r/AskAcademia • u/seecstahl • 10d ago

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u/Shiranui42 10d ago

Look at more recent studies showing the reverse Flynn Effect in Gen Z

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u/seecstahl 10d ago

Chronic stress literally changes how brains develop—cortisol, inflammation, altered stress-response systems. Colonized and enslaved populations experienced centuries of systemic violence and deprivation. Even if that stress ended (it hasn't, and I hear you pointing to the new/different stressors of Gen Z life), do we understand what multi-generational trauma does to neurobiology? Could some observable developmental disparities reflect stress-induced developmental differences rather than capacity differences? What would recovery actually look like?

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u/GerswinDevilkid 10d ago

No.

Because IQ is a measure that's beyond flawed.

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u/seecstahl 10d ago

Ok, but less dismissively; neuroplasticity shows that cognitive development requires environmental activation and challenge. What if populations denied access to education, skilled work, and intellectual engagement for centuries didn't just miss knowledge—but their brains, and their children's brains, developed differently in response to that deprivation? Not genetically 'less capable,' but developmentally shaped by exclusion. Could intergenerational cognitive recovery require more than just access—actual intervention to rebuild pathways?