Mutations in the human brain are making us stupider, new research theorizes
 

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-styl...sEnabled=false

Someone with more knowledge in genetics (*cough*Michael*cough*) want to tell me whether this guy has a legitimate case?

You don't use it , you lose it


Is the general theory

Genetic engineering.

Would you prefer it in the Gattaca or the Brave New World flavour?

I'd prefer it not to be in the Fallout or Canticle for Liebowitz flavours.

I don't know why this would be surprising to people. Intelligence no longer determines whether people will survive to breed. Although primarily created for humor, this comic explains it best.

Essentially, humans are no longer subject to natural selection. We have artificial selection now.

What we have, for the vast majority of the species right now, is a lack of artificial selection; while being rich, educated, and likeable don't guarantee that you'll have children (and in fact, you're very unlikely to have lots of them), being a poor, ignorant pig doesn't guarantee that you DON'T have children (and in fact, it's moderately likely that you'll have lots of them).

We actually have selectors in place that are actively pushing the species as a whole to be stupid, uneducated, and poor.

I... see your point, and applaud your references.

Pretty much. We're selecting against intelligence and education, from a biological standpoint. The individuals might do better, but their genes do very poorly compared to the stupid, uneducated, and poor.

Really? Nobody has referenced Idiocracy yet?