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People in developing countries 'have lower IQs because their

Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 9:05 pm
by union
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

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: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... z0sgAYBP6M
LOL @ Picture of Somali people included in the article

Re: People in developing countries 'have lower IQs because t

Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 9:30 pm
by ToughGong
Intelligence cannot even be defined so how can a simple IQ test measure something so comlex

Re: People in developing countries 'have lower IQs because t

Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 9:36 pm
by Basra-
Adoons have lower I.Q :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Re: People in developing countries 'have lower IQs because t

Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 9:39 pm
by foolxume2005
That’s so true sometimes when I look at me in the mirror it takes me few seconds to realize it is me.

Re: People in developing countries 'have lower IQs because t

Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 9:52 pm
by Goljano Lion
it make sense, when ppl are hungry, they think from their belly, meaning the first thought that comes to your mind...is food and fill your stomach, so your brain is preoccupied with the thought of getting food but if you are not worried about getting hungry, your thoughts and thought process becomes different , simple as that

Re: People in developing countries 'have lower IQs because t

Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 9:59 pm
by Basra-
Gol[quote="Goljano Lion"]it make sense, when ppl are hungry, they think from their belly, meaning the first thought that comes to your mind...is food and fill your stomach, so your brain is preoccupied with the thought of getting food but if you are not worried about getting hungry, your thoughts and thought process becomes different , simple as that[/quote]


LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLGoljano aka Cirwaaq that the brain of a fat person, so what is your excuse for over eating and being fat? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Re: People in developing countries 'have lower IQs because t

Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 12:27 am
by shidow1
This is the most retarted topics I have seen so far... :evil: :twisted:

Re: People in developing countries 'have lower IQs because t

Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 3:40 am
by James Dahl
This is ridiculous, how to explain all the retards in the southern United States who all weigh 300 pounds? Or the fact that India, one of the most disease prone countries in the world, has some of the brightest minds in the world today?

This sounds like something out of a Victorian era anthropologist's notebook, comparing skull size or some crap.

Re: People in developing countries 'have lower IQs because t

Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 6:45 am
by Ganjaweed
James Dahl wrote:This is ridiculous, how to explain all the retards in the southern United States who all weigh 300 pounds? Or the fact that India, one of the most disease prone countries in the world, has some of the brightest minds in the world today?

This sounds like something out of a Victorian era anthropologist's notebook, comparing skull size or some crap.
Why are the bloody indians so academically advanced? :lol: :down:

Re: People in developing countries 'have lower IQs because t

Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 7:03 am
by Cirwaaq
Competition... high population -> to excell you must work as hard as possible.

Somalis let the breeding begin-> 9million is insufficient to product a handfull of exceptional people.

Re: People in developing countries 'have lower IQs because t

Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 8:36 am
by Abdihaliim
It is all about "Maslow's hierarchy of needs".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_h ... y_of_needs

Re: People in developing countries 'have lower IQs because t

Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 9:45 am
by Aristokraft
This has Nazi eugenics written all over it.

Re: People in developing countries 'have lower IQs because t

Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 10:00 am
by The_Patriot
union wrote:
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

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: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... z0sgAYBP6M
LOL @ Picture of Somali people included in the article
Dailymail is a racist tabloid that serves the middle class white folks in England.
So do greeks have low IQ cos their country just went bunkrupt?