Human Intelligence Peaked Thousands of Years Ago: Study

Science | 207024 hits | Nov 13 10:50 am | Posted by: BeaverFever

Is the human species doomed to intellectual decline? Will our intelligence ebb away in centuries to come leaving our descendants incapable of using the technology their ancestors invented? In short: will Homo be left without his sapiens?

Comments

by BeaverFever
Tue Nov 13, 2012 6:56 pm
Another good article on it here:

Civilisation is making humanity less intelligent, study claims
The simplicity of modern life is making us more stupid, according to a scientific theory which claims humanity may have reached its intellectual and emotional peak as early as 4,000 BC.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/scie ... laims.html
by andyt
Tue Nov 13, 2012 7:00 pm
I love it:
"A hunter-gatherer who did not correctly conceive a solution to providing food or shelter probably died, along with his or her progeny, whereas a modern Wall Street executive that made a similar conceptual mistake would receive a substantial bonus and be a more attractive mate. Clearly, extreme selection is a thing of the past."

But as the criticism in the OP says, spatial intelligence is only one of many types of intelligence. So we may go down a bit in some types and up in others. Also the second article talks about being able to solve this genetic degradation within a few hundred years. So our declining intelligence will allow us to prevent the decline and presumably increase our intelligence again.
by saturn_656
Tue Nov 13, 2012 7:30 pm
This isn't a new idea.

Civilization has cushioned humanity from the effects of natural selection. People whose poor or flawed genetics would have resulted in their early deaths in the dog eat dog world of primitive humans are now living more or less full lives and reproducing, passing those genetics onto the next generation.
by raydan
Tue Nov 13, 2012 7:34 pm
Of course, the only way we could be getting "more" intelligent would be through natural selection and survival of the fittest. None of that going on since pretty much any idiot can procreate today... and they usually do.

Want proof, just watch any reality TV show.
by Zipperfish
Tue Nov 13, 2012 8:05 pm
There was a similar argument being made years ago--way back in the 50's. Perhaps it was best articuated by one-hit-wonder Harvey Danger:

Been around the world and found that only stupid people are breeding.

In repeated research, there is an inverse correlation between intelligence and fertility.
by raydan
Tue Nov 13, 2012 8:18 pm
"Zipperfish" said
There was a similar argument being made years ago--way back in the 50's. Perhaps it was best articuated by one-hit-wonder Harvey Danger:

Been around the world and found that only stupid people are breeding.

In repeated research, there is an inverse correlation between intelligence and fertility.

...and then there's Octomom.
by Zipperfish
Tue Nov 13, 2012 9:04 pm
"raydan" said
There was a similar argument being made years ago--way back in the 50's. Perhaps it was best articuated by one-hit-wonder Harvey Danger:

Been around the world and found that only stupid people are breeding.

In repeated research, there is an inverse correlation between intelligence and fertility.

...and then there's Octomom.

If there's a inverse correltion between intelligence and fertility, how many kids do you have, Ray? I'm guessing around 37?
by raydan
Tue Nov 13, 2012 9:31 pm
Sorry Zip, just the one... that I know of.
by Jonny_C
Tue Nov 13, 2012 11:58 pm
Bushmen of the Kalahari are an example of human intelligence as it was 6000 (or more) years ago.
by Gunnair
Wed Nov 14, 2012 12:10 am
"Jonny_C" said
Bushmen of the Kalahari are an example of human intelligence as it was 6000 (or more) years ago.

Is that human intelligence though or is it intellectual advancement?
by Jonny_C
Wed Nov 14, 2012 1:21 am
The article contains an effective rebuttal:

However, other scientists remain sceptical. “At first sight this is a classic case of Arts Faculty science. Never mind the hypothesis, give me the data, and there aren’t any,” said Professor Steve Jones, a geneticist at University College London.

“I could just as well argue that mutations have reduced our aggression, our depression and our penis length but no journal would publish that. Why do they publish this?” Professor Jones said.

“I am an advocate of Gradgrind science – facts, facts and more facts; but we need ideas too, and this is an ideas paper although I have no idea how the idea could be tested,” he said.

So the supposition that gave rise to the article is interesting only in a "read, ponder briefly, and forget" kind of way.
by raydan
Wed Nov 14, 2012 2:02 am
"Jonny_C" said
Bushmen of the Kalahari are an example of human intelligence as it was 6000 (or more) years ago.

The way you chose to live your life doesn't make you less intelligent... look at the Amish.
by FieryVulpine
Wed Nov 14, 2012 2:19 am
Our civilization invented and mass-produced weapons that could destroy the surface of the planet in a way that only a meteor or a gamma-ray burst could match. That has to say something.
by ShepherdsDog
Wed Nov 14, 2012 3:35 am
yeah...and there plenty of folks out there stupid enough to do just that, given the chance.

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