4 ms·
The variation in intelligence may explain parasite load.
by thesz 6y ago
The variation in intelligence may explain parasite load.
- FreeFull 6y agoThat seems unlikely. Parasites are pretty good at infecting their hosts, and for a long time, there wasn't really a good way of getting rid of them once they were inside you.
- thesz 6y agoYour point proves what I said, actually. If for long time there were no means to get rid of worms, how come the difference in intelligence that allowed to invent a cure for worms to be? I see "worm free living" as a consequence of higher intelligence than vice versa.
- imtringued 6y agoOk, but how? Taking medicine doesn't require intelligence so the only deciding factor is whether you get treatment or not. Does your doctor give you an IQ test and deny treatment if your score is too low?
- emiliobumachar 6y agoTwo hypothesis: higher IQ people learn hygiene sooner and manage to avoid getting infected. Higher IQ parents provide both better hygiene and high IQ genes and nurture.
- SomeoneFromCA 6y agoI have one more - smart people taste bad.
- michaelt 6y agoBeing smart helps you get a good job and be rich. With those come good health insurance, being able to afford co-pays, being able to take time off work to go to the doctor, being able to comply with