When I'm teaching ancient history to a class (as opposed to telling my kids about when I was young), I find myself saying things like: "The ancients were not any less intelligent than we are; they just had smaller databases and simpler technologies." My point is that in their own way they reflected the same ranges of ingenuity and stupidity as we do, but often with less collateral damage. For example, the guy who rolled his ox cart over a cliff never became a cultural icon like a skateboarder wiping out on YouTube in a momentary flash when half the viewers are saying "What the..." and the others are saying "I could do that!"

All this leads me to think about reality televison programing. (Big disclaimer: I don't watch reality shows, I just catch scenes when a promo comes on, or when I can't find the remote right away.) From my removed vantage, it looks like the "reality" they define is akin to a Mario Game where real people get bashed, thrown off the highway, or clobbered by a stuffed mushroom. Others appear as variations on Lord of the Flies (or maybe Barflies) where the rules on an island, a jungle, or in some elite circle of socialites are tossed-up as a jump-ball.

Recently, I heard that an extreme version of musical chairs is being considered for a new reality series. This made me think about ancient history (this time in the old days when I was a kid). On black and white TV we had "Beat the Clock"and "Truth or Consequences". Like ancient history, they were the same as today's shows, but with somewhat lesser technologies. Most of the consequences or skills involved stacking cups, spinning plates, or some species of whipped cream. While no one fell into gigantic vats, most of the contestants wore suits and dresses which had the inherent risk of ruining your best clothes.

I suppose this only points out how little has changed in the evolution of IQ (inspite of advances in technology). We are probably no dumber than we ever were; no smarter either.