There are some pretty big assumptions leading to the hypothesis that increasing mutation burden will render us all dullards in a few generations ('dysgenic fert

There are some pretty big assumptions leading to the hypothesis that increasing mutation burden will render us all dullards in a few generations ('dysgenic fertility'). Reading the latest paper by the guy the author keeps citing, Michael Woodley, I'm astounded at the ad hoc nature of the arguments [1]. Eg - Woodley cites a study that did an analysis showing visual reaction time has been increasing over time [2]. This study compared measurements performed in in 1800, to 1941. Woodley has been citing this article over and over again [3], to the point where the author of the original article wrote a letter to the journal 'Intelligence' saying that Woodley is over interpreting his data [4]. Woodley's conclusions have also been criticised elsewhere [5]. Woodley also tries to justify his 'dysgenic fertility' theory by saying that there are now fewer geniuses in the world because we aren't discovering amazing things like quantum mechanics as frequently - which is clearly complete nonsense. I would be highly sceptical of this based on the evidence presented. [1] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4404736/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4404736/ [2] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20377125/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20377125/ [3] http://scholar.google.com.au/scholar?es_sm=93&um=1&ie=UTF-8&lr&cites=12752224765467895864 http://scholar.google.com.au/scholar?es_sm=93&um=1&ie=UTF-8&... [4] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289613001256 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289613... [5] http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yury_Dodonov/publication/257310948_Is_there_any_evidence_of_historical_slowing_of_reaction_time_No_unless_we_compare_apples_and_oranges/links/0a85e52d77fa6040b1000000.pdf http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yury_Dodonov/publication...