600
4508
Men han havde en følelse af at sorte
mennesker var mindreværdige.
mennesker var mindreværdige.
12:13
And when we said to our parents and grandparents,
256
721108
2848
Og da vi sagde til vores forældre og bedsteforældre,
12:15
"How would you feel if tomorrow morning you woke up black?"
257
723956
4493
"Hvordan ville du have det hvis du
vågnede i morgen og var sort?"
vågnede i morgen og var sort?"
12:20
they said that is the dumbest thing you've ever said.
258
728449
3621
sagde de at det var det dummeste
man nogensinde havde sagt.
man nogensinde havde sagt.
12:24
Who have you ever known who woke up in the morning --
259
732070
2502
Hvem har du nogensinde kendt,
der vågnede om morgenen --
der vågnede om morgenen --
12:26
(Laughter) --
260
734572
2402
(Latter) --
12:28
that turned black?
261
736974
1230
og var blevet sort?
12:30
In other words, they were fixed in the concrete
262
738204
3516
Med andre ord, de sad fast i de konkrete
12:33
mores and attitudes they had inherited.
263
741720
3513
traditioner og attituder de havde arvet.
12:37
They would not take the hypothetical seriously,
264
745233
3011
De ville ikke tage det hypotetiske alvorligt,
12:40
and without the hypothetical,
265
748244
1484
og uden det hypotetiske,
12:41
it's very difficult to get moral argument off the ground.
266
749728
4019
er det meget svært at åbne op for et moralt argument.
12:45
You have to say, imagine you were
267
753747
2635
Man skal sige, forestil dig at du var
12:48
in Iran, and imagine that your relatives
268
756382
5585
i Iran, og forestil dig at din familie
12:53
all suffered from collateral damage
269
761967
2700
alle led af følgeskader
12:56
even though they had done no wrong.
270
764667
1946
selvom de ikke havde gjort noget forkert.
12:58
How would you feel about that?
271
766613
2061
Hvordan ville du have det med det?
13:00
And if someone of the older generation says,
272
768674
2720
Og hvis en fra den ældre generation siger,
13:03
well, our government takes care of us,
273
771394
1930
jamen, vores regering sørger for os,
13:05
and it's up to their government to take care of them,
274
773324
2943
og det er op til deres regering at tage sig af dem,
13:08
they're just not willing to take the hypothetical seriously.
275
776267
4068
er de bare ikke villige til at tage det hypotetiske alvorligt.
13:12
Or take an Islamic father whose daughter has been raped,
276
780335
3367
Eller en islamisk far hvis datter er blevet voldtaget,
13:15
and he feels he's honor-bound to kill her.
277
783702
3210
og han føler at han er bundet af ære til at dræbe hende.
13:18
Well, he's treating his mores
278
786912
2360
Jamen, han behandler sine skikke
13:21
as if they were sticks and stones and rocks that he had inherited,
279
789272
3900
som om de var stokke og sten og
klipper som han havde arvet,
klipper som han havde arvet,
13:25
and they're unmovable in any way by logic.
280
793172
2645
og de er på alle måder urokkelige af logik.
13:27
They're just inherited mores.
281
795817
2576
De er bare arvede skikke.
13:30
Today we would say something like,
282
798393
2201
I dag ville vi sige noget lignende,
13:32
well, imagine you were knocked unconscious and sodomized.
283
800594
3577
jamen, forestil dig at du blev slået
bevidstløs og sodomiseret.
bevidstløs og sodomiseret.
13:36
Would you deserve to be killed?
284
804171
1673
Ville du fortjene at blive slået ihjel?
13:37
And he would say, well that's not in the Koran.
285
805844
2895
Og han ville sige, jamen det er ikke i koranen.
13:40
That's not one of the principles I've got.
286
808739
4022
Det er ikke et af de principper jeg har.
13:44
Well you, today, universalize your principles.
287
812761
2841
Jamen, i dag, gør dine principper universelle.
13:47
You state them as abstractions and you use logic on them.
