Is Idiocracy Coming? Genetics, IQ, & Realistic Outcomes

[@SimoneandMalcolm]

For the people who are like - BUT ENVIRMENT PLAYS A ROLE TO. Here is the study mentioned of 486 adoptive families that shows near zero correlation between adopted kids IQ. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8513766/ Your parenting is generously has an 8% contribution to your kids adult IQ.

[@jsbrads1]

Were all these children adopted as babies?

[@Curmudgeonist]

It would be interesting to see any effects of nutritional changes in adulthood. Parents feeding their kids junk could still retard development, but I wonder if that can be made up for in adulthood. Ditto with post-TBI recovery from poor parenting or the 1/5 UK children being prescribed amphetamines etc. from being classed as "disabled" in childhood.

[@liabobia]

Here here - my brilliant husband is adopted, and people wanted to know why we didn't want to pay it forward and adopt. We're both >130... The chances that we could get a baby within one standard deviation of us was almost zero :( of course, no way in hell we felt comfortable saying that to most people.

[@jsbrads1]

@@liabobia so are you planning on making babies?

[@liabobia]

@@jsbrads1 already did, and working on more! How about you?

[@cactoidjim1477]

AI is so unreliable (often factually incorrect for complex topics) that a low-IQ population with high trust in AI will be an absolute nightmare.

[@squidvis]

Low IQ population makes low IQ AI. Who woulda thought! 😂

[@latinmonsieur]

AI will obviously improve tremendously by the time this takes place. That's not the issue. The real concern isn't dumb people relying on AI, it's the world elite no longer needing the low IQ underclass for labour, seeing them as a burden and getting rid of them.

[@deep-fried-zombie699]

Merica!

[@M0ebius]

I think you need to first define what counts as AI. You seem to be referring to LLMs which in my opinion only grants an illusion of intelligence and not intelligence itself.

[@michaels4255]

@@M0ebius I agree. Calling it AI is just hype to excite investors.

[@Shahzad-Khan]

Water? Like what’s in the toilet?

[@GuitarsAndAdam]

Brawndo's got what plants crave!

[@johnnewton4659]

People at my office will actually not drink water, just Celsius.

[@Shahzad-Khan]

@@johnnewton4659I hate Celsius, the branding appeals to me, but it just tastes terrible. I tend to drink filtered/remineralized water and Coke Zero

[@mikehanson9497]

Yeah … we’ll I ain’t ever seen no plant grow out of no toilet!

[@skylinefever]

@@Shahzad-Khan What are electrolytes anyway? The stuff they put in Brawndo!

[@hjpev6469]

It's worth pointing out that there are TWO things going on in that college study; one is that population IQs are declining, but the other is that more and more people are going to college and the new ones are disproportionately drawn from the population of lower IQ people.

[@michaels4255]

That is not the only source of evidence.

[@oliviastratton2169]

And on top of that, lower birth rates mean fewer students period. So that increases pressure to lower admission standards and increase grade inflation.

[@skylinefever]

@@hjpev6469 They sold even more watered down degrees in order to have more people. Can't make it as an engineer? Get a degree in PC buzzword studies!

[@Kilroyishere-lo9cd]

@@michaels4255 I wish they went through more of the studies directly related to IQ besides genetic correlates, though it is an important thing to bring up. I hope we will fix this with tech like Neuralink or Crisper.

[@JRW-d9u]

"People who listen to this podcast, who are very smart, but aren't doing anything with their lives don't matter." called out!

[@ron1836]

Who's to say what "doing something with your life" even means...? Sure nearly everyone is existing MUCH below the potential they hold. But it seems to me we are individuals portion WAY too high of importance on each of our lives. We are nothing more than an animals with slightly more agency... Who only live max a typical 85-90 years. What we spend our lives doing in the long run matters not. In the large view anyhow. The way I see it these days is you have to find which level of reality and impact you feel you are the most yourself and doing the best. Physically, mentally... Over all health I believe is a good marker for showing proof that one is existing in the life that they were born for. Or not. Delusions of grandeur is actually a very low level childish, short sighted embodiment to allow inhabit your mind and progression through society and life. I have found the older I get the more I see that all the things that we complicate our lives with are the most harmful, phony, needless conceptions. Keep things simple. Once you begin to strip away the massive amounts of add on nonsense that we are each filled with growing up in modern American society. If like me you will be amazed and somewhat angry and regretful to the amount of time and effort and mental space given to so many things that do not matter, are not true to nature and history and honestly ruined your life. If someone would have just told me when I was young that if it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, and claims it's in fact a duck.... You should put great weight in believing that yes it IS a duck! I would have been YEARS ahead of where I ended up.

[@MrKoobuh]

For people who don't believe IQ matters, it's important to recognize that living standard context matters a LOT when it comes to quality of life in relation to IQ. A person who is barely functional in modern society due to low IQ will be just fine in a high productivity/high kinship solidarity environment like a tribe living in a tropical rainforest. Food is available year 'round, shelter is easily constructed from natural materials and the biggest concern is whether a tropical disease kills you. Further, the high-IQ people in the tribe won't live lives much more comfortable or of higher quality than the bottom of the curve. Compare that with a modern post-industrial economy, where the ability to learn complex systems is almost required for survival, and the difference in outcomes is obvious. In most areas someone that can't learn or comprehend complex systems is relegated to the bottom tier of employment or the governmental charity systems, and will of course live, but the quality of life difference between that person and a highly intelligent person in the same system is downright dangerous to social stability. Scandinavian society tries to mitigate the social problem by flattening the life quality curve through massive taxation and social programs, but the indigenous Scandinavian peoples already have a rather higher IQ on average than the Global South, and have social expectations for behavior and uniformity of opinions that go along with being a high-trust, high agreeableness population.

[@buglepong]

isnt this just mostly a problem for high IQ people? like if everyone was low IQ, who cares?

[@einfachignorieren6156]

Thats racist towards blacks

[@effexon]

Id add high IQ can be organizer or other role in that tribe system. it is hard metrics that are not as beneficial there as all is based on relationships to others. Every human unit there is this "hierarchy", that people have roles according to needs. But tribe can be dynamic, when there is no need, no need for hierarchy(eg when they want to have party, they form it ad hoc and then it basicly dismantles after event is over and cleaned up trash). Id add one minor counterpoint to complex modern system: job specialization allows that you only cary and master tiny tiny bit of whole and everyone is pleased as long as you handle it... it is matter of organizing then how hard that role is gonna be.

[@tomocchii]

Do you think that this disparity is also seen in sports as they are getting more systematised?

[@tinyknott]

The college average dropping has a way simpler explanation: They're accepting more people and scrape lower into the barrel. Colleges, especially universities, need to have their admissions based funding cut drastically because the lowered quality of students ruin so many of the valuable aspects of a college, like meeting other high intelligence people, being challenged to perform your best, etc. That said, I do believe we're headed towards idiocracy. Just pointing out that the college average is a bit of a bad metric.

[@The_left_hand_pillar]

This is a major limitation of a study limited to college, way more people have been going to college in recent years

[@nathanielnizard2163]

it's not about education, it about civilisation and at a certain degree values. Education is institutionnal, it is way more limited in scope than what we are suffering right now which is dialectical. Don't take it in the wrong way, but you're a part of the issue, you have your biaises and hit on the first thing that pass on your field of view that may or not look like the issue and persuade yourself that it is that to feel good about yourself. Tbh, you sound like the kind of persons who enjoy their own belly button very much.

