
THE BIG STUPID - Why We're Getting Dumber When We Need to Be Smarter (Part 1 of 3)
From The Green Elephant in the Room: Solutions To Restoring the Health of People and the Living Planet by Rico Verde
January 21, 2026 · 34 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the decline in human intelligence and its environmental causes.
SHOW-NOTES For the first time in recorded history, human intelligence is declining. IQ scores that rose steadily for a century have reversed course across the developed world. Pattern recognition, abstract reasoning, and problem-solving abilities are dropping fastest among young adults. This isn't about genetics - it's about environment. We've built a world that no longer demands we think hard, and our brains are responding accordingly. The timing couldn't be worse. Climate change requires ex...
People in this episode
Host: Rico Verde
Topics covered
- intelligence decline
- environmental impact
- climate change
- cognitive abilities
- young adults
Keywords
- intelligence
- IQ scores
- cognitive decline
- environment
- climate change
Mentioned in this episode
Places: developed world, Climate change
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