288
815602
3557
Du erklærer dem som værende abstraktioner
og du bruger logik på dem.
og du bruger logik på dem.
13:51
If you have a principle such as,
289
819159
2273
Hvis du har et princip der hedder,
13:53
people shouldn't suffer unless they're guilty of something,
290
821432
3646
at folk ikke skal lide medmindre de er skyldige i noget,
13:57
then to exclude black people
291
825078
2096
for så at eksludere sorte mennesker
13:59
you've got to make exceptions, don't you?
292
827174
2498
skal du lave undtagelser, ikke sandt?
14:01
You have to say, well, blackness of skin,
293
829672
2988
Man skal sige, jamen, en sort hud,
14:04
you couldn't suffer just for that.
294
832660
2623
man skal ikke lide bare på grund af det.
14:07
It must be that blacks are somehow tainted.
295
835283
3263
Det må være at sorte på en eller
anden måde er fordærvede.
anden måde er fordærvede.
14:10
And then we can bring empirical evidence to bear, can't we,
296
838546
3167
Og så kan vi frembringe empirisk bevis, ikke sandt,
14:13
and say, well how can you consider all blacks tainted
297
841713
2916
og sige, hvordan kan man se
alle sorte som værende fordærvede
alle sorte som værende fordærvede
14:16
when St. Augustine was black and Thomas Sowell is black.
298
844629
3794
når St. Augustine var sort og Thomas Sowell er sort.
14:20
And you can get moral argument off the ground, then,
299
848423
3425
Og så kan man starte et moralsk argument,
14:23
because you're not treating moral principles as concrete entities.
300
851848
4554
fordi man behandler ikke moralske principper
som konkrete helheder.
som konkrete helheder.
14:28
You're treating them as universals,
301
856402
1937
Man behandler dem som almenbegreb,
14:30
to be rendered consistent by logic.
302
858339
2779
der bliver præsenteret som værende logisk konsistente.
14:33
Now how did all of this arise out of I.Q. tests?
303
861118
3130
Hvordan er dette opstået gennem IQ tests?
14:36
That's what initially got me going on cognitive history.
304
864248
4010
Det er det der til at starte med fik mig
i gang med kognitiv historie.
i gang med kognitiv historie.
14:40
If you look at the I.Q. test,
305
868258
1885
Hvis man ser på IQ tests,
14:42
you find the gains have been greatest in certain areas.
306
870143
3985
ser man at gevinsterne har været størst i bestemte områder.
14:46
The similarities subtest of the Wechsler
307
874128
2603
Ligheds testen af Wechsler
14:48
is about classification,
308
876731
2269
handler om klassificering,
14:51
and we have made enormous gains
309
879000
2080
og vi har gjort en enorm fremgang
14:53
on that classification subtest.
310
881080
3110
i den klassificerings test.
14:56
There are other parts of the I.Q. test battery
311
884190
3281
Der er andre dele af IQ test batteriet
14:59
that are about using logic on abstractions.
312
887471
3096
der handler om at bruge logik på abstraktionerne.
15:02
Some of you may have taken Raven's Progressive Matrices,
313
890567
3474
Nogle af jer har måske taget Raven's Progressive Matrices,
15:06
and it's all about analogies.
314
894041
2538
og den handler om analogier.
15:08
And in 1900, people could do simple analogies.
315
896579
3856
Og i 1900, kunne folk udføre lignende analogier.
15:12
That is, if you said to them, cats are like wildcats.
316
900435
4345
Det vil sige, hvis man sagde til dem, katte ligner vildkatte.
15:16
What are dogs like?
317
904780
1576
Hvad ligner hunde?
15:18
They would say wolves.
318
906356
2092
Så ville de sige ulve.
15:20
But by 1960, people could attack Raven's
319
908448
3544
Men i 1960, kunne folk angribe Raven's
15:23
on a much more sophisticated level.
320
911992
2650
på et meget mere sofistikeret niveau.
15:26
If you said, we've got two squares followed by a triangle,
321
914642
4507
Hvis man sagde, vi har to firkanter efterfulgt af en trekant,
15:31
what follows two circles?
