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Frank enters the Coffee Shop to find Doug, sipping a coffee, sitting at their usual table. Doug turns to see Frank head towards the table.

Doug: I know that tone… What’s wrong today? Neighbour’s dog take your newspaper again? Or is it just too nice of a day for you?

Frank: He spends so much time in front of a computer, always playing some game or using the Internet. He never leaves him room except to eat. I swear, one day I’m going to go in, and he’ll be a drooling mess staring blankly at the computer screen… not that he’s far from that now.

Doug: Well, he is taking a computer course isn’t he? Maybe he’s doing his homework.

Frank: Yes he is. I have no idea why I agreed to let him take that course. Ever since he started, he’s been stuck to that computer twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. I worry about him.

Frank: Well, then, that’s the trouble with this generation; these young people. They’re so reliant on computers; like a crutch. They don’t do any real work; and no, I’m not talking about back-breaking physical labour. What I mean is that they go home and they go do their homework on their computer. On there they’ve got calculators for their math homework, spell-check for their essays, access to the Internet for research; it’s like they hardly have to do anything anymore to finish their work.

Frank: Yes, it is. You remember all the work we had to do for our studies? When we did math homework, we did it all ourselves. That’s how you learned math skills. When we had research projects, we went to the library on foot and did the research ourselves. We were the spell-checkers; that’s how you learned how to spell. We worked hard. This generation seems to be lacking that work ethic. Sometimes, I get the feeling, because of computers, the human race is getting just plain lazy; getting dumber.

Frank: No, I’m not. We’ve got kids now-a-days who are becoming illiterate because they refuse to read books, have poor work ethics, all the while we, as parents, just pat them on the back, saying, well… at least it’s better they waste time on the computer then watching TV or something else. (Subrahmanyam et al. 8)

Doug: Now, that’s not fair. My grandchildren use the computer all the time and I think they’re better for it. True, I don’t let them waste all their time on games, and even then I try to monitor what they play and see. But, I look at what they can do on a computer, and a lot of the times I can’t believe it. I’d even go far to say that they are smarter because of the computer. I’d say that we’re all smarter for it. In fact, if I remember correctly, there’s even scientific research to that effect.

Doug: No, I’m serious. I’m not quite sure if it has anything to do with computers but it does exist. They call it the… jeez… the name escapes me. Hey, who was the guy who played Robin Hood in the movie?

Doug: No you… [incomprehensible mumbling]. The effect is called the Flynn Effect, after its founder. (Wikipedia: Flynn Effect)

Doug: It is the observation that IQs have been rising every year since World War II.

Doug: I don’t know. As I said, I only have a vague recollection of the effect.

Frank: I’m starting to think you’re just making this whole thing up just to shut me up.

Doug: Alright, I’ll tell you what. Tonight, both of us will do some research, build our cases, me pro computers making you more intelligent, you against, then tomorrow morning, we’ll meet here again and finish this discussion.

Doug: C’mon, it’ll give you a chance to do some “real work”. What are you afraid of? Afraid that I’ll prove you wrong?

Scene Two

Frank enters the Coffee Shop to find Doug shuffling printouts on the table. Frank, smiling, pats his bag full of his own papers, and heads towards the table.

Doug: Hi Frank, I see I’m not the only one who did their research last night.

Frank: Yup. I went to the library yesterday afternoon after work. Got all my research the old fashion way.

Doug: I sent an e-mail to Frankie Jr. last night. I told him a little about our debate yesterday and our respective positions. He sent me back his login for access to his university’s online library as well as a list of scientific papers and books on the subject.

Doug: Heh, take it easy Frank. What did you expect anyways? You basically called his generation a bunch of dumb kids with I quote, no work ethic and who will all end up drooling messes staring at a computer screen.

Frank: Well, you may have turned a son against his father, but I will still prevail.

Frank: Yes, I did. For instance, let’s look at the fact that the Flynn Effect deals exclusively with IQ. Did you know that the notion of IQ itself is fairly controversial? For one, that IQ is more vulnerable to environmental conditions then initially thought? (Wikipedia: IQ Test Controversy)

Doug: That’s true. But, the Flynn Effect in fact embraces the fact that IQ is vulnerable to environmental conditions. In fact, that’s what most people believe is causing the effect. (Wikipedia: Flynn Effect) Now, exactly which environmental condition is a foggier issue.

Waitress: You guys going to chat here all day or do I need to vacate this table for some paying customers?

Sue: Oh yeah? Why is it then, that after all these years, Frank over here still doesn’t understand the concept of a minimum 10% tip?

Frank: Hey, I tip on the bill without the tax. If anything, that means I’m smarter; that’s harder to calculate.

Sue: Well good for you, you grumpy, cheap old man. Anyways, Doug, what’s this about us getting smarter?

Doug: We were just talking about something called the Flynn Effect. It basically says that since the end of World War II, IQ test rates have been rising steadily every year. I was just telling Frank over here that many scientists speculate that it has to do with environmental conditions…

Frank: …and Doug here believes that environmental condition these days are computers, right? I’m not convinced.