[@daveantolovich9025]

Regardless of admissions standards, DEI and associated ideologies have already damaged the current educational process at all levels, potentially beyond repair, since its so far embedded in the system now. Although I supposed one could argue that DEI seems to pre select for low information individuals thus it is no surprise IQ levels are dropping on average when measured there. Personally? I would love to pull out a bowl of popcorn and read the results for a similar measurement for the faculty and staff as a comparison point. As a past department chair I have found it amusing over the last decade or two how many people are shocked when asking my recommendations and I reply home schooling is the best course followed by online low cost universities only, or the trades.

[@DavidTitus_]

.. it's just the college scores.. ?

[@DavidTitus_]

They mentioned it was traceable in more fields I think but I didn't keep notes, at somewhere around 70% of the video.

[@duraace2053]

Watching this couple is like observing an alien intelligence. Weird but fascinating.

[@teresamagnusson]

They are super weird.

[@mikehanson9497]

@@teresamagnusson Everyone is weird once you get to know them.

[@mattk2370]

Relationship goals

[@1simo93521]

​@@mikehanson9497extremely true!

[@1simo93521]

​@@teresamagnussonhonestly being 'normal' is overrated.

[@freecomet]

I find it highly unlikely that the IQ trend would continue for 125 years uninterrupted. It's still good to know about the trend though.

[@michaels4255]

There is compelling evidence that intelligence has been falling since at least the 1860s. The Flynn Effect on IQ scores reflects factors (including improved test taking skills) other than the general factor. Why would the trend suddenly reverse during the next 125 years? The mere act of spending more years in school (and thus delaying reproduction) is sufficient to lower the fertility of the educated classes. Indeed, this has been accounting for a bigger part of the decline than have differences in completed family size.

[@freecomet]

@@michaels4255 125 years is a long time and any number of major events could happen to disrupt that trend.

[@righteousmammon9011]

@@michaels4255because eventually the educated classes won’t be able to pay for the uneducated and the system will fall apart

[@insaneweasel1]

What is the evidence of IQ decline in the 1860s? How could there be enough data to justify a conclusion? I'm genuinely curious, not trying to be an internet smart guy.

[@skylinefever]

@@insaneweasel1 Jolly Heretic Dutton pointed the number of words people were using, the number of colors that people could recognize, and the speed of reaction times. Although less of a measure than IQ, there are several correlates to high word counts, high color recognition, and fast reaction times.

[@HugoGlz56]

Another problem of depopulation is the pull of geniuses into lower levels of technology do to the failure of infrastructure, its hard to dedicate your life to AI development when the electricity grid is falling or the cobalt mines are being raided.

[@thenewbohemian5779]

Yes, another cost is a lower absolute level of geniuses capable of meaningful innovation for humanities benefit.

[@PlantLo4f59]

If you want a true idiocracy come to South Africa. To offeset this; semi-indepependent city states/walled communities are already forming because of the danger from crime, dead cities, weirding climate , and decreased infrastructure nad farming output. Afrikaans families are doing the reverse of the Great Trek known as the Great Semigration, to leave abandoned cities to their homeland's countryside in the cape. In my opinion, rural techno-skeptical is the best choice for preserving creativity and general long-term productivity and stability. Mainly since when the supply chain eventually collapses you won't be able to access the materials for the modern-industrial complex. The big issue with closed communities is that they become impractical and decadent because of being unable to have practical experiences because of too much disgust. A good example of a city state is Orania which has become totally indepenedent in nearly every way (education, food, water, electricity) they only allow industrially beneficial technologies in. They have a lot controversy but its a good example on how to reamin independent. One thing that should be normalized internationally. Which I reccomend as a South African, is extended kinship ( this means knowing your 4th cousin who is related to your great grandmothers sister, as a personal example ) it really helps you get footholds regionally and internationally if need be for various reasonz. The main reason it developed socially, is because the Afrikaans population came from a very small set of German, French and Dutch immigrants. It helps with preventing inbreeding and you get lots of dating reccomendation from your family in a very wide area. It also helps keep a cultural spirit alive and you can learn many skills from family members.

[@LucielStarz123]

@@PlantLo4f59 indeed, such potential yet such demise.

[@anotherperspective6247]

There has to be consequences for the anti-apartheid protestors of prior eras or their children of families that did not live in SA. Unless there are consequences for these folks or their kin they will keep destroying civilization with their "feels".

[@cendrizzi]

I could see this as one such future. Does the government not interfere though, especially if you are thriving on any level it seems the government will come break things up.

[@effexon]

@@cendrizzi what kind of government? democracy type (Id say modern aristocracy where they just secure jobs andd self interest) will decay over time being less efficient and wasting resources(see argentina before milei). Another one is some kind of authoritarian via coup or centralization or weakening of gov(nobody believes or wants jobs there so gets easier to one person to centralize power).

[@cendrizzi]

I was just asking how they do this in South Africa. If you tried to organize in such a way in the us you would have all kinds of government beauticians trying to break up your efforts to go your own way. In the modern us it’s becoming harder and harder to organize along many lines. Even the Amish are running up against the government more and more and they are grandfathered in in many ways.

[@audreywineland1426]

1). Largest study on fluoride suggests that taking it out of water supply likely would increase iq by 5 points per child 2). Brain & nervous system is largely made of cholesterol & fats - exactly what we are told not to eat 3). Epigenetics is a thing With a minimum amount of effort general iq could be significantly increased

[@Harbringe]

Im guilty of over analyzing and doing eff all. In junior high scored 128 IQ , never thought of myself as smart , so started focusing on finding out how smart I was and the highest I ever scored was 163 IQ , but here I am 61 and realize spent too much time wondering how smart I was and not doing. So my advice yes figure out how smart you are but then focus on doing something with it. You will live a better life.

[@ChrisAthanas]

I know so many smart people who never tried to use their tools , unlike midwits like me who just started seeing what I could do and never had my iq tested nor care to look The iq talk is odd masturbatión

[@sashadac4383]

Was it actually helpful taking IQ tests or you wish you’d just forget about your obsession completely and focus on living well instead?

[@thenewbohemian5779]

Yeah this hits home for me...... Dostoevsky talks about this in "The Notes From Underground," as he goes into how having an acute consciousness actually reproduces suffering through overanalyzing and inaction, whereas the dullards just do, and find more functional success.

[@squidvis]

I focus on going off grid and getting far far away from people like that guy who had 200+ IQ. I don't want to contribute anything to this world.

[@wotanmituns33]

@@thenewbohemian5779 The dullards also have stronger convictions, like in sky daddies, which gives them a sense of meaning and a clear path forward. “The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.” -Charles Bukowski

[@LucielStarz123]

The jolly professor talked about this a lot

[@skylinefever]

I like how he discussed it, and people told him to watch Idiocracy for years. Dutton's concludion? Idiocracy was far too optimistic.

[@MrKoobuh]

Another drinker at the Jolly Heretic I see ;)

[@LucielStarz123]

@@MrKoobuh well, hello hello hello 👋!

[@1simo93521]

Honestly stress and unresolved trauma are a big problem. I divorced a trashy angry wife and worked through my childhood trauma and I became actually smarter and calmer. My memory, reasoning, verbal IQ and fitness improved. Constantly being distracted and stressed is probably the major problem first world countries.

