It doesn't really tell you much?
It could very well be that the average intelligence of people actually is higher nowadays (which skews the scale into the positive).

Well, average intelligence nowadays or not is not relevant. the "quantity" or the number is not what matters but the delta between each iteration (generation). I remember a funny facts i read: " (can't remmeber if it was earlier or not sorry :/ ), in 1900's the average and normal IQ was 80 (apparently and comparatively to our today IQ measurements ) which means a full grown man by their time standard would be a slightly retarded guy nowadays.

What's interesting is if they, for example, noticed that since the 'golden age' (90's!!) average IQ is getting nearly +0,1% per year (it's a random percentage i just use for explaining purpose) basically translating the fact that our increased, in term of quality, life conditions, access to culture/sources of knowledge allow our genetic process of evolution the possibility to get each time smarter with each generation (i personally think that's why we die btw, because of the "reborn better" process, it certainly have been said by others but i never read anything about that).

It could tell us two things:

- First hypothesis:
Like for muscular purpose, we reached our genetic potential of intelligence (very very very unlikely, when u see guys like Einstein, and a tremendous amount of living geniuses in so much different domain like math, science, philosophy and so on...Very unlikely.
It would translate that way i think, each time younger, you would be able to do and process things/concept each time more and more difficult. Lets say an 8yo little guy being able to complete with ease integral calculations etc then 8yo being able to understand the fundamentals of quantum physics and so forth.

- Second Hypothesis (very very likely)
We simply are getting dumber (new generation). Those results presented by the OP are CLEARLY not surprising me at all. When in a society promoting effortless, assisted, intelligence empty concepts/way of life, what can u expect but a drop in average IQ??? It translates, tbh, in all domains and video games included.
When kids eating potato chips in their couch are praising like a goddess that retarded bitch of Kim Kardashian, that only known fact that pushed her further in term of famousness at the beginning, was to suck a BBC on a leaked sextape, i mean WTF KIDS??? When those very kids, then, pays $$$ for breast or booty implants (for gurlz) or pectoral implants to look like barely at all muscled guys because they can't train their moobs off, what do you expect really?
Once again op, thanks to confirm what i think since like 6-8 years? A general dumbisation of the youth and an apology of the idiocracy. Seeing the average young French dude in real life, i mean, i'm not surprised AT ALL, like AT ALL (dont come to France, if you dont want to get brain retardation by contagion).

EDIT: Extremely funny and SAD, sad thing paradoxically at the same time, is the more people get access anywhere in the world to maybe the greatest source of easy accessible knowledge of all time that is internet, we are getting dumber and dumberer :DDD .
It proves that it's not a problem of access the knowledge but really retardation propagated things by media of all sorts. The retarder you stay, the easiest your are controlled. The smarter you get, the more you question strange things in general society and it causes a WHOLE LOT of troubleS for those so called "elites" if you start to question and rebel against those inegalities.
When you're more interested by Jersey Shore or the new boob size of Kim Kardashian when u come home, i mean, you can't care less of deforestation, massacre of all kinds, conspiracy, over-taxing everyone.
So ye, once again, that promotion by the media of dumb things to level down ppl makes ABSOLUTELY PERFECT sense to me :p .

Or perhaps you can google IQ and see how it's measured and then re-read my post :)

I perfectly know how it works and it's evolution in history and all the different tests etc.
Or maybe u should try to reckon you're wrong (and not trying to sound condescending because u missed sthg) and re read my post =) .

what am I wrong about then?
When the general population increases in intelligence, the IQ of "really smart people" gets pulled towards 100. Just like if the general population are retarded the IQ of "really smart people" will be forced upwards.
So my origional comment could make perfect sense.
In general the world is becomming more and more equal. Especially the rise of China and the increased education in that country could have a massive effect on 'declining IQ values' in the west.
Also increased wealth in Latin America could attribute to it. (although I don't think that they are up there with the rest of the world yet though)

Still, it's factually known that, normally, we get smarter each year (general population), hence the average moving up too. The fact is: the ratio is decreasing. If that study has been made correctly they chose a representative sample big enough to state such facts as "IQ is dropping" . They also, then, removed the lowest ones and the highest ones in the panel.
You are actually speculating on the fact they may not be comparing representative samples just different from a 1 year time like adding now all of a sudden china's AIQ as an emergent country in the calculation of EU (huh??,) does not make sense anyway).
So whatever your "the average intelligence of people actually is higher nowadays", the fact is:they are comparing the averages and it's dropping

Also you said the 'average is higher' but compared to what? Previous years certainly. Thing is, once again, the delta is or less big or negative. At the end, lets say since 1950, for example, we would get an increase of 0.1% in IQ per year, we are nowadays "dropping", they said it, not me.
Maybe we are at sth like -0.02% or whatever (the random numbers chosen are not important but the delta is =>[Actual year average representative IQ ] - [ Previous year average representative IQ]>0 , here it's negative,period.

Sorry if i insist on "ratio/delta and dropping' words but apparently u didnt get it. They compare representative samples of the same country population from one time period to another and the difference between those two averages is negative, can't see what's hard to understand in that :/

IQs have not only plateaued in many developed countries around the world – including the UK, Australia, US and in Scandinavian countries – they are actually measurably dropping.

I dont know what's so difficult to understand. They compare IQ's of representative samples in the same countries. If from one year to another, it's [+], we are getting smarter, if it's [-], we are getting dumber. It's dropping/decreasing/lowering.

comparing averages on a scale which defines the average as 100 seems kind of meaningless to me.
(not entirely correct because the median != average but don't want to really waste more words on it)

I explained it another thread. Everything what I do is wrong anyway.

Be aware of teachers, politicians and police! IQ plateaued at an average of 100 this year!!!

haha

and now you dense inferior mental cripples, burn ...

Nice to meet you too, chinese friend! o/

as retarded as expected.

HUEHUEHUE

Salutations, friend! I see by your green & red frag that you from Mega Shanghai Zone 3: Ibelia.

My nick on ESR: Shen Wong-Tiu, I live in place called Mega Shanghai Prison Island Ron Don, where 3 ancient Kingdoms (Shao Land in North, Jiang Land in South, Wu Liao on side) once united before our glorious takeover.

Chinese education best, table agree.

Murica! Fuck yeah! We got our war machine and an endless supply of talentless entertainers. \o/

since you are from murica, i rather explain that with the following video, i ain't referring to the entertainer, which is from the uk. i refer to murica's compentence regarding their deadliest war machines.

IQ is overrated. You heard it here first.

classic quoting to only say what you wanted

i think today we are so damn capitalistic society that "we don't invest interests on something that could develop our culture, in general". how to manipulate gravity for example, etc.

Read ESR and you will find firsthand evidence of NS findings.

Let's celebrate 4/20