Analysis: Millennials may have cognitive advantages from avoiding leaded gas and late social media exposure

Summary

This article explores the idea that Millennials may be the "smartest generation" due to two key factors: they largely avoided the cognitive damage from leaded gasoline exposure that affected older generations (potentially costing them ~5 IQ points), and they experienced social media and AI-driven platforms later in life compared to Gen Z, whose brain development may have been negatively impacted by these technologies. The author references economist Tim Harford's comments about leaded gas effects on IQ, and contrasts the generational experiences with both environmental toxins and digital technology.