A World Where All Humans Were SubSaharan Africans
The average IQ of subSaharan Africans is thought to be roughly somewhere between 70 and 80 (PDF). The map below is useful for comparing relative IQs for different populations, rather than for providing absolute numbers.
Modern people have long wondered why African nations -- and areas populated largely by persons of black African descent -- should be so backward, relatively, in terms of accomplishment and development. One sees this phenomenon from Africa to Haiti to Detroit. A useful chart from the book "IQ and the Wealth of Nations", has been summarised by Steve Sailer. The correlation between average national population IQ and the national GDP is very difficult to dispute.
This invites the question: What if all the humans in the entire world had the same IQ curve -- the same mean IQ and standard deviation -- as black sub Saharan Africans? What would be the state of the world's economy, its scientific and technological development, its scholarship, and its governance? This would indeed be a marvelous plot for an alternative history novel, or some kind of science fiction novel such as a post-apocalyptic scenario.
To get an idea of what things would be like, you would need to use your imaginations. Observe the IQ chart above: Mentally shift the IQ curve to the left, so that the peak lines up anywhere between 70 and 80 on the IQ scale. Then take a look at the annotations to the chart.
This will give you a general idea of the aptitude levels of most of the people living in such a world. From there, you should be able to imagine the state of world development, discovery, governance, and general welfare.
You might suggest that simply looking at the nations of sub Saharan Africa, or Haiti, would serve as a sufficient example of what life would be like in a world where the mean human IQ was between 70 and 80, with a standard deviation of about 15. But that would be ignoring the impact on Haiti and sub Saharan Africa of the high IQ world existing outside those boundaries, and partially overlapping in some cases.
Without high IQ outsiders, there would be no advanced healthcare, no airplanes, no cell phones, no vaccines, no automobiles, no radio or television, no advanced weaponry... and so on. Such a world would be very difficult for most people to imagine -- in fact, don't even try it at home if you have no advanced training. ;-)
One way in which this conceptual world may be pertinent to our present existence is in terms of modern demographic trends. While there are now about 7 billion humans on the planet, with more human population growth on the way, population growth is not evenly spread across the human-populated parts of the planet. If some event or trend took place which eliminated the high IQ populations of the planet, leaving the low IQ populations relatively undisturbed, such a human IQ curve as described above may come into being.
After that, what would happen next? Would the "Flynn Effect" magically transform the low IQ populations into high IQ populations, as many people seem to feel is happening now? Or will some sort of "10,000 Year Explosion" take place to steer humans to a higher intellectual plane?
You are the author, so you decide. This is a mental exercise, after all. But the choices you make in writing this story will determine whether your work is one of fantasy or science-based fiction. I prefer fiction that is based upon scientific rules, and disciplined by those rules. But you may do as you wish. But remember that although you are entitled to your own opinions and preferences, you are not entitled to your own facts. (That distinction is what separates producers from professors, journalists, politicians, and other parasites.)
Would the global population rise or fall from what it is at present? Would everyone be healthier and live longer? Would there be more wars, or more peace. Could everyone just get along? What do you think?
This invites the question: What if all the humans in the entire world had the same IQ curve -- the same mean IQ and standard deviation -- as black sub Saharan Africans? What would be the state of the world's economy, its scientific and technological development, its scholarship, and its governance? This would indeed be a marvelous plot for an alternative history novel, or some kind of science fiction novel such as a post-apocalyptic scenario.
This will give you a general idea of the aptitude levels of most of the people living in such a world. From there, you should be able to imagine the state of world development, discovery, governance, and general welfare.
You might suggest that simply looking at the nations of sub Saharan Africa, or Haiti, would serve as a sufficient example of what life would be like in a world where the mean human IQ was between 70 and 80, with a standard deviation of about 15. But that would be ignoring the impact on Haiti and sub Saharan Africa of the high IQ world existing outside those boundaries, and partially overlapping in some cases.
