cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16659287

First, you need to understand the factors that contribute to one person being low functioning and another high functioning.

Human health, development, and function are multifactorial: Genetics, epigenetics, microbiome, diet, environmental/industrial pollution, socioeconomic influences, etc.

I have a two-step proposal.

  1. The first step is to limit the impact of low-functioning individuals. https://www.highiqpro.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/IQ-Bell-Curve.png. Right now society is set up so that society is run by the wealthy and the low functioning majority. This results in these people voting for, and implementing policies that exacerbate the problems instead of fixing them.
  2. The second step is to take action to raise the level of functioning of the human population. This second part probably takes the most learning for the average person. Most people seem to have a very very poor understanding of human health, development, and function. But I tried to condense it into that one article.

My suggestion for tackling the first step is to implement a cognitive (IQ, EQ, etc.) test for city, state, and federal representatives.

Having an IQ test to vote seems problematic. Firstly because of how things like that were used in the past to disenfranchise certain populations. Secondly, the problem right now is that not enough people vote, and that results in the wealthy controlling the government and laws.

I think a better solution is (at minimum) a cognitive test for anyone running for a government position so that can be factored into people’s assessment of them. But possibly that won’t be enough and it will be necessary to set some minimum requirements for test results.

This way you don’t give the option for dumb people to vote for other dumb people. They only get to choose between two intelligent ones.

Some smart people may be corrupt or sociopathic, so this test should be a full psychological evaluation.

I’m curious if it would be possible to get people like Ibram X. Kendi (who gives an interview here on antiracism, anticapitalism and the eugenicist origins of IQ and SAT tests) to agree on both implementation of this solution and an appropriate IQ/psych test for it. I would base my argument to people like him on this type of data [1][2].

My position is also based on polling data from Australia which showed that a political group that is in the vast minority in most countries is the most intelligent, and largest (percentage-wise) supporters of evidence-based policy and holders of evidence-based beliefs. This coincides with the IQ graph I linked earlier. A cognitive test requirement like this should boost the influence of that party and its supporters.

My suggestions for tackling the second step by making people smarter are in this document (which I haven’t updated for years). It’s doable via a variety of biological and societal interventions.

The problem again is that it’s low-functioning people preventing us from implementing these fixes. Possibly if enough intelligent people understand and agree on these fixes and be vocal enough about implementing them we could get it done.

In my opinion, Fecal Microbiota Transplants (FMT) are one of the most promising aspects of this second step. One problem is the people who qualify to be stool donors appear to be extremely rare. You can read more about the current status of FMT in this blog. If you have the ability to influence or fund clinical trials, read this.

As is, with the health of the population rapidly declining, I feel like I’m living in Idiocracy, and surely collapse will be inevitable if nothing is changed.

I posted this on Reddit a few years ago. Thanks to everyone moving communities over to Lemmy so we no longer have to use and link to Reddit.

  • @MaximilianKohlerOPEnglish
    0•5 months ago

    I got an intelligent response via PM:

    I’ve decided to DM you because you’re already getting downvoted to hell because people don’t like eugenics. I’d like to be able to have a real conversation and speak my mind without getting dogpiled.

    I’d first like to applaud you for seeing the problems of our society as an issue of allowing the wrong people to have power, rather than not being convincing enough with our words to change the minds of those who hold power. Most people completely fail to recognize that.

    Some smart people may be corrupt or sociopathic, so this test should be a full psychological evaluation.

    I find it really interesting how you describe a person as being corrupt, as if it is a property of their being, rather than a result of circumstance or just some poor choices that they made.

    There is a movement that you may or may not have heard of right now that is highly relevant. It is sometimes called the ‘narcissism awareness’ movement. It sprang out of the #meetoo movement when some psychologists recognized that the abusive behaviors that women were complaining about corresponded exactly to those behaviors associated with cluster B personality disorders. One of the things that we are starting to realize, as a result of this movement and also as a result of of the recent (last 5-7 years or so) research on cluster B disorders, is just how common this type of personality disorder actually is. (My current estimate is that it is somewhere in the ballpark of 60-70% of the population in the US, and probably we only see a variance of about 20% on top of that from country to country).

    I say this, because I think that the pandemic of personality disorder is actually the root cause of pretty much everything that is going wrong with the world today, and probably is the primary driver of all strife that has ever existed within the context of civilization. They also cause harm to everyone around them through psychological abuse, and they cannot be effectively treated or cured.

    I would refer you to the excellent Dr. Ramani Durvasula for general information on the topic. She has books too, if you’re interested, but they have basically the same info as can be found on her youtube channel.

    The focus of most psychologists talking about this issue is in interpersonal relationships, and helping abuse survivors heal from the trauma. Unfortunately, I do not currently know of anyone speaking more broadly about the impact of personality disorder on an organizational or societal scale. I have been constructing my own models based on my own collection of information, combining math, (neuro-)psychology, and anthropology, but I have thus far been unable to write up anything comprehensive on the topic.

    There are many more things that I could say, but I will leave it at this for now. If you found this interesting or have any questions, please send a reply!