Comments on: Almost a Psychosis

By: Bruce G Charlton

Bruce G Charlton — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 13:42:10 +0000

Well, it's apparently still getting worse. But — if the West survives — it would of course eventually self-correct. For instance, in the US, Mormons would probably become the dominant ruling elite within 100 years based on current trends. And, in general, those high-SES women who did have three-plus children would find their genes (including genes carrying the predisposition to have three-plus children) amplified as a proportion in each succeeding generation. (While the genes carrying the predisposition to be a sterile career-first women would become extinct very rapidly.) But I suspect other factors will supervene before these types of evolution could take effect.

By: Isegoria

Isegoria — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 16:51:46 +0000

I suppose the evidence that high-SES women are having children at less than the replacement rate is pretty clear, but is this situation permanent? Modern technology increased the opportunity cost of having children. Future technology may reduce the cost of having them. In-vitro is only going to get better, right?

By: Bruce G Charlton

Bruce G Charlton — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 16:49:38 +0000

My main piece of evidence that it is the erosion of religious devoutness that primarily causes the reproductive sterility of the high IQ (above 90), is that in the rare situations when there is a group of intelligent but also devoutly religious Christians, then the fertility may be high (at least above replacement levels): e.g. Mormons (who use birth control), and groups who do not (or seldom) use birth control such as the Anabaptists (e.g. Amish and Hutterites) or ultra-Orthodox Jews. So far as I know, among those of IQ above 90, no atheist, agnostic or modernist-religious groups attain even replacement levels of fertility under modern conditions. So, naturally enough, while high IQ people can in principle choose to be of high fertility, as a matter of observation they apparently never do actually make this choice en masse — except when orthodoxly religious.