Flynn to speak in California

Jim Flynn
Jim Flynn
A University of Otago professor is set to join such esteemed company as Bill Clinton and Jane Goodall after being chosen to take part in a set of conferences which have racked up more than a billion views online.

Emeritus Prof Jim Flynn said he hoped being chosen to give a ''TED Talk'' at Long Beach in California would expose a new audience to his research and books.

In his 18-minute presentation on March 1, Prof Flynn will encapsulate his last 30 years of research and discuss IQ gains in modern society - a phenomenon known as the ''Flynn Effect''.

He will also discuss his latest findings, discussed his book Are We Getting Smarter?, published last year, suggesting women were not only as intelligent as men, but superior when it came to executive function.

If the organisers of the TED conferences were happy with his talk it would be put on the web, exposing it to tens of thousands of viewers. The talks, which include presentations from celebrities, scientists, politicians and leaders of the corporate world, passed a billion online views last year.

Prof Flynn said it would be ''very nice to get the exposure'' should the video be put online.

''You hope some [of the audience] are publishers that may be interested in your next book and a lot are readers that may buy it.''

Prof Flynn said he had more books in the works - including one on United States foreign policy and another on climate change - and despite turning 79 in April, he had no plans to stop writing.

Prof Flynn will give a preview of his ''TED Talk'' at 1pm on February 13 in the Archway 2 lecture theatre at Otago University.

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