Sue: All the way back to World War II, huh? Are you sure it doesn’t have something to do with what we eat? I tell you, the quality of food these days is probably a hundred times better than it was back then. Plus we’ve got doctors telling us to take all these vitamins and other herbal potions to make us live longer.

Frank: …I’ve got a research study which shows that an increase in iron intake in six year olds resulted in significant increases in IQ scores. (Arija et al. 146-147)

Sue: Iron huh? I guess I need to start feeding the kids some more greens. Lord knows they could use the extra points.

Doug: Ah, but I read about that study. I seem to recall that same study showed there was no improvement in IQ scores in children who did not appear malnourished. (Arija et al. 147) So, while that may explain why IQ scores are rising in developing countries, it doesn’t explain why it’s happening here.

Sue: But surely the improvement in food was better for us following the war.

Doug: That’s true. But better nutrition is usually closely coupled with a significant rise in the average height of the population. So while there was likely a rise in the average height in the decades following the war, I don’t think the average height around here has changed all that much for a while. (Johnson 143) Sure, kids are getting taller, but my son isn’t really all that much taller than I am.

Sue: Ok, well, what about education then? Surely education these days is better than it was in the old days. That has to be doing something.

Frank: Another good point Sue. I found another study here from Denmark that is actually showing a decline in IQ levels. They attribute this trend to the declining enrollment rates in post-secondary institutions. They also attribute the initial increases in IQ levels to a favourable reformation in the Danish education system following the war. (Teasdale and Owen 841-842) This seems to be suggesting a direct link between education and IQ scores.

A young twenty-something man sits down at the table next to them and takes out a shiny, black laptop. A pad of paper soon joins the laptop on the table as well as several other printouts and a red paperback book with a picture of a man with a TV on his head.

Frank: Well, why don’t you ask him to join us? He’s part of your beloved so-called computer generation. Maybe he’ll be smart enough to save you here.

Doug turns around to face the young man at the next table. He taps him on the shoulder.

Doug: My friend and I here are having a little debate, only he’s found a ringer to join his cause. I was wondering if you could help me out.

Doug introduces himself as well as Frank and Sue and recounts the past events from yesterday and earlier that morning. The young man introduces himself as Jon, a biology and computer science student from University of Toronto .

Jon: It’s funny that you guys are talking about this subject. It happens to be the topic of a play I’m writing.

Jon: Yeah. Well, it’s more of a play based on scientific facts and theories. It’s for one of my computer science courses.

Doug: Well, that’s original. At least it’s more interesting than writing a report.

Jon: I guess so. That’s probably the point, in fact. So, where did you guys stop?

Doug: Frank here was pointing to a study saying that IQ is actually falling in Denmark , due primarily to lower attendance in post-secondary institutions. I haven’t seen the study or any reference to it so I can’t form a rebuttal.

Frank hands the study over to Jon and Doug; who flip through it quickly. Meanwhile, Sue leaves the table to grab them all some drinks.

Doug: …and only those males who enlist in the army; which makes the results all the more distressing to me.

Jon: I’m not sure if that’s really all that proper a sample space to make such sweeping remarks on the population of a country. Besides, I think I may have a counterexample to that study.

Jon pulls out the red paperback book he had out earlier. On the cover, in big white letters is the title “Everything Bad Is Good For You”

Jon: Well, according to Steven Johnson, the author of this book, scores for standardized tests based on material learned in the classrooms have flat-lined or worse in the States for the last few decades. However, despite this, there is still evidence of the Flynn Effect on IQ levels in the United States . So what Johnson says, is that we can effectively cross out education as the environmental cause for the Flynn Effect.

Jon: He says popular culture is the cause for the effect; specifically, the introduction of the new medium of computers into our daily living routine.

Jon: Well, ok, computers aren’t really a medium unto themselves. They’re really a gateway to a few mediums. Games and Internet are two such mediums that he listed.

Frank: Bah, how can you call games a medium? What is there to be gained from them?

Jon: The student of media soon comes to expect the new media of any period whatever to be classed as pseudo by those who acquired the patterns of earlier media, whatever they happen to be. (Johnson 15)

Jon: Johnson believes that computers are the reason for the Flynn Effect, the rising IQ levels.

Sue: You know, you guys keep talking about IQ scores and such. But how good a measure are IQ tests of intelligence? (Wikipedia: IQ Test Controversy)

Jon: It’s true that IQ tests don’t cover things like emotional intelligence or, I guess, street smarts. (Wikipedia: IQ Test Controversy) However, they are a good indicator for several components of intelligence, such as fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence. Intelligence can be defined as one’s cognitive ability; the ability of a person to process information, apply their knowledge, and make decisions. That’s essentially what fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence are. (Blair 110)

Doug: I think he means that the IQ test is a good measure of a person’s problem solving skills and their ability to learn and retain knowledge, then relate that knowledge to something else.

Jon: Yeah, pretty much. He is saying that computers are enhancing our cognitive abilities; specifically in the area of problem-solving. Since our problem-solving abilities are getting better…

Doug: … it stands to reason that, theoretically, we should be getting more intelligent.

