Temperature has a negative effect on male birthrates. A particularly good example is the sudden drop in male infant survival at the beginning of the Holocene, the increase in the world temp at that time went from The Younger Dryas period to what we have now, a difference of 18 degrees from present. It was a sudden change and mass extinctions occurred, the entire planet changed over night. (geologically speaking)
I just listened to this podcast and a while ago I looked into this myself. I have a couple of points to make and hopefully I can be at least a little brief and afraid to the point.
First off I have read somewhere and I think I may agree with the theory that for international IQ tests pattern recognition is incredibly important. Many Asian countries do not use an alphabet for their writing system and instead from a very young age have to memorize hundreds of even thousands of symbols and recognize and focus on small differences between them, and even recognize patterns.
So this gives people from Asian countries an advantage on IQ measurements especially if the IQ test is trying to compare different groups that speak many different languages.
Also I would like to defend the people of Papua New Guinea. It's very likely many of the people being tested had never even taken a test of any type. This is the one of, if not the most most culturally diverse and isolated places on earth. Jared Diamond wrote a wonderful book recounting the lives of people in Papua New Guinea in his book "The World Before Yesterday" which points out that throughout most of human existence people have lived much like many people do now in Papau New Guinea. These are not dumb people, they are people very attuned to their own environment and unique circumstances.
Many studies have been done on IQ one study I believe from the 1970s rates Botswana as the country with the lowest IQ. Since then Botswana has gone from a country much like Papau New Guinea to a country much more familiar with modern living. While not hugely impressive from an international standpoint the current average IQ in Botswana is MUCH higher than it was in the 1970s, it now measures at around 70, which surpasses South Africa(it's more developed neighbor to the South.)
This leads me to believe that there is an interplay between a countries social development and stage of development and IQ.
My last point is that there is also another cultural component. IQ is based on an average. So when you see the US having an average of 97 that means that on an international scale the US is a little below average as the average is around 100. Because IQ is scored like this that means that actual increases or decreases in intelligence are not captured. If the average person gets smarter the average IQ score is still going to be 100.
Believe it or not someone from the 1950s with a 100 IQ is significantly less intelligent than someone now with a 100 IQ. This effect was very pronounced for about 25 or 30 years after WWII but now has plateaued.
Generally speaking if you are two standard deviations above or below average in IQ it means only five percent of people are either higher or lower than you on IQ. So someone with below a 70 or so IQ in the US is considered to be intellectually impaired.
Is everyone in Papau New Guinea "intellectually impaired" definitely not. If they were to come to the US or any developed country and get some level of socialization they would likely be able to navigate an IQ test more astutely.
With that being said things like nutrition and even parental bonds as an infant/child are intensely important towards brain development. The more harsh the environment, the more trauma and food insecurity the less someone's brain will develop. In every single country with a decent IQ you have a generally high standard of living and a comparitively robust welfare state that kind of makes sure babies are fed and taken care of in the vast majority of situations.
To conclude I think all things being equal I don't know if the international IQ would be exactly 100 for every country, as there can be differences in intelligence between different subgroups of people, but it would be a lot closer to 100 than it is now.
Also I am not even sure how good IQ is at measuring all types of intelligence. As you have probably seen there are people that are undeniably intelligent but have an enormous blindspot or two in that intelligence. Many people who are unevenly intelligent and other people who are otherwise unintelligent with one or even a few amazing skills. It's hard to measure this with one singular number.
Thanks Kenny. You hit on a number of the reasons why I've generally been skeptical of IQ tests in general and have had some hesitancy about drawing on that data too much. I think it's just one data point when it regards the intelligence of the individual and of broader societies and cultures.
Temperature has a negative effect on male birthrates. A particularly good example is the sudden drop in male infant survival at the beginning of the Holocene, the increase in the world temp at that time went from The Younger Dryas period to what we have now, a difference of 18 degrees from present. It was a sudden change and mass extinctions occurred, the entire planet changed over night. (geologically speaking)
I'm pretty sure I know who this is... :)
I think we both do! 😅
I just listened to this podcast and a while ago I looked into this myself. I have a couple of points to make and hopefully I can be at least a little brief and afraid to the point.
First off I have read somewhere and I think I may agree with the theory that for international IQ tests pattern recognition is incredibly important. Many Asian countries do not use an alphabet for their writing system and instead from a very young age have to memorize hundreds of even thousands of symbols and recognize and focus on small differences between them, and even recognize patterns.
So this gives people from Asian countries an advantage on IQ measurements especially if the IQ test is trying to compare different groups that speak many different languages.
Also I would like to defend the people of Papua New Guinea. It's very likely many of the people being tested had never even taken a test of any type. This is the one of, if not the most most culturally diverse and isolated places on earth. Jared Diamond wrote a wonderful book recounting the lives of people in Papua New Guinea in his book "The World Before Yesterday" which points out that throughout most of human existence people have lived much like many people do now in Papau New Guinea. These are not dumb people, they are people very attuned to their own environment and unique circumstances.
Many studies have been done on IQ one study I believe from the 1970s rates Botswana as the country with the lowest IQ. Since then Botswana has gone from a country much like Papau New Guinea to a country much more familiar with modern living. While not hugely impressive from an international standpoint the current average IQ in Botswana is MUCH higher than it was in the 1970s, it now measures at around 70, which surpasses South Africa(it's more developed neighbor to the South.)
This leads me to believe that there is an interplay between a countries social development and stage of development and IQ.
My last point is that there is also another cultural component. IQ is based on an average. So when you see the US having an average of 97 that means that on an international scale the US is a little below average as the average is around 100. Because IQ is scored like this that means that actual increases or decreases in intelligence are not captured. If the average person gets smarter the average IQ score is still going to be 100.
Believe it or not someone from the 1950s with a 100 IQ is significantly less intelligent than someone now with a 100 IQ. This effect was very pronounced for about 25 or 30 years after WWII but now has plateaued.
Generally speaking if you are two standard deviations above or below average in IQ it means only five percent of people are either higher or lower than you on IQ. So someone with below a 70 or so IQ in the US is considered to be intellectually impaired.
Is everyone in Papau New Guinea "intellectually impaired" definitely not. If they were to come to the US or any developed country and get some level of socialization they would likely be able to navigate an IQ test more astutely.
With that being said things like nutrition and even parental bonds as an infant/child are intensely important towards brain development. The more harsh the environment, the more trauma and food insecurity the less someone's brain will develop. In every single country with a decent IQ you have a generally high standard of living and a comparitively robust welfare state that kind of makes sure babies are fed and taken care of in the vast majority of situations.
To conclude I think all things being equal I don't know if the international IQ would be exactly 100 for every country, as there can be differences in intelligence between different subgroups of people, but it would be a lot closer to 100 than it is now.
Also I am not even sure how good IQ is at measuring all types of intelligence. As you have probably seen there are people that are undeniably intelligent but have an enormous blindspot or two in that intelligence. Many people who are unevenly intelligent and other people who are otherwise unintelligent with one or even a few amazing skills. It's hard to measure this with one singular number.
Thanks Kenny. You hit on a number of the reasons why I've generally been skeptical of IQ tests in general and have had some hesitancy about drawing on that data too much. I think it's just one data point when it regards the intelligence of the individual and of broader societies and cultures.