This is an amazing thread. I have so much respect for the Victorian man, in particular the western man with his ingenuity and limitless drive to push boundaries. I firmly believe that our civilization peaked during this period, and studies show this to be true.
There is one study in particular that involved inputting every single parliamentary speech made since records began, many centuries worth and tens of thousands of speeches. By using clever software to determine the complexity of language used (which correlates directly with General Intelligence) they found that IQ's peaked during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, levelled off somewhat into the early 20th century and have since fallen off a cliff! (Two world wars robbing us of much of our finest breeding stock, modern medicine and abundant food lifting us out of Darwinian conditions, contraceptives enabling the wisest among us to avoid children we can't afford and the welfare state encouraging those who otherwise would never have made it out of childhood, let alone achieve breeding age, to breed like rabbits on the tax payers coin - to name but four known accelerants).
Suffice it to say Diane Abbott is no Disraeli. In fact 16th century man was significantly smarter than early 21st century man I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear.
Anyway, this thread shows exactly that.
There is one study in particular that involved inputting every single parliamentary speech made since records began, many centuries worth and tens of thousands of speeches. By using clever software to determine the complexity of language used (which correlates directly with General Intelligence) they found that IQ's peaked during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, levelled off somewhat into the early 20th century and have since fallen off a cliff! (Two world wars robbing us of much of our finest breeding stock, modern medicine and abundant food lifting us out of Darwinian conditions, contraceptives enabling the wisest among us to avoid children we can't afford and the welfare state encouraging those who otherwise would never have made it out of childhood, let alone achieve breeding age, to breed like rabbits on the tax payers coin - to name but four known accelerants).
Suffice it to say Diane Abbott is no Disraeli. In fact 16th century man was significantly smarter than early 21st century man I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear.
Anyway, this thread shows exactly that.
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