People Getting Dumber? Human Intelligence Has Declined Since Victorian Era, Research Suggests

[brett_jv]

59. Not inconceivable to me at all ...

The Natural Selection that was still taking place in the human race in earlier times has been neutralized (at least in many parts of the world), in very large part due to mankind's exploitation of an abundance of fossil fuels ... which makes it so that everyone in an advanced civilization, with even a few bucks, has the equivalent of dozens of 'energy slaves' working for them 24/7.

Back in the day, there was little spare energy, and only the smart and canny survived. Nowadays, we go way out of our way to try to make sure that everyone survives, regardless of their intelligence.

And ultimately we have that luxury almost entirely due to the fact that we've learned to exploit an absolutely massive reservoir of ancient energy, stored in the form of fossil fuels.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not 'supporting' the alternative, but I am proffering it as a *possible* explanation for the phenomenon of 'average IQ' going down over the past few centuries ... assuming that it's 'correct'. Which it may well not be