Rambi, when I think how much mercury and lead and inadequate diet I experienced as a youngster/foetus, that would explain a good chunk of the Flynn Effect. My experience was common. Lead was everywhere. Mercury was all over the place too. Disinfectant, eye ointment, teeth, all sorts. Diets were poor, with iodine, vitamin A, C, D, folic acid, E, iron, selenium, zinc, protein and other deficiencies common.
<Our forbears understood the threat posed by intelligence, so they extinguished our brighter competitors and left as our closest relative only the duller species that evolved into chimpanzees. >
I think it's more that in the human realm, with everyone living in little tribes, the smart ones lived and the others were put in the rank and file to march off to defeat the opposing neighbouring tribes. That process has gone on for eons. The smarter alpha males hang around in safety, supervising from the rear, or Washington.
If you measure IQ of those shot at the front lines and compare it with the rest of the male community, you'll find the "right" ones are being winnowed out.
You can see alpha male apes do that too. Then, when it's safe, they come charging to the fore to administer the coup de grace.
And, don't forget, the women way back would have been wanting the smart ones as mates, so the others were dropped from the gene pool. They are still doing that.
When women tick the "preferred DNA" menu, they choose the usual; tall, dark, handsome, hunk but when asked whether they want fries with that, they choose brains instead. Women choosing is powerful evolutionary pressure. The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world in more ways than one.
Mqurice |