322
919149
2236
hvad følger efter to cirkler?
15:33
They could say a semicircle.
323
921385
2287
De kunne sige en halvcirkel.
15:35
Just as a triangle is half of a square,
324
923672
2178
Ligesom en trekant er halvdelen af en firkant,
15:37
a semicircle is half of a circle.
325
925850
2718
er en halvcirkel halvdelen af en cirkel.
15:40
By 2010, college graduates, if you said
326
928568
3593
I 2010, svarede gymnasiestuderende, hvis man sagde
15:44
two circles followed by a semicircle,
327
932161
3235
to cirkler efterfulgt af en halvcirkel,
15:47
two sixteens followed by what,
328
935396
2790
to sekstenedele efterfulgt af hvad,
15:50
they would say eight, because eight is half of 16.
329
938186
3736
ville de sige otte, fordi otte er halvdelen af 16.
15:53
That is, they had moved so far from the concrete world
330
941922
2866
Det vil sige, de havde flyttet sig så
langt fra den konkrete verden
langt fra den konkrete verden
15:56
that they could even ignore
331
944788
2293
at de endda kunne ignorere
15:59
the appearance of the symbols that were involved in the question.
332
947081
4523
de symbolers udseende som var involveret i det spørgsmål.
16:03
Now, I should say one thing that's very disheartening.
333
951604
3164
Jeg bør sige en ting der er meget nedslående.
16:06
We haven't made progress on all fronts.
334
954768
2872
Vi har ikke gjort fremskridt på alle fronter.
16:09
One of the ways in which we would like to deal
335
957640
2764
En af de måder vi gerne vil håndtere
16:12
with the sophistication of the modern world
336
960404
2198
videreudviklingen af den moderne verden på
16:14
is through politics,
337
962602
2036
er gennem politik,
16:16
and sadly you can have humane moral principles,
338
964638
3335
og desværre kan man have humane moralske principper,
16:19
you can classify, you can use logic on abstractions,
339
967973
4420
man kan klassificere, man kan bruge logik på abstraktioner,
16:24
and if you're ignorant of history and of other countries,
340
972393
2930
og hvis man er uvidende om historie og om andre lande,
16:27
you can't do politics.
341
975323
2427
kan man ikke lave politik.
16:29
We've noticed, in a trend among young Americans,
342
977750
3020
Vi har lagt mærke til en tendens blandt unge amerikanere,
16:32
that they read less history and less literature
343
980770
2875
at de læser mindre historie og mindre litteratur
16:35
and less material about foreign lands,
344
983645
2610
og mindre materiale om fremmede lande,
16:38
and they're essentially ahistorical.
345
986255
1695
og de er dybest set ahistoriske.
16:39
They live in the bubble of the present.
346
987950
2117
De lever i en boble der består af nutiden.
16:42
They don't know the Korean War from the war in Vietnam.
347
990067
2856
De kan ikke skelne mellem Koreakrigen og Vietnamkrigen.
16:44
They don't know who was an ally of America in World War II.
348
992923
4183
De ved ikke hvem der var
Amerikas allierede i Anden Verdenskrig.
Amerikas allierede i Anden Verdenskrig.
16:49
Think how different America would be
349
997106
2621
Tænk på hvor anderledes Amerika vil være
16:51
if every American knew that this is the fifth time
350
999727
3596
hvis alle amerikanere vidst at dette er den femte gang
16:55
Western armies have gone to Afghanistan to put its house in order,
351
1003323
4094
vestlige hære er taget til Afghanistan for at få styr på det,
16:59
and if they had some idea of exactly what had happened
352
1007417
3364
og hvis de havde nogen anelse om hvad der præcis var sket
17:02
on those four previous occasions.
353
1010781
2325
i de fire forgående gange.
17:05
(Laughter)
354
1013106
950
(Latter)
17:06
And that is, they had barely left,
355
1014056
1948
Og det er, de var kun lige væk,
17:08
and there wasn't a trace in the sand.