[@effexon]

I agree.... urban city life is very demanding cognitively... someone in smaller town doing "basic life" more like 1950s or 60s no problem focusing in routine physical tasks... just need to take care of body there. They can even do their work with major stress or tragedy in life while high mental demand job is impossible. All these also are why those stressors exist... same mental capacity would need to be shared among all life aspects and learn and socialize at the same time... it is close to sports, one millisecond failure and you just lost in life.

[@steve19811]

You nailed it....

[@_BirdOfGoodOmen]

Ed Dutton has entered the chat

[@MET677]

😂😂😂😂Hilarious. That’s exactly who I think of when discussing this topic

[@criticalmass527]

Hello hello hello

[@georgechoquette5735]

Don Lemon has left the chat.

[@liabobia]

Bout to drop a mutational load on the future

[@HawkGTboy]

He was on this show about two months back.

[@GeoffryGifari]

For the IQ decline in college students' case, can we disregard the possibility of colleges having less stringent requirements for admission? This definitely happened in my country post-covid

[@bighoss8793]

💯

[@skylinefever]

@@GeoffryGifari Aaron Clarey had an average IQ chart for each major. The ones that would get you a job as a Starbucks barista had the lowest IQ scores.

[@joelmartin2826]

My dudes-Idiocracy (2006) has been here awhile. But yes, it’s actually coming even closer to reality!

[@deepmarketmaking9290]

I agree with your argument that a lot of the cause of the decline is because people with high IQs are having fewer kids. But could some of the declines also be attributed to people with lower IQs being encouraged to attend college more frequently over the time period surveyed, and thus being included in the college IQ tests?

[@michaels4255]

There are other lines of evidence that point to the same conclusion.

[@amibrainwashed]

I think the decline has more to do with the latter as you suspect. While it's true those with high IQ have fewer kids, (which imo is just the logical result of a demographic more likely to be risk averse), it has only been a few generations since any decline was observed which I think would be too short a time frame to make a meaningful claim about any trend. It's also important to factor that technology has really only made us decadent in the last 30 years or so. However, with the popular culture changing in a way that encourages everyone to incur a college debt straight out of high school, this dilution of the typical college student's IQ could more easily explain the decline.

[@HoradrimBR]

In that regard, Brazil lives in the future: half of our population is under an 83 IQ. Humanity already diverged in different cognitive subgroups here The aristocratic elite of high level professors, medical doctors, federal officials , etc, are in a completelly different reality than the lower classes to a point of being impossible to communicate without those in the higher levels studyng the under culture - as an XIX European explorer would do trying to communicate with tribesmen. Or course the "democracy" is not more than an elitist fraud. It's not something new, as during the XIX Brazil was under a really pyrimidal system: while the Emperor knew 8 different languages (including hebrew and sanscrit), engaged in all the new techs from Europe; there was a mass of literal slaves, and a huge mass of non slaves but very poor and ignorant. During the pos slavery period (1888) up until the 1960's, things seems to be improving culturally, but we failed as a nation (not completelly like Somalia, but we never were able to keep a consistent path foward, to say the least...).

[@michaels4255]

Like they say, "Brazil is the country of the future!"

[@theredknight9314]

It’s probably in part due to the safety of our modern environment. Its been shown that dogs brains are shrinking due to living in safer environments. Something could be happening to humans.

[@skylinefever]

Dutton argued that our environments enabled the sick, weak and stupid to grow. He argued that industrialization allows the equivalent of pugs and bulldogs to exist.

[@theredknight9314]

@@skylinefever yes i agree with that. I watched a historical channel on how class systems allow the IQ to rise. Where the lowest IQ people are traditionally lowest in the system and so are wiped out by their stupidity and replaced by the next dumbest people, until the average IQ is way higher.

[@templeofdelusion]

@@skylinefever damn bro fr fr advances in medicine are worse overall from evolutional perspective? Ain't no way you must be cappin.

[@theredknight9314]

@@skylinefever well, i am meaning like, we live in an environment in which we do not need higher brain function. So we either use it or lose it. But yes, your point also makes sense

[@michaels4255]

I think it is more likely that dogs' brains are shrinking because we have further intensified selection for "domestication syndrome."

[@real_pattern]

you guys should read sasha gusev's two latest substack articles 'does education increase intelligence and does it matter?' & 'twin heritability models can tell you whatever you want to hear'.

[@ezekielcarsella]

Am i weird for not believing in IQ? it feels like a fake stat for nerds to make themselves feel superior.

[@thetaxgawd]

It's actually the opposite. IQ has been demonized to an insane degree in the modern western world because it makes people feel inferior, which means it's common for people to call it out as fake. But do we know that large boobs make a woman more hot and cause envy among women with average boobs? The woke/equity flavor that dominates our culture takes this to the next level. Discussing IQ is considered low class or taboo, but if you want to go off about how intelligent Obama is because he gives "high class" highly scripted speeches, have at it!!! Moar please lol. IQ has aways been looked down upon..Schopenhauer noticed this long ago. No man wants to feel less than. I think the western disdain for IQ is becoming a bigger and bigger problem in the woke world....people celebrate K Harris because she is dumb and somehow more normal as a result. Idiocracy is already in play. Slow people still can't figure out inflation while some of us pointed it out as a high probability four years ago (and were blasted by the normies). Again....a hatred of intelligence has become very clear since 2020....lockdowns, inflation, masks, vax....some of us figured out something was wrong with the discourse within weeks of lockdowns beginning...other people still beat the same drum. I have to believe this phenomenon alone is based on IQ...not politics, as I could care less about Trump's destiny.

[@SC-gw8np]

You’re right. We should be focusing on sentience instead, I think that’s the real game player.

[@skylinefever]

@@ezekielcarsella I argue that IQ is necessary but not sufficient. Having the geniuses sell war machines or be mafia crime lords could be one thing worse than idiocracy?

[@oliviastratton2169]

I mean, IQ measures some kind of intelligence. But it's not the be-all-end-all.

[@Rola6jkTi8POACH]

no you are right. It is an Ego Wank for nerds, in the real world nobody cares about your IQ. The smartest person in historiy Sidis didnt do much with his "intelligence". He killed himself. Instead hard working people with lower IQ changed the world at his time. I think this is no surprise.

[@thebeautifulones5436]

I have spent $200,000 on my Queer Studies courses.

[@1simo93521]

Money well spent.

[@Parasmunt]

That could get you a top DEI position.

[@Medicinalsnark]

Humble brag?

[@Jhonjohn619]

Like to point out that in Idiocracy they made the most intelligent person in charge of everything. Now that's way more than we can hope for these days

[@L-P-V]

What do you guys think of the nutritional quality that the average person consumes going way down and inflammatory quality of the food that the average person consumes going way up? Could that influence what we are seeing now?

[@HugoGlz56]

My cousin who has been in jail on both sides of the border has 11 children and now a sucessfull contracting business. I need to catch up.

[@michaelwellen2866]

Well he actually sounds rather intelligent. It's criminals like him who are going to pass on the smart genes, not the well-behaved folks

[@souxcasa]

Clever people sometimes go to jail too. Impulsiveness is not limited to idiots

[@skylinefever]

@@souxcasa I think about how much it aids in not getting busted. It would take very high intelligence to be a mafia crime lord, and do that for a long time.

[@souxcasa]

@@skylinefever I think that's more a sociopath thing than an intelligence thing. Being an intelligent sociopath is helpful but I think people get caught because they aren't devoid of guilt and they don't plan effed up stuff in advance. Yeah for sure there are also stupid people who do plan in advance and get caught because they are stupid, those definitely exist too

[@Harbringe]

If your ending up with more people with lower IQ then even if with AI making the high IQ people more productive they will be required to support more and more , its very similar to the current birthrate problem where there are not enough young people to support the old people.