Without high IQ outsiders, there would be no advanced healthcare, no airplanes, no cell phones, no vaccines, no automobiles, no radio or television, no advanced weaponry... and so on. Such a world would be very difficult for most people to imagine -- in fact, don't even try it at home if you have no advanced training. ;-)
One way in which this conceptual world may be pertinent to our present existence is in terms of modern demographic trends. While there are now about 7 billion humans on the planet, with more human population growth on the way, population growth is not evenly spread across the human-populated parts of the planet. If some event or trend took place which eliminated the high IQ populations of the planet, leaving the low IQ populations relatively undisturbed, such a human IQ curve as described above may come into being.
After that, what would happen next? Would the "Flynn Effect" magically transform the low IQ populations into high IQ populations, as many people seem to feel is happening now? Or will some sort of "10,000 Year Explosion" take place to steer humans to a higher intellectual plane?
You are the author, so you decide. This is a mental exercise, after all. But the choices you make in writing this story will determine whether your work is one of fantasy or science-based fiction. I prefer fiction that is based upon scientific rules, and disciplined by those rules. But you may do as you wish. But remember that although you are entitled to your own opinions and preferences, you are not entitled to your own facts. (That distinction is what separates producers from professors, journalists, politicians, and other parasites.)
Would the global population rise or fall from what it is at present? Would everyone be healthier and live longer? Would there be more wars, or more peace. Could everyone just get along? What do you think?
Labels: Africa, demographic change, IQ
posted by al fin at 10:09 am
5 Comments:
Total intelligence on the planet is a constant; the population is growing.
If the average world IQ were reduced to 70 civilization as we know it would cease to exist. The population would literally fall by over 90%. The technological, cultural, political, governmental, religious infrastructures would implode. Crime rates would explode. Total anarchy would ensue.
The question is: how long would it take for mankind to crawl out of it's IQ trap? Well, there's some good news. There'd be no such nonsense as multiculturalism, liberalism, the cult of the experts or the cult of diversity. Hierarchy and authority would slowly, of necessity, be re-established. Natural stratification would accelerate the restorative processes.
Very little if any of the advances of the past would be accessible to those restoring civilization for all would have been permanently lost during the IQ implosion.
To those that think the average IQ is constant and unchanging I would suggest you pull your head out of the nether-regions and reconsider the obvious.
We are currently witnessing a diminution of mankind's average IQ. How could it be otherwise? Lower IQ third world populations, with the assistance of the West, are growing inexorably while the more intelligent are diminishing in absolute and relative terms.
The real question is this: what critical mass of IQ is required to sustain our current civilization? Below what IQ point will civilization as we know it be unsustainable? Clearly Haiti is well below that point. Zimbabwe, and soon South Africa, has fallen below that critical IQ mass. Mexico, by exporting it's lower IQ population has been able to stay above that critical IQ mass.
The continued presence of substantial high IQ European populations has enabled many nations to precariously cling to civilization by parasitically depending upon their wealth, culture, religion and technology. As European populations continue to dwindle their ability to overcome the fuliginous undertow will decrease accordingly. At some point, we will enter the low IQ black hole (pun intended).
I think it'll be like Brazil here where we just live behind barbed wire and pay a lot of money for security and the Mexican-"American" level of civilization declines to favela level. Look at how the blacks already live relative to the rest of us, for instance. Look at Detroit.
The high-crime population will grow, but so will the technology to find them and jail them. This will be effective for quite some time, I suspect. Brazil keeps chugging along despite all the favelites it has trying to kidnap people and steal their kidneys.
On the flip side, it's hard to get white people to understand the basic science behind human reproduction. For instance, they often believe - quite fantastically- that they can wait until their mid-30s to start families. They also like living Peter Pan existences with no responsibilities. The Chinese appear to be following the same path. So maybe we and they don't deserve to exist. The meek shall inherit the earth.
Al Fin, the IQ number for China is nonsensical. Think about how much you trust the statistics from China
Yes. The IQ numbers for all of the countries are nonsensical. You cannot reduce the IQ of a country to one number any more than you can reduce the temperature of the entire globe to one number.
For purposes of comparing the mean IQs of ethnic groups, one does not need to trust Chinese government statistics. One can look at IQ test scores in the US, Canada, Australia, or Europe, which are broken down by ethnicity. One can look at college entrance exam scores. One can look at relative graduation rates in the more difficult areas of science, technology, and the professions.
IQ is just one summary statistic, just one predictive tool among many. But it is an important one.
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