356
1016004
2332
og der var ikke et spor i sandet efter dem.
17:10
Or imagine how different things would be
357
1018336
3208
Eller forestil jer hvor anderledes tingene ville være
17:13
if most Americans knew that we had been lied
358
1021544
2756
hvis de fleste amerikanere vidste at vi var blevet løjet
17:16
into four of our last six wars.
359
1024300
2925
ind i fire af de sidste seks krige.
17:19
You know, the Spanish didn't sink the battleship Maine,
360
1027225
2934
I ved, spanierne sank ikke skibet Maine,
17:22
the Lusitania was not an innocent vessel
361
1030159
2258
Lusitania var ikke et uskyldigt fartøj,
17:24
but was loaded with munitions,
362
1032417
2633
men det var spækket med ammunition,
17:27
the North Vietnamese did not attack the Seventh Fleet,
363
1035050
4078
nordvietnameserne angreb ikke Seventh Fleet,
17:31
and, of course, Saddam Hussein hated al Qaeda
364
1039128
3568
og, selvfølgelig, hadede Saddam Hussein al Qaeda
17:34
and had nothing to do with it,
365
1042696
1909
og havde ikke noget med det at gøre,
17:36
and yet the administration convinced 45 percent of the people
366
1044605
3803
og alligevel overbeviste administrationen 45 procent af folket
17:40
that they were brothers in arms,
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om at de var soldaterkammerater,
17:41
when he would hang one from the nearest lamppost.
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når han ville hænge en fra den nærmeste lygtepæl.
17:45
But I don't want to end on a pessimistic note.
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Men jeg vil ikke slutte med en pessimistisk undertone.
17:49
The 20th century has shown enormous cognitive reserves
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4518
De 20. århundrede har vist enorme kognitive forråd
17:53
in ordinary people that we have now realized,
371
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i almindelige mennesker som vi nu er blevet klar over,
17:57
and the aristocracy was convinced
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og aristokratiet var overbeviste om
17:59
that the average person couldn't make it,
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at den gennemsnitlige person ikke kunne klare det,
18:01
that they could never share their mindset
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at de aldrig kunne dele deres tankegang
18:04
or their cognitive abilities.
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eller deres kognitive evner.
18:07
Lord Curzon once said
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Lord Curzon sagde engang
18:09
he saw people bathing in the North Sea,
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da han så mennesker bade i Nordsøen,
18:11
and he said, "Why did no one tell me
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og han sagde, "Hvorfor fortalte ingen mig
18:12
what white bodies the lower orders have?"
379
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hvilke hvide kroppe almuen har?"
18:15
As if they were a reptile.
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Som om de var reptiler.
18:18
Well, Dickens was right and he was wrong. [Correction: Rudyard Kipling]
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Jamen, Dickens havde ret og han tog fejl. [Rettelse: Rudyard Kipling]
18:21
[Kipling] said, "The colonel's lady and Judy O'Grady
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[Kipling] sagde, "Oberstens frue og Judy O'Grady
18:25
are sisters underneath the skin."
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er søstre under huden."
18:28
(Applause)
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4000
(Bifald)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
James Flynn - Moral philosopherJames Flynn challenges our fundamental assumptions about intelligence.
Why you should listen
Year over year, people fare better on standardized tests, a global phenomenon known as the Flynn Effect. James Flynn, the New Zealand-based researcher who discovered this, believes that environmental factors play a greater role in intelligence than genetics does.
His latest findings, discussed in his 2012 book Are We Getting Smarter?, also suggest that women are not only as intelligent as men, but superior when it comes to executive function. “Women, when exposed to modernity, do equal men for IQ,” Flynn said to TV ONE’s Greg Boyed. “But in the formal educational setting where they apply their intelligence, they’re outperforming men all hollow.”
Flynn, a retired university professor, has written extensively about the connection between ongoing equality and IQ gains, democracy and human rights. He also wrote a compelling book about books, The Torchlight List, in which he lists 200 must-reads.
James Flynn | Speaker | TED.com