[@skylinefever]

The problem of socialism that never changes, having too many takers, and enough makers going Galt.

[@ericfromeng]

That's the issue with being productive for the sake of it. There is no end goal. If you aren't working to support a family and choose to pursue career only, you will end up supporting society and its future generations.

[@effexon]

yah that is how we got there and pressure to hire even less smart people to those jobs by AI excuse will narrow society too much... smart people need jobs too.... in general I mean, everyone working makes big sacrifice for everyone else not working in timewise.... that time can be spent on family or hobbies or simply building social networks.

[@selat99]

I think you are missing one more important aspect. Due to welfare nowadays children of less intelligent people have higher chance to survive to adulthood and have their own children as well. The average intelligence was not increasing because intelligent people had more children, but because more of children they had, had survived in comparison to children of less intelligent people

[@skylinefever]

Dutton and his friends frequently call it things like selection for welfare traits. I say Ebenezer Scrooge was super based.

[@michaels4255]

"if some part of our population does end up genetically isolating itself" - the three best ways to do this are language, religion, and geography (not just distance or other barriers, but more important finding ways to monopolize a territory, even if it is a small one, for example, the way the Haredim seek to monopolize neighborhoods).

[@chadphillips6098]

We got this guy, Not Sure; he's gonna fix EVERYTHING.

[@skylinefever]

@@chadphillips6098 Vote Camacho Not Sure 2024 scrotes.

[@gabingston3430]

I love that Idiocracy clip in the beginning.

[@kevinme824]

It appears obvious to me that the schools have opened enrollment to people who use to not be able to complete college so the population seems to have changed?

[@sammhyde7589]

Been in a few prisons over the years; Some Inmates have double didget numbers of children.

[@josephc8440]

The follow up I’ve been waiting for!

[@Imarida2]

Why isn't Simone breastfeeding? Breastfeeding has been shown to increase IQ and health outcomes that persist into adulthood.

[@discerningmood2674]

I assume because she’s on camera right now 😂 she’s not filming her whole life

[@WorldInANutshell]

I know lots of high IQ people who are morons. Cleverness is useful to a certain point. Past that point, a multitude of factors determine a propensity towards success: humility, confidence, reasonableness, work ethic, self awareness, etc....every person is a bag of 1000 strengths and weaknesses.

[@olderchin1558]

I think you missed the real factors for success, drive, initiative and persistence.

[@saywhat9367]

As a somewhat intelligent person who cannot get my act together, rather than respond with a barb of my own, I will just challenge your right to feel personally deprived by what I haven't achieved.

[@Nylon_riot]

This. And it isn't ever discussed that if you have high intelligence, society feels an obligation towards it while not having to provide support. Then you have the response of society that treats you like a serial deleter; they are fascinated, but no one actually wants to be around you. Then you have to constantly accommodate them because people are often threatened and react negatively. Which eventually leads to a lot of mental health issues, and why intelligent people have to learn to play dumb. There are a lot of geniuses who just pursue their own interests because of this entitlement, and many who regret the fields they went into because of said entitlement. Nobody ever talks about you like a person. When I tested high in elementary school, the decision was made by the school and my parents just to not tell me. Then they kept testing me because they couldn't figure out why I was doing poorly. Answer? I was super confused and bored, and thought I was doing something wrong because I didn't have the same outcomes as my peers, on top of all the bullying that I didn't understand. Essentially they thought a first grade girl would just "figure it out." I wasn't even told till I was an adult. Then I saw the opposite happen to another girl later where they blew her head up so much that she couldn't make friends and turned everyone off with her narcissism. Normies don't know how to help smart kids navigate all the educational and social minefields. There needs to be better vetting and support. And because of Hollywood tropes and silly perceptions that have people thinking intelligent people are born knowing how to be master chess players, when most of the time you are just really good in one area, they don't think you need accommodation, when it is actually the opposite. I actually had a friend resent me for not doing more even after explaining it isn't what I wanted. I had my own interests. That didn't matter, I was actually perceived as less that I didn't make the most use of my skill. It is such a paradox imposed on you. Despite that person not being around to provide any support. That is why I encourage others that the "screw them" mentality is a perfectly acceptable one. The only happy genius I met was the one who threw away his Oxford chemistry degree to manage a Papa John's so he could do what he wanted which was people watch. And as a people watcher connoisseur, I get it. Lol

[@jamm_affinity]

This is a point I’ve not came across yet, but in hindsight it seems implied now by all of this IQ discussion. It’s collectivism in disguise. We live in a cultural tyranny where if you aren’t normal, people treat you like you are lost. I’ve thought for a long time that it’s the other way around. The system demands more agreeable cogs and finely tuned instruments to do its bidding. If you don’t fit this archetype, you are on the outskirts of the bell curve in some aspect and normies will hate you for it.

[@quackhouseproductions5572]

39:20 Malcolm and his Diet Coke, the drink of the billionaires and fat women.

[@luke5058]

How about talk about race and IQ

[@wotanmituns33]

Ah, the elephant in the room.

[@luke5058]

@@wotanmituns33 the elephant in the room, the entire room, the whole house and also most of the zip code.

[@skylinefever]

@@luke5058 I just say "get the Thomas Sowells to make a quiverfull to limit inequality."

[@luke5058]

@@skylinefever no. How about we just don’t allow immigration from low IQs. Thomas Sowell is lucky he isn’t forced to live amongst his low IQ violent people that would rob and kill him for nothing. Luckily Europeans exist, a people he can live amongst and because of the safety Europeans create he is able to contribute.

[@Joshua-eo5hr]

What about it just because you have a high IQ doesn't mean you will be successful as a group in the future natural selection is now selecting for lower IQ oh well.

[@joeshmoe7899]

Don't talk about race and breeding. Only the ruling class should benefit from real science.

[@skylinefever]

@@joeshmoe7899 the cognitive elites need to ensure nobody can overthow them.

[@feliz2892]

