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A comment on Balls and brains -- Smart men have better sperm. Parent comment

Re:Balls and brains -- Smart men have better sperm by bd on Friday December 05, 2008 @07:11PM (#387684)
From my understanding, recent IQ gains are more akin to recent increases of the life expectancy.

Evolution slowly created a biological basis for the maximum life span/intelligence (including genetics-based variability with relatively few individuals able to achieve extremes).

Cultural progress just allowed more people to: a) live longer up to their genetic maximum, b) be smarter up to their genetic maximum. Thus it shifted the averages but not the extremes.

Flynn effect seems to support this: gains in IQ predominantly occur at the low end of the distribution.

See also discussion on iodine deficiency, it's the same principle:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=386449

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Re:Balls and brains -- Smart men have better sperm by opticksversi on Saturday January 10, 2009 @12:24AM (#427670)
Cultural progress just allowed more people to: a) live longer up to their genetic maximum, b) be smarter up to their genetic maximum.

How did you come to believe that there could be such a thing as a genetic maximum to phenotypic traits?

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