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It seems if we want to keep our Human superior intelligence, we're going to have to do something to combat the idiots of society having more kids.
This Icelandic study proved that the genes for intelligence are becoming rarer.
Iceland Study on Higher Education Shows Natural Selection Still at Work
Iceland Study on Higher Education Shows Natural Selection Still at Work
Natural selection may make scenes like this rarer in the future. (Wikimedia Commons)
By Barry Starr February 27, 2017
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What does this mean? Well, if the trend continues, at some point down the evolutionary road, future generations may not be as genetically predisposed to acquiring advanced educational degrees.
While the study is limited to a specific population, and the effects of the reduction in these specific genetic markers are unclear, the research is an interesting reminder that natural selection is still working on people, and that we are still evolving.
The study expands on previous research, which identified DNA markers that tended to correlate with a higher level of education. The current study added dozens of new markers.
When the researchers looked at what was happening to this set of markers over multiple generations of Icelanders, going back to the 1910s, they saw that the DNA markers associated with higher education were becoming a bit less common with each generation.
Although scientists don’t know what these specific areas of our DNA actually do to enable a person to complete more years of schooling, many of them are located near genes affecting fetal brain development.
What’s the reason for the reduction of these genes in Iceland’s population? People with this particular set of markers are waiting longer to have kids, resulting in fewer offspring.
Now before everyone goes off and cites the cult movie “Idiocracy,” in which the effect of less intelligent people having more kids over multiple generations is disastrous, consider that a number of studies comparing identical and fraternal twins suggest that genetic factors only account for around 40 percent of educational attainment. The set of genetic markers that the Iceland study looks at accounts for only around one-tenth of that 40 percent.
This Icelandic study proved that the genes for intelligence are becoming rarer.
Iceland Study on Higher Education Shows Natural Selection Still at Work
Iceland Study on Higher Education Shows Natural Selection Still at Work
Natural selection may make scenes like this rarer in the future. (Wikimedia Commons)
By Barry Starr February 27, 2017
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What does this mean? Well, if the trend continues, at some point down the evolutionary road, future generations may not be as genetically predisposed to acquiring advanced educational degrees.
While the study is limited to a specific population, and the effects of the reduction in these specific genetic markers are unclear, the research is an interesting reminder that natural selection is still working on people, and that we are still evolving.
The study expands on previous research, which identified DNA markers that tended to correlate with a higher level of education. The current study added dozens of new markers.
When the researchers looked at what was happening to this set of markers over multiple generations of Icelanders, going back to the 1910s, they saw that the DNA markers associated with higher education were becoming a bit less common with each generation.
Although scientists don’t know what these specific areas of our DNA actually do to enable a person to complete more years of schooling, many of them are located near genes affecting fetal brain development.
What’s the reason for the reduction of these genes in Iceland’s population? People with this particular set of markers are waiting longer to have kids, resulting in fewer offspring.
Now before everyone goes off and cites the cult movie “Idiocracy,” in which the effect of less intelligent people having more kids over multiple generations is disastrous, consider that a number of studies comparing identical and fraternal twins suggest that genetic factors only account for around 40 percent of educational attainment. The set of genetic markers that the Iceland study looks at accounts for only around one-tenth of that 40 percent.