The idea that intelligence or IQ is purely genetic is an oversimplification of a much more complex subject. To understand why this assertion is problematic, we must consider several aspects related to the nature of intelligence, the relationship between genes and the environment, and modern discoveries in biology and psychology. Intelligence is a deeply complex trait, composed of multiple dimensions such as problem-solving, memory, creativity, and adaptability. These abilities cannot be fully captured by a single IQ score, much less be explained solely by genetic factors. Research shows that intelligence develops through a dynamic interaction between genetic predispositions and environmental influences such as education, nutrition, and social opportunities. A child born with high cognitive potential may never realize it if they grow up in an impoverished environment, while a child without such predispositions could develop remarkable intelligence in a stimulating intellectual context. One of the key misunderstandings in the debate about genetic intelligence concerns the concept of heritability. Contrary to popular belief, heritability does not measure the proportion of an individual’s intelligence that is caused by their genes. It refers to the proportion of variation in a given trait within a population that can be attributed to genetic differences-within a specific environment. In other words, even if a study shows high heritability for IQ within a population, that does not mean an individual’s intelligence is determined by their genes to a specific degree. It’s a mistake to believe that heritability indicates direct genetic causation, as it ignores the complex interplay between genes and the environment. Discoveries in neuroscience and psychology have shown that the human brain is highly plastic, meaning it can change and adapt throughout life in response to the environment. Intelligence is not fixed at birth; it can be developed and enriched through varied experiences. A child exposed to educational games, positive social interactions, and quality education can significantly enhance their cognitive abilities, regardless of their initial genetic makeup. Therefore, reducing intelligence to purely genetic factors ignores the crucial role that experience and environment play in mental development.Some proponents of the idea that intelligence is genetic base their arguments on a flawed understanding of evolutionary theory. They often see traits like intelligence as fixed characteristics inherited linearly across generations. However, evolution does not produce immutable traits; instead, traits evolve in response to changing environmental pressures. Intelligence, as an adaptive trait, is not fixed but can change and evolve over time. Asserting that IQ is solely genetic contradicts the very principles of Darwinian evolution. Epigenetics is a field of biology that demonstrates how gene expression can be altered by environmental factors. This means that even if a person has genetic predispositions for certain cognitive abilities, the environment can influence the expression of those genes. For example, studies have shown that stress, nutrition, and access to education can modulate the expression of genes related to cognitive functions. Therefore, it is reductive to believe that genes alone determine intelligence, as their expression is directly influenced by environmental conditions. IQ tests are often influenced by cultural biases that favor certain skills and sociocultural contexts. The results of an IQ test may partly reflect the conditions in which a person was raised, rather than an objective measure of their innate intelligence. Thus, conclusions drawn from these tests can be limited or inaccurate when used to assert that intelligence is purely genetic. Historically, the argument that intelligence is purely genetic has been used to justify discriminatory ideologies, including eugenics. This perspective ignores the impact of social and economic inequalities on intellectual development and perpetuates dangerous stereotypes. In reality, intelligence is a complex trait influenced by a multitude of social, economic, and environmental factors, and reducing it to genetics alone dismisses this complexity.The idea that intelligence or IQ is purely genetic is not only scientifically inaccurate but also grossly oversimplifies a complex phenomenon. Intelligence arises from the constant interaction between biology and the environment, and this process is far more nuanced than a strictly genetic approach suggests. By acknowledging this complexity, we can better understand how to create environments that allow individuals to reach their intellectual potential, regardless of their genetic background.

[@paulsetti9484]

So if it's only 20% heritable, which is far lower than thought, isn't that significant?

[@NeraBuffy]

But if their potential is criminality doesn't feeding, housing and employing them so they keep getting in proximity of normies ruin everyone else's potential .

[@jeremyrichard2722]

I think it's a bit different. I think we're headed more towards a Jules Verne type future from "The Time Machine", though not exactly, than "Idiocracy". The problem is simply put, anti-intellectualism. This was tracked and understood better when I was younger (I'm 49) and all the warnings fell on deaf ears. The basic problem is that intelligence is something that is inborn and a person cannot change. It's not like physical ability where everyone can train and improve to a point. Education only compensates so much, as a person with superior intelligence will always use their education far more efficiently. Unchecked there is a tendency for smart people to wind up taking over and dominating everyone around them. This is a big part of why there is a tendency for people who are mid-wit range and below to want to gang up on the actual smart people, focus on when they are wrong, and so on. It's not a conscious thing some argue, but a sort of survival based herd instinct on some level. During times of peace, a lot less innovation happens and society stagnates as the intelligent people are kept to the fringes of society. You can even see this in fiction and how smart people are generally portrayed in fiction, even the good ones tend to be presented as weird and needing to be kept an eye on usually. That said when there is a real crisis, or a war, it is the smart people that become lionized for a while as everyone goes "smart people, help, come save us" and inevitably they do, then technology progresses for a while, things improve, and then the normies realize how much power the smart people have, and you see them gradually clamping down. I think to a large degree communism is becoming popular because of how it demonizes the idea of meritocracy, which is the argument by which smart people were taking over the upper echelons of society. I probably do not explain that really well, but to get to the point, when I was a kid and things were regressing, and anti-intellecualism was coming back big after the boom from WW II which took a long term to die out, it was pointed out that society in general was not a good barometer because you were seeing more and more intellectuals forming their own groups and doing their own thing. So even as the intelligence of society might be falling into mid-wittery as they call it now, you were increasingly seeing areas around the world where pockets of smart people were staying smart. Typically in more right-wing type areas, as much as I dislike a lot of right wing philosophy. At any rate I think according to some of these projections what will happen is that in a crisis or three, your going to see the smart people be better prepared and just flat out entrench themselves in a way they can't be torn down so easily, possibly without mid-wits entirely getting it. Then you will see those communities dominate, while the rest of humanity falling further and further behind and losing the ability to comprehend even how it all happened. Then you wind up with a less cannibalistic version of what you saw going on at the end of "The Time Machine". See, right now a lot of very smart and successful people are into eugenics. Despite the stereotype of all the hot girls going for jocks, one thing hot girls like even more is guys with shit tons of money, and success and brains tend to go together at a certain level. If you'd paid attention to some of the international billionaires doing the Elon Musk thing in how they have kids, well, people told you that we'd be seeing that happen decades ago. They can't force people not to breed, but the upper echelon can find ways to get what they want without being rapey about it at all and they can choose to consider genetics and performance and such when they actually have kids, you can't force them not to. For idiocracy to happen, you'd have to have society reduced to morons rolling each other in the streets. That isn't going to happen when some genius billionaire can fill his super yacht with super models and have as many kids as he wants with whomever he wants. If the IQ drops for the rest of humanity, the results of that are just going to be taking over the top. There won't be a "President Camacho", but likely a "President For Life Megamind" who happens to have a cabinet entirely made up of people like him... just saying.

[@alchimia2730]

Megamind 4 president!!!

[@jsbrads1]

The people arriving at Ellis Island that found jobs and learned English as adults and raised their children and supported them thru college may have been below average, but they weren’t that much below average or only a few genius children would have escaped to become successful professionals.

[@effexon]

lets not forget those a bit too low succumbed to alcoholism, tobacco overuse or heroin every decade. person having way too demanding job,task limits other things in life and keeps stress. Thus it is sort of natural selection, albeit not fair in all senses... still much easier to be Trump kid than average kid.

[@Cascalonginus1]

I don't need 45 minutes of viewing. I can answer. We're already there .

[@38vocan]

Wait... Isn't the reason college student's IQ has regressed to the mean simply because now almost everybody, even people with below average intelligence, go to college? Surely that's the obvious explanation for that. Not saying there is no dysgenic effect on IQ, but weird that you used this study to illustrate your point.

[@GLDn1]

"Un-earned attributes " from genetics? I'd argue that Grandpa worked his butt off to earn those genteics... and his dad and dad before him. Level up and score those golden genes, gents!

[@ericbaxter3944]

IVF generally picks for taller, more attractive male genes. If that line happens to be dumb and beautiful, that's what will be selected for.

[@philipsankot8003]

I love that you guys have managed to do your episodes... professionally...with editing and proper sound enaudience. (Which...i think is more importantpart)......yet you do it from home...with the kids...and all that comes with that including cut away editing if the kids need som3 sort of family attention...and you just roll with it... its great... its a great model for others who may want to do the same... you don't need a big sterile studio and accent lights and a fake live audiance....also in case it was discussed between you two... i like the quasi-perfomative nature of your episodes...in that you have the two cameras...and you talk to eachother through the cameras as if you are in different locations... but you then expose the manufactured charade at the end of your episodes and reveal that you are both in the same house... i like that more than just watching you guy talk at your kitchen table... because this two camera set up makes it FEEL like WE...your viewers ...are I'm on the conversation also... it feels more inclusive.

