Thread: People in developing countries have lower IQs

People in developing countries 'have lower IQs because their bodies are focused on surviving'



By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 8:29 AM on 1st July 2010

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People in developing countries have lower IQs because their bodies divert energy from brainpower to fighting disease, researchers claimed today.
In hot nations blighted by deadly infections, the priority is survival and populations have evolved to develop stronger immune systems rather than intelligence, according to the controversial theory.
Some critics warned the study could become an excuse for racism if it was used to suggest that people in the Third World are not as intelligent as those in cooler, richer climes.

Findings: People from developing nations where heat and disease are prevalent have lower IQs because their bodies focus on survival, researchers have found

Others pointed out that the ancient Persians, Greeks and Romans lived in hot climates and still boasted extraordinary civilisations.
U.S. researchers claimed their work could explain why national IQ scores vary around the world and are lower in some warmer countries stricken by diseases such as malaria, tetanus and tuberculosis.
Infection could have as important an impact on intelligence as education, diet and wealth, said researcher Randy Thornhill and a team from the University of New Mexico.
Children under five use most of their energy for brain development and this can be restricted if the body has to fight disease, they wrote in the Proceedings of the Royal Society.
They compared data from worldwide IQ studies with disease maps drawn up by the World Health Organisation and concluded that the higher the level of infectious disease in a country, the lower the average national IQ.

'The effect of infectious disease on IQ is bigger than any other single factor we looked at,' said Chris Eppig, lead author on the paper.

Disease is a major sap on the body's energy, and the brain takes a lot of energy to build. If you don't have enough, you can't do it properly.
'The consequence of this, if we're right, is that the IQ of a nation will be largely unaffected until you can lift the burden of disease.'

Critics of the study argued there are many different kinds of intelligence that Western academic-based IQ tests fail to measure.
Low IQ does not necessarily equate to stupidity or incompetence, they said. People in hot countries have the intellectual skills to survive in very difficult environments.
The research could be abused to rationalise racism, just as the Nazis perverted scientific study in the 1930s, some critics said.
Experts pointed out that children fighting debilitating disease are likely to miss a lot of school, which could be the real reason for a lower IQ score, not compromised brain development.
Professor Richard Lynn of Ulster University said the picture was complex, with low national IQs partly propagating the spread of infectious diseases.

HIV had a high infection rate in low-IQ nations, he said, because people did not understand how it was contracted and relied on baseless superstitions to avoid it.
Prof Thornhill’s work drew headlines ten years ago when his book A Natural History of Rape controversially argued sexual coercion emerged as an evolutionary adaptation.


Read more: People in developing countries 'have lower IQs because their bodies are focused on surviving' | Mail Online

People in developing countries have lower IQ's, maybe that why their countries are so bad in the first place. Of course in this politically correct World, it is forbidden to even suggest the truth; some races are more intelligent such as the Japanese and some are less such such as the people shown in this picture.

Originally Posted by BobR

People in developing countries have lower IQ's, maybe that why their countries are so bad in the first place. Of course in this politically correct World, it is forbidden to even suggest the truth; some races are more intelligent such as the Japanese and some are less such such as the people shown in this picture.

An element of truth in this. Look at countries such as the US, France and the UK. Muslim and African immigrants stay at the bottom of the pile generation after generation but Jews, Injuns and Chinese are running companies and countries after just one generation.

why national IQ scores vary around the world and are lower in some warmer countries stricken by diseases such as malaria, tetanus and tuberculosis.
Infection could have as important an impact on intelligence as education, diet and wealth, said researcher Randy

the higher the level of infectious disease in a country, the lower the average national IQ

Well go Randy, go. Give that man a Nobel Prize. What can be expected, that people stricken by diseases such as malaria, tetanus and tuberculosis would have higher IQs?

Originally Posted by teddy

Critics of the study argued there are many different kinds of intelligence that Western academic-based IQ tests fail to measure.

People in developed countries think that fruit comes in tins, meat comes in plastic wrappers, and water is only obtainable by turning on a tap, but they can guess what the missing shape in a sequence of 5 is. Now that is clever.

