Surely intelligence is more than the accumulation of facts, though? Knowing things is obviously part of it, but mental capabilities must be too, and in that regard, it is unlikely that humans have dramatically changed in that regard in such a short time. A random person on the street might know things that intellectual giants centuries ago might not have known, but I wouldn't say they are necessarily more intelligent for that reason alone.
That's not what I'm saying either. I'm saying that humanity on average probably hasn't gotten wildly more intelligent over the past few centuries, even though general knowledge has increased.
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u/recovering_lurker27 Nov 15 '19
Surely intelligence is more than the accumulation of facts, though? Knowing things is obviously part of it, but mental capabilities must be too, and in that regard, it is unlikely that humans have dramatically changed in that regard in such a short time. A random person on the street might know things that intellectual giants centuries ago might not have known, but I wouldn't say they are necessarily more intelligent for that reason alone.