[@tomharris5661]

It's already here. Average IQ in the west has dropped nearly one standard deviation over the last 30 years. Vocabulary of the average American has shrunk by more than 1/3 (the total number of words used by average speakers) since the 1970's. Most cashiers cant' make change and hand back coins to me regularly when I'm paying an amount to receive say .25 instead of smaller coins in return. It's here now.

[@effexon]

this is regardless of IQ.... it is dumb companies demand PhD level master of life then put them in those kind of roles and tie their hands. high IQ is not helping if ya cant do much in role, let alone use judgement or creativity.

[@kevinjohnson8220]

For the last 600 years we've been offloading a lot of our intellectual capacity onto our devices. With the rise of the printing press and the rise of literacy the capacity for memory has either declined or been repurposed. Numeracy has declined due to the adding machine and general mathematical aptitude due to computers. I could go on here but you know where I'm heading. We've already been augmenting our brains for a long time and while these tools are useful for the highly intelligent for the less intelligent they've become a detriment.

[@tuckerbugeater]

idiocracy didn't represent the current demographics

[@PaulClipMaster]

You don't have to wear thick glasses to convince the audience you're intelligent lol

[@dayoonman3264]

They are most likely just actors with average IQs

[@HawkGTboy]

Why is taking about genetics and IQ a “3rd rail”? You guys should be taking about it.

[@michaels4255]

For one thing, talking about it "too much" can get you booted off of youtube.

[@skylinefever]

The people on top gotta keep selling the blank slate scam.

[@HawkGTboy]

@@michaels4255 Yeah, that’s what happened to Stef Molyneux.

[@Crick1952]

I've been thinking about this for a while now. It's been demonstrated that while there is a genetic component to IQ, the primary influence on IQ is how a child is raised. I see the primary factors being the associated negative trends involved with childhood. Eg. The rise of so many single parent households, children being raised by mass media and finally children being so marketed too and exposed to content that is sexual/obscene. Children's dopamine regulation systems are so assaulted that elementary aged children on the whole nowadays have no attention span or reading comprehension abilities. This is a global and national disaster that society is rapidly advancing towards. I think something that could help reverse this trend is to extend the definition of child abuse to include mental understimulation (neglect) and targeting (predatory abuse). If parents, content makers and companies are held liable for the mental neglect of children, it would disincentivize this behaviour and give the next generation a chance.

[@jsbrads1]

Government aide for children is so poor that unless a child is undergoing severe system abuse, their outcomes are generally worse when the government intervenes on average and the increasing efforts by CPS orgs to combat neglect result in greater harm to children.

[@Curmudgeonist]

Mostly genetic I'm afraid. As with all science there's more low barrier to entry social fluff out there than high quality empirical research. Look into it a bit deeper.

[@WestleyWilliams-j6x]

@@CurmudgeonistThe outcomes that children will have in life is mostly genetic? Is that what you’re saying?

[@Curmudgeonist]

​​​@@WestleyWilliams-j6xAfter childhood mostly yes. The effect parents have tails off into adulthood when they make their own environment. Genetics set the bounds within which someone can operate and culture decides where within that they fall.

[@anthonywilliams7052]

Education and learning a skill is "acting white". Nuff said.

[@psychicspy]

A UBI would push us off a cliff.

[@ChrisAthanas]

Just South Africa after that

[@DavidTitus_]

Becomes minimum wage slavery and stress create such high IQ's

[@DavidTitus_]

Ah because of disgenics, well, I would think having more free time with less manual labor would help increase it, but perhaps your right, oogabooga man can make bunch of kids and they'll be fine.. 👀

[@effexon]

not really... if we assume say 700$ monthly UBI... how would you feed 10 kids with that... even 1 is struggle without someone simply helping every way.

[@DavidTitus_]

With disgenics you may have a point. You also def. can't have a UBI with open borders which is a suicide in any case. Also I love YT removes c*mments

[@biscottigelato8574]

Its not like intelligent men doesn't want kids. But there are empirical research that women prefers average IQ, or even low IQ, over high IQ. "In 2000, a depressingly titled study was published: “Smart teens don’t have sex (or kiss much either)” (Halpern et al., 2000). The most sexually active individuals were in the 75-90 IQ range for males, with these males being found to be the least likely to be virgins as adolescents. (Halpern et al., 2000). Controlling for age, physical maturity, mother’s education, and race, adolescents with an IQ of 130 were 3 to 5 times less likely to have had intercourse than those with average IQ. Interestingly, a curvilinear relationship was observed, with both very low and high IQ boys being more likely to be virgins than those with an average IQ! Even more intriguingly, boys with a level of IQ that would qualify for intellectual disability (60) were still more likely to have had sex than those with a very high IQ (130). Conversely, for girls, the odds of being a virgin at both ends of the IQ distribution were about the same"

[@juanzavala9023]

Because we don’t care about that

[@terry9238]

Who cares? I thought we didn’t WANT teenagers having sex-or babies!

[@quackhouseproductions5572]

Ed Dutton did a video on this too. His counters, it will happen faster and won’t be at peaceful

[@harukasuzuhara8491]

Would you ever do a video on the human toll of the trends you two talk about with hypothetical scenarios or narratives? I have seen that care homes are an unfortunate intersection of the problems you discuss. I really think this is where the toxic combination of low iq work force and an aging population. The malfeasance is so common and normalized. It’s only going to get worse. Until we don’t have care homes. :(

[@yeez13]

It should be said that the biggest indication we’re on the Idiocracy fast track is in how we as a species made Crocs a thing then allowed them to make a comeback. Mike Judge himself chose to make everyone wear them in the movie because he said they’re “something you’d have to be stupid to be seen in out in public” [paraphrased]…and (editorializing a bit here) he might be onto something in that they’re the footwear equivalent of a “Special Helmet”

[@Teulisch]

the problem i see with the data, is that your specifically looking at IQ of college students. and i have to wonder how many students on how many campuses were tested. so rather than looking at IQ decline, this is a measure of decline in admissions standards for colleges (and implies a lot about student loans as well).

[@vaushfan9200]

Invite Sean Last or AltHype on to talk about IQ/genetics

[@GeneJSh]

Since the birth rate is currently below replacement, either people start having children again or the state will be forced to take over and artificially grow the next generation. Then, since they are already doing it artificially they might as well select the best genetics for each baby to fill the necessary roles in society (if there even are any depending on how advanced AI gets). Then we find ourselves in the movie GATTACA with upper class genetically selected individuals and lower class naturals.

[@GuitarsAndAdam]

Per Aaron Clarey, it's not declining populations that is worrying but the production per capita of those populations. Your level of lifestyle is dependent on the production of others. For instance it takes tens of thousands of people to make a pizza. Maybe AI will change that but I doubt it, AI will only be useful depending on the user.

[@MrKoobuh]

The pencil problem is another good example. The level of industry, knowledge and technology needed to make a cylinder of graphite in a wooden tube, topped with a knurled metal sleeve retaining a bit of rubber gum is astounding. One person absolutely can't make a pencil on their own, and that is one of the simplest industrial products. We truly stand on the shoulders of giants.

[@mr.makeit4037]

You guys show me an equivalent energy density type to fossil energy that is in abundance and avaliable now, and i will show you population increase. Fossil energy and population increase go hand in hand in my opinion. We have seen this over tha last 100 years. Fossil energy decline is showing its consequences now. So get off the JD Vance talking points.

[@feliz2892]

Looks is important too. I feel you're underestimated how useful it is to succeed.