I thought that malnutrition in under 5s was the primary cause of brain damage and associated low levels of IQ.

What's Australia's excuse?

One wonders if the country is underdeveloped because the people have Low iq or the people have a low IQ because the county is undeveloped (low nutrition, access to education)

Originally Posted by Dug

One wonders if the country is underdeveloped because the people have Low iq or the people have a low IQ because the county is undeveloped (low nutrition, access to education)

The latter, in my experience.

Originally Posted by withnallstoke

People in developed countries think that fruit comes in tins, meat comes in plastic wrappers, and water is only obtainable by turning on a tap, but they can guess what the missing shape in a sequence of 5 is. Now that is clever.

So because people in the west don't climb trees to pick their fruit, throw spears to catch their protein and carry water in old oil cans 5km on their heads to get water, they are thick according to you?

Originally Posted by Dug

One wonders if the country is underdeveloped because the people have Low iq or the people have a low IQ because the county is undeveloped (low nutrition, access to education)

Thais eat well and have access to education but they are still dumb. Maybe it's noses. People with flat noses tend to be thick.

People are a product of their environment. If food grows all year round and you have no debilitating wars; Winters; crop rotation; plague; etc., you don't really have a planning ahead and innovative culture; simply because you don't need one.

Sitting under a tree with an AK-47 all day might actually seem like a great idea.

I'm sure i read somewhere that IQ is lower in the west as they focus on the Premiership and or X-factor or similar!

Originally Posted by teddy

Originally Posted by Dug

One wonders if the country is underdeveloped because the people have Low iq or the people have a low IQ because the county is undeveloped (low nutrition, access to education)

Thais eat well and have access to education but they are still dumb. Maybe it's noses. People with flat noses tend to be thick.

Anecdotal crap Teddy. Post some IQ numbers for Thailand and you might be taken seriously.

^Good news or not, it's relevant whereas calling people dumb really isn't a debating point.

Originally Posted by jandajoy

Originally Posted by Dug

One wonders if the country is underdeveloped because the people have Low iq or the people have a low IQ because the county is undeveloped (low nutrition, access to education)

The latter, in my experience.

It would seem the reason they don't have access to good food and education is that they haven't developed their agriculture and education sectors. So how come they're undeveloped in the first place?

I think the problem in Thailand is an iodine deficiency. Thais do not generally eat iodized salt, but rather consume mass quanities of fish sauce. They need to add iodine to the fish sauce.

Here is an interesting wiki article about iodine and iq

Iodine deficiency is one of the leading cause of preventable mental retardation, producing typical reductions in IQ of 10 to 15 IQ points.

And yet another

Iodine deficiency in pregnant women and neonates in Thailand

And this one as well
Iodine Deficiency Disorders in Thailand

Originally Posted by teddy

Originally Posted by withnallstoke

People in developed countries think that fruit comes in tins, meat comes in plastic wrappers, and water is only obtainable by turning on a tap, but they can guess what the missing shape in a sequence of 5 is. Now that is clever.

So because people in the west don't climb trees to pick their fruit, throw spears to catch their protein and carry water in old oil cans 5km on their heads to get water, they are thick according to you?

No, i'm not saying people in the west are thick either, i was pointing out that there are other criteria by which to judge the relative thickness of people.

"Critics of the study argued there are many different kinds of intelligence that Western academic-based IQ tests fail to measure.

Looks like the Chinese have us all fucked over.
Perhaps our racist, "superior white race" friends could go fuck themselves.

LOL!

I like Southern Rhodesia's a deep red.

The Thai Education Ministry did a national IQ test a couple years or so ago and came up with a average score of 79. When this brought a outcry form academics, another test was given a few months later with average of 89 being reported. The world average number bandied around is low 90's.

I am probably mistaken but the number 100 used to be refereed to as average, with a score 20 points either side marking the borderline sharpies and the borderline dullards. The real educators may have more accurate input.

I reckon the Chinese sent the lower scoring out as immigrants to other countries, thus raising the IQ of all countries involved. They seem to manage very well wherever they are.