{"id":239422,"date":"2026-06-22T11:02:51","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T16:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/06\/massimo-rainmaker1973-on-x"},"modified":"2026-06-22T11:02:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T16:02:51","slug":"massimo-rainmaker1973-on-x","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/06\/massimo-rainmaker1973-on-x","title":{"rendered":"Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) on X"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"padding-right: 20px\"><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/massimo-rainmaker1973-on-x2.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Scientists have identified a reversal of the long-standing Flynn effect\u2014the roughly 200-year trend of rising average intelligence (measured via IQ and cognitive tests) across generations. For the first time in modern recorded history, Generation Z (born roughly 1997\u20132012) shows lower performance than previous generations in key cognitive domains, including attention, memory, literacy, numeracy, executive function, problem-solving, and general IQ\u2014despite spending more years in formal education than ever before. Neuroscientist and educator Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath, PhD, MEd, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on January 15, 2026, highlighting this shift. In his written testimony, he stated that cognitive development in children across much of the developed world has stalled or reversed over the past two decades, with declines evident in international assessments (e.g., PISA, TIMSS) and other large-scale data starting around the mid-2000s and accelerating post-2010. Horvath attributes the primary driver not to reduced schooling, but to the widespread integration of digital screens and educational technology (EdTech) in classrooms. He argues that human brains evolved for deep, focused learning through face-to-face interaction and sustained attention, not fragmented skimming or constant task-switching encouraged by devices. Key points from his testimony include: \u2014 Teens now spend over half their waking hours on screens, with significant portions in school involving computers or tablets\u2014often leading to off-task behavior and shallower processing. \u2014 Evidence from meta-analyses and national\/international studies shows a consistent pattern: higher classroom screen exposure correlates with weaker outcomes in reading, math, science, and higher-order reasoning. \u2014 Digital tools may aid narrow, repetitive skill practice in controlled settings, but in core academic contexts, they tend to reduce depth of understanding, retention, and critical thinking. Horvath describes this as a \u201cstructural mismatch\u201d between human cognition and how digital platforms are designed (to capture and fragment attention), warning that unchecked EdTech adoption risks long-term harm to workforce skills, innovation, and societal reasoning. [Horvath, J. C. (2026). Written testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. U.S. Senate]<\/p>\n<p><center>span: not(:empty)~span: not(:empty)]:before:content-[\u2019\u00b7\u2019] [&amp;span: not(:empty)~span: not(:empty)]:before:px-1 [&amp;span: not(:empty)~span: not(:empty)]:before:shrink-0 <a data-state=\"closed\" class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/share.google\/Rainmaker1973\/status\/2067969902192062654\">1:57 PM \u00b7 Jun 19, 2026<\/a> <a data-state=\"closed\" class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Rainmaker1973\/status\/2067969902192062654\">203.9KViews<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scientists have identified a reversal of the long-standing Flynn effect\u2014the roughly 200-year trend of rising average intelligence (measured via IQ and cognitive tests) across generations. For the first time in modern recorded history, Generation Z (born roughly 1997\u20132012) shows lower performance than previous generations in key cognitive domains, including attention, memory, literacy, numeracy, executive function, [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":661,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1523,32,2229,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-239422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-computing","category-education","category-mathematics","category-neuroscience"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/661"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239422\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}