Jon: Yes, given that none of the other components of intelligence, such as crystallized intelligence or emotional intelligence, aren’t decreasing, then it stands to reason that an increase in problem-solving skills would lead to a general increase in our intelligence.

Jon: Well, in the case of games, Johnson uses the research of a game researcher named James Paul Gee. Gee believes that there’s a set cycle of what people do when they play a game. First, the player probes the game world by walking or looking around, clicking on things, or engaging in some action. Then, based on their reflection while probing and afterward, he or she form a hypothesis about how something they just found could be used in a certain situation, or what it may mean to the game. The player then re-probes the world with this hypothesis in mind, seeing what effect he or she gets. He or she then looks at the effect they received, and either accepts or rethinks his or her hypothesis. (Johnson 45)

Frank: The Scientific Method. It’s the foundation of all scientific exploration; the guideline for critical thought. That’s an interesting idea.

Jon: The example Johnson gives is the game of Pac-Man. After a while, many players figured out a pattern to the way the monsters moved around. The pattern wasn’t actually programmed into the game; it was more due to a lack of computational power. (Johnson 46) Regardless, it likely took these players several sessions of probing the environment, formulating hypotheses, testing them, then revising them, in order to figure out these problems. In other words, they were problem solving.

Jon: Johnson says that the Internet has helped in a similar way. It forces people to be able to learn new technology, new interfaces on the fly. The mind is constantly engaged by interactive content, whether it be posting a response to an online article, or maintaining three different conversations at the same time. It also forces people to be able to easily trouble-shoot and problem solve when something goes wrong. (Johnson 121-122)

Doug: That’s true. When my internet browser crashed the other day, my twelve year-old grandson was able to figure out what was wrong and got me back online in no time. It’s amazing how fast and how well kids these days are able to learn new technology.

Frank: Ok, I concede that it’s great that they’re able to learn all this new technology and everything. However, I read this article by Don Norman, a renowned cognitive psychologist, and he mentioned that the greatest cognitive tools of our time are writing and notational systems, objects of travel and information technology. (Forbes 2006) Granted, the Internet qualifies as information technology, but what about literacy and writing skills? How are they improved by the computer? There’s a study here…

Frank: … that shows that excessive computer use among young children at the ages of 13 to 14 had a negative impact on the development of their reading comprehension skills. It concludes that computers might have a strong negative impact on young people who are still in the process of learning and developing basic language literacy skills. (Radi 3-4)

Doug: Ok, but you’re talking about excessive use here. I’ve got a study here that shows that in high school students, the presence of a computer at home actually corresponded with higher grades in math and English when compared to those students without a home computer. (Subrahmanyam 16) But yes, I agree with you, it is important not to let kids do anything excessively when they’re young and developing. No thing, no matter how good it may be, taken to the extreme is going to be beneficial.

Doug: Oh, and to get back to Don Norman, I read a little bit of his book, “Things that Make Us Smart”. In it he mentions experimental mode and reflective mode. Experimental mode he likens to watching a movie, experiencing everything that’s happening on the screen. Reflective mode he considers when you take an idea, compare it to another idea, and come up with a totally new idea. Now, Norman fears that popular culture is permanently stuck in experimental mode and he fears that this is stifling our ability to develop new ideas; new thoughts. What he wants is a medium, or a way of education, where experimental and reflective modes are combined; to make a stimulating experience, but also an experience which will stimulate the creation of new thought and cause us to reflect on what we’re seeing. (Hoffman Interview) Now, from what I’ve heard from Jon and his reference to Steven Johnson’s book, it sort of sounds like games and the Internet succeed in doing this. Both offer a rather exciting, attractive experience which immerses the user in said experience. However, both mediums also stimulate the formation of independent and new thought; games through Gee’s version of the gaming Scientific Method; the Internet by the requirement of adapting to quickly changing technology and then trouble-shooting and problem-solving that technology. Am I right?

Sue: Well, I can tell you one thing; I won’t look at the computer the same way ever again. Oh, speaking of which, my portable computer thing here on my wrist, ie. my watch, is telling me I’ve taken way too long a break. I’ve gotta go.

Jon: Jeez, so do I. I have class downtown in a few hours. Hey, do you guys mind if I take some things from this conversation and use it in my play? This is way better than what I had in mind.

Sue returns to work after her prolonged break while Jon leaves to go to class.

Frank: Huh. Well, I guess I have to agree with you, but only partially, that computers do have the potential to make us smarter.

Doug: Yes, the potential to make us smarter. Just like anything else however, if used in excess, like your study showed, they can be detrimental to our intelligence; our lives. But, that can be said of anything.

References

Arija, V., David R., Esparo, G., et al. 2006. Nutritional status and performance in test of

Blair, Clancy. 2006. How similar are fluid cognition and general intelligence? A

"Flynn Effect." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 21 Jul 2006, 03:12 UTC. Wikimedia

"IQ Test Controversy." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 06 Jul 2006, 14:17 UTC.

Johnson, Steven. Everything Bad is Good For You. New York : Penguin Group, 2005.

Norman, Donald A. "Things That Make Us Smart." Forbes 15 March 2006. 25 July 2006

Do computers make us more or less intelligent?

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References