[@brainstemriff]

Iq don't mean jack if your seed don't work

[@ELONCASK]

Idiocracy is prophetic documentary. Made in future 👌

[@derek4412]

Certain technologies like birth control pills and IVF might be hastening this IQ decline. As really intelligent people (who are able to delay gratification) put off having kids they inevitably have fewer children. Compare this to someone with a “fast life history strategy” who has multiple kids and is gone by age 30. IVF has promise in helping to select for better genes, but so far children conceived through IVF have slightly higher risk of several genetic abnormalities.

[@skylinefever]

It is that, plus as I say, the Idiocracy will continue to forget condoms and pills as it screws like rabbits.

[@Patrick-vh5nr]

Interview Dr Edward Dutton about this.

[@HeortirtheWoodwarden]

What do you mean by "taking responsibility for their unearned privilege"? This sounds like it's straight out of the mouth of a woke zealot.

[@juanzavala9023]

Cry about it? I didn’t choose my privilege so I should check myself and not get full of privilege. Those people are equally as intrinsically valuable as me so I shouldn’t make them feel less than

[@HeortirtheWoodwarden]

@@juanzavala9023 This is slave-morality.

[@juanzavala9023]

@@HeortirtheWoodwarden it’s Slavs morality to not want to enslave person? If you don’t have empathy, that’s on you

[@HeortirtheWoodwarden]

@@juanzavala9023 No, it's concept from Nietzschean philosophy. Look it up.

[@juanzavala9023]

@@HeortirtheWoodwarden oh I don’t esteem caucasoids, are you one?

[@hooligan9794]

The amount of material used to create the glasses rims of these two has led to a worldwide material shortage that is preventing the building of orphanages and children's hospitals! For shame!

[@SenorTucano]

Inevitable? It’s already here.

[@ducodarling]

My main gripe with the IQ metric is people's understanding of it. In a breath: Intelligent things move around, as opposed to rocks, so at what point during the IQ test does the test taker get up? IQ measures the deviation (quotient) of a subset of the intellectual process. It is good for something, but it's not a measure of intelligence outright. I only wish there was as strong an effort to map the entirety of what intelligence actually is, as the effort to scale out what little understanding we have.

[@kiranreilly4916]

having the woman bottlefeeding her baby was laying it on a little thick don't you think?

[@JaniMikaelOllenberg]

interesting to see someone talk about this issue. i think we should allow human cloning and start copying the most capable human beings. that would produce amazing individuals and also have a big positive impact on the averages over time. far better than me trying to reproduce with my slightly better than average genes. but i also think we will build general AI this century so maybe it doesnt matter much what humanity is like...

[@RCCarDude]

The lady has good bone structure, why does she insist on wearing those awful circular frames?

[@philipsankot8003]

I like it... I like the circle / square dichotomy between their two pairs of glasses

[@michaels4255]

So observers will not confuse her with her husband?

[@RCCarDude]

If she must wear glasses they should be thinner frames.

[@rinzler9775]

Its not just inevitable. Its already here.

[@MacDKB]

I called you guys leftists in a comment I left recently on another video of yours. That was clearly a mistake. In my defense, it was the 1st video of yours I watched (this is, like, the 4th or 5th, & I am now subscribed). That said, you guys are not entirely deprogrammed. You have quite rightly determined that IQ IS genetic, which the overwhelming evidence has concluded. But admitting that there ARE MASSIVE, race-based differences in IQ remains for you, as yet, a bridge too far. I get why. Nevertheless, you can't both recognize that IQ is genetic, OT1H, & then explain away the huge differences in IQ among races as being cultural, OTOH. It's contradictory. Is nutrition SO BAD among Africans, Arabs, & Indians, that they have an IQ, on average, in the mid-70s - mid-80s? I think not. (BTW, the reason why average IQ in the West has been steadily declining is that, since the 70s, we have been flooding the West with low IQ dysgenics from African, Arab, & Indian populations. It's that simple. It's not mere regression to the mean. Or, another way to look at it is that this mass importation is regression to the mean in action. It's a manifestation of entropy, which only ever increases. Lowering IQs constitutes an increase in entropy. But I digress...) Guys. Come on. COME ON. There are countries on this planet where the average IQ is in the 40s. That's the AVERAGE. (Think about that, BTW. How is that even POSSIBLE? What is the spread, in that case? Does it go as low as 10? What does someone with an IQ of 10 even look like? What's their behavior like? But, again: I digress...). You can't seriously believe that improvements in nutrition are going to improve IQ scores in those countries to a 100 average. That premise BEGGARS belief. Also, if it's all about nutrition, then surely you can take someone with a 50 IQ & turn them into an Einstein (he had a 158 IQ, IIRC). Again: come guys. Like, SERIOUSLY lol... EDIT: also, outbreeding is definitely a contributing factor. Outbreeding is the opposite of inbreeding, but just as deleterious to fitness for survival.

[@skylinefever]

@@MacDKB I suggested getting the few people on the good end to have more kids and make the population catch up. I also argued that one reason Japan got average high IQs was from lots of sudoku. Maybe religions that oppose all sudoku are pissing in the gene pool.

[@phanomtaxskibididoodoo]

The studies they mentioned show IQ decrease in white populations and has been replicated in European nations.

[@phanomtaxskibididoodoo]

Also it's best you cease writing incoherent nonsense about entropy and regression to the mean. Of which you clearly don't have the slightest of a clue.

[@oraz.]

I don't see what would stop heritable mental traits manifesting at a group level like any other.

[@williambarnes5023]

I think woke censorship, affirmative action, and virtue signaling are what stop that from manifesting.

[@ltjon1924]

Nearly three full standard deviations above average. Want kids. Have always wanted kids. Once was engaged to a doctor sexy who wanted to Bear my kids, but broke the engagement off 9 days before the wedding. Probably the first person I've ever dated that was as smart, or probably smarter. Dating is hard, and finding somebody in the same range of IQ is even harder. How much lower of an IQ do you think is appropriate to consider in a mate? I am really tempted to just hunker down and push through the next 4 years, until I can retire independently wealthy and just buy a uterus attached to a prenup. For context, I'm likely to break into seven figures independently sustainable within the next 4 to 6 years if things don't totally collapse. I generally find I can engage in conversations and enjoy them with people in the 120s without getting too terribly annoyed... but is that too much of a dichotomy?

[@linkmaster1231]

I knew that idiocracy was a prophecy

[@CodenameDoubleL7]

I listen to these shows and i get this weird feeling I'm listening to the precursor of some appocolyptic dystopian future.

[@thenewbohemian5779]

Hate to break it to you, but I fail to see how our contemporary environment isn't dystopian......

[@skylinefever]

In 2020, I concluded that of all the cyberpunk predictions, we only got one really well. The corpo class.

[@Maxid1]

Idiocracy was here the minute people started calling the movie a "documentary" you can't document what hasn't happened yet. It was a prophesy.

[@rosslambda9613]

my grandfathers were working class car mechanic for jim and coal miner and franc was publisher writer i inherit these if genetic disposition is lineal and illiteracy was common place in western civilisation prior to 1700 for well to do books were a classes lifestyle in old class system

[@darknightbegins85]

Your kids are gonna have a lot of fun in therapy

[@Shahzad-Khan]

I think they’ll end up better than most. Maybe some femininity sprinkled

[@skylinefever]

Maybe the kids will get actual useful things in therapy. The mega corporate therapy is little more than BS motivational slogans combined with gaslighting.

