Gen Z is the first generation in history to be less cognitively developed than their parents’ generation, according to Jared Cooney Horvath, author of the newly published book The Digital Delusion. The teacher and neuroscientist said he would never say “stupider”, but argued that other factors may be at play.
Until 2010, every generation had been cognitively superior to their parents, with schooling and education steadily improving. Horvath described the period from 1996 to 2010 as “the golden age of education”, but said IQ scores worldwide had been declining since then. He believes this is directly linked to the widespread use of screens in schools.
“Human beings are not biologically wired to learn very well from tech: we’re built to learn from other humans,” he said. Ed-tech has become a major industry, generating around £6.5bn a year in the UK according to the Department for Education, and close to $400bn in the US, where 88 per cent of all students have their own school laptop.
Horvath argues this amounts to humans mistaking tools for skills. “The rule is: learn the skill first, then use the tool to make it easier. If you use the tool to begin with, you’ll never develop the skill,” he said.
He warned that pupils who start with word processors or calculators before mastering formatting, spelling or arithmetic may remain permanently dependent on them. “If you know how to format an essay and spell certain words, now we’ll bring in word processing,” he added. “But if you start on a word processor, you will forever be dependent on the tool. If we give you a calculator before you understand arithmetic, you will forever be tied to the calculator.”
