Comment Choice (Score 2) 421
I would argue that the mountain of choices we have available to us now compared to 100 years ago would account for some the gains in abstract reasoning measurements. 100 year ago: Rabbit A or Rabbit B didn't matter much. The store only had a few brands of any particular product, if they were even branded at all. Today - Shoes: sneakers, loafers, sandals, pumps, flat, Nike, Adidas, New Balance, Nunn Bush, Bass, brown, black, leather, synthetic, Air, laces, straps, etc. We have to choose what we think will suit us best, weight one choice against another hundreds of times per day. We have to weigh the inputs - advertising, peer pressure, style, function, preferences. All of this takes heavy reasoning capabilities.