[@LondonMoneyCashEnterprise]

Therapy is a scam

[@keylanoslokj1806]

Autistic gaslighting 😂

[@hooligan9794]

The smartest people I know are massive underachievers. I think a large degree of the problem is that they are from a working class background. To say that there is no encouragement is an understatement and most people who dont grow up poor, have no clue about how many opportunities you miss out on. There is a massive demoralising effect that makes a lot of people just want to drop out.

[@oliviastratton2169]

27:40 Another note on outgroup breeding. I read an article years ago about how cross-class marriages were declining. It cited women’s economic empowerment as a factor. Because in the past, rich men were more likely to marry a woman who didn’t work or who worked in a lower position, like a secretary. But nowadays, rich men are more likely to marry women who work a job similar to their own. Obviously, class isn't perfectly correlated to IQ. But I imagine the same factors that are decreasing cross-class marriages are decreasing cross-IQ marriages.

[@terry9238]

Nah-cross-class marriages were never very common. Yes, once in a while an upper-class young professional man might marry a secretary, or bartender, or whatever. But in most cases such a man would marry someone from his own social circle. Which meant a woman who didn’t necessarily work in the same kind of job he did (if she worked outside the home at all)-but whose FATHER worked at a similar level in the same or another field. Cross-class marriage was mostly a fantasy-fodder for magazine stories in which “love conquers all”. And of course WOMEN were sold the fantasy of “marrying up” for money-a goal they were told they could attain if only they bought the right brand of stockings, face powder, and deodorant (as advertised in these same magazines).

[@liabobia]

Simone: can you imagine the government getting even dumber than it is now? Malcolm: *thousand yard stare into hell for one millisecond* mmhmm yep

[@ThrashLawPatentsAndTMs]

@37:00 what Simone says is spot-on; and it amplifies one of her earlier statements about government: The number of geniuses I've met in and the edges of government agencies who are wasting their lives managing artificial bureaucratic gymnastics is nothing short of astounding ... and depressing. Add to this the genius of the private sector held-back by these same mind-numbing regulatory speed-breaks, and the result is that it seems every year our society is "permitted" to advance a mere month. Without even bringing in issues such as debt and malnutrition, our society is self-destructing.

[@brasileiroloko5375]

Idiocracy is here 😢

[@hdthor]

It might be reversion to the adequate (different from reversion to the mean). “Smart-enough” is usually the evolutionary goal, just as most other facets of ability needs to hit some mere “enough” threshold and evolution is happy. The spiraling improvements are only seen in predator-prey models where both spiral better and better abilities chasing to be better than the other, a moving target. But many things are a stationary target. Human strength is saturated, there’s no need for more. It’s likely that human intelligence falls into that situation as well. So when short-term improvements like the Flynn effect help raise IQ due to nutrition, over a longer timeframe there’s a reversionary pressure to shed off those extra, unnecessary, IQ points. With AI and handheld computing, there’s even less evolutionary pressure for intrinsic IQ since the amalgamated IQ can hit the “enough” threshold largely by offloading to AI assistants. Entropy plays a large role in nature and it tends to atrophy unnecessary structures, especially delicate structures that would otherwise need meticulous selection to upkeep. Think about all the flightless birds like penguins and the ostrich. Why is IQ good, evolutionarily? I don’t see a reason. That’s why IQ hasn’t risen that much through breeding, and only rose recently due to nutrition. Take a less touchy subject than IQ. Take jaw strength and masseter muscles. Prehistoric man had a rough diet and developed powerful jaws and masseters to deal with it. It wasn’t unbounded development, it developed to be powerful enough to deal with the diet and then stopped. When our diet became cooked and easy to chew, our jaw muscles and masseters atrophied / devolved to deal with being “enough” for the new diet. When cooking first developed, the jaw would’ve been overly powerful. Unnecessarily so. But it corrects after a few centuries. The Flynn effect shows that modern nutrition is wonderful for the brain, and so our brain can now atrophy / devolve to meet the new high-nutrition environment. We live in the Goldilocks era where the bump from nutrition has happened but the evolutionary correction to compensate downward hasn’t yet happened. We would have bred much higher IQ long before the era of nutrition if it actually conferred any evolutionary benefits.

[@mclark23]

Weren’t people 100 years ago having IQ of 75 yet were smart people at least for a rural living

[@chengong388]

Could it be that throughout the early stages of human civilization say the past 5-10k years, smart people have been having more children because they have the resources to do so, which lead to a general increase in intelligence up until modern times. But now since everyone has the resources to give birth to and raise several kids, the trends will now reverse until we are back to a time where it is obvious to everyone, that there is a distinction between "noble" families and "peasant" families?

[@Adamantos-Elean]

Most of the causes can be summarized by five words. Industrial contamination, Declining soil nutrients.

[@Trizzer89]

If child support is so ridiculously dysgenic, why cant we get it changed? Feels like everybody wants it changed

[@Grimmlocked]

Because it benefits the government in the short term

[@maxgucciardi4507]

Same reason even the majority of Republicans are OK with marijuana but it's still illigal everywhere

[@thestonemaster81]

This is very interesting. If you could breathe thoroughbred horses dogs, how come you can’t breed thoroughbred high IQ individuals?

[@michaels4255]

Social organization.

[@williambarnes5023]

*> This is very interesting. If you could breathe thoroughbred horses dogs, how come you can’t breed thoroughbred high IQ individuals?* Well, the problem is that when you try to do so, the rest of the world Allies together to stop your Axis of Evil from selecting against them.

[@uncrunch398]

Anything not intellectually disabled is at least 80th percentile already. I'm being generous because I can't perfectly read everyone I encounter. It could easily be at least 95th percentile.

[@Shahzad-Khan]

God, I love Coke Zero, an amalgam of the pinnacle of productive capitalism outweighs any concerns I may have of industrial society and its futures. (I had 6 cans yesterday)

[@Demosophist]

Using a military panel survey David J. Armor found that child rearing practices were at least *as* and possibly more important as drivers of intelligence than genetics, though genetics was still important. The problem is that the window of opportunity to effect the growth of neurons that establish the capacity for higher IQ and intelligence cuts off at around 36 months. Once that window closes it closes for good, as far as we know. There is some evidence that hyperbaric chambers can help spur the growth of new neuron pathways but there is also a downside to these devices: they tend to produce cancers.

[@Demosophist]

As you know, panel studies are the only way to nail down causes, so Armor's research was extremely important. You can speculate all day long about correlations, but all you get out of that is an hypothesis. And the only way to test the hypothesis is with a longitudinal panel study that surveys the same people over a long period. The only problem with the survey that Armor used is that it only included the mother's IQ and not the father's, but it was way better than most of the other studies in this arena. I would also suggest that the most damaging statistic undermining IQ and intelligence (the reverse Flynn effect) is single parenthood... and it is *not genetic* . Single parents don't have time to nurture infants and toddlers. But this same effect that Armor identified also explains why first borns tend to have higher IQs than other siblings on the genetic totem pole.

[@Demosophist]

Again, you're basing most of your dire predictions on the assumption that the only variable that matters is genetic capacity. I'm saying that there are more important variables. The CHAMPUS data, as incomplete as it is, literally nails down the fact that child rearing in the first three years of life is more important in determining long term intelligence than genetic heredity. Therefore, if you want to avert these dire consequences the way to do it is to find a way to increase child rearing in the critical years in a way that stimulates the growth of neurons. We have a pretty decent handle on what these practices are, and the CHAMPUS data has several variables that track it.