Are People Getting Smarter?

‘There is no sign that we are getting smarter. Was Albert Einstein a better scientist than Isaac Newton or Archimedes? Has any playwright in recent years topped William Shakespeare or Euripides? We have learned a lot in 2,000 years, yet much ancient wisdom still seems sound, which makes me think we have not been making much progress.’

Marvin Minsky, Scientific American, October 1994, p. 88.