Mutations in the human brain are making us stupider, new research theorizes - Page 2 - OG Myth-Weavers

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

 
I dunno guys. Seems to me we're still much better off than at any other point in history as far as intellect is concerned.

For the longest time it was the biggest bullies who fathered the greatest number of children (*cough*Genghis Khan*cough*), so clearly the human species has made it through worse.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vox Clamantis View Post
For the longest time it was the biggest bullies who fathered the greatest number of children (*cough*Genghis Khan*cough*), so clearly the human species has made it through worse.
Read the article more closely. That 'longest time' is claimed as part of the same downward trend we're in now. The fact that it's a slow process doesn't negate the validity of the concern (though other factors might).

Fitness is determined by the ability to survive and reporduce, not prosper. Prosperity is a successfull strategy only so far as society is stable. Given that I cannot recall a year where there wasn't a war being waged somewhere I have to doubt the overall stability of our society to the point that prosperity is a 'trump' mechanism for reproductive success, and believe many people may have abetter long term strategy in being able to survive without stockpiled resources.

So again, anyone with an actual degree in genetics (OY, BOSSMAN MICHAEL) care to comment? I've heard many arguments about how and why people are getting stupider, and given that we have no data to actually make comparisons, making all of this postulating nothing but hot air (on my part too), I tend to disbelieve the claim that we're getting stupider.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tedronai View Post
Read the article more closely. That 'longest time' is claimed as part of the same downward trend we're in now. The fact that it's a slow process doesn't negate the validity of the concern (though other factors might).
The article doesn't really pin down the specifics. All we have to go on are 'it's been going on for centuries' and 'he blames agriculture and urban living'. Since agriculture was widespread by 8,000 BC, you'd think 'millennia' would have been a better word than 'centuries' if he really meant agriculture of any kind.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vox Clamantis View Post
The article doesn't really pin down the specifics. All we have to go on are 'it's been going on for centuries' and 'he blames agriculture and urban living'. Since agriculture was widespread by 8,000 BC, you'd think 'millennia' would have been a better word than 'centuries' if he really meant agriculture of any kind.
The article also claimed the high point around nonverbal hunter-gatherers. If that's true, 'centuries' is a ridiculously blatant understatement.

Obviously the author of the article is a product of intelligence degradation, and he has no idea what he means

Perhaps we're headed to a time machine type split?

There are people with a university degree who marry someone who never
I'm aiming at people who lack the capabilities of getting a degree, not those that dropped out because of lack of interest and became successful self-made (wo)men
succeeded in getting any degree at all, but I'd say it is uncommon. So in general, "intelligent" people tend to breed with other "intelligent" people and "stupid" people tend to breed with other "stupid" people. The "intelligent" group becomes more intelligent, the "stupid" group more stupid. The intelligent group can make up for its lack in numbers with cunning and wealth. This could lead to a situation where an "intelligent" male is no longer able to fertilise a "stupid" female, and the human race splits in two: the homo super sapiens and the homo not so sapiens

Quote:
Originally Posted by Powderhorn View Post
Really? Nobody has referenced Idiocracy yet?
It seemed too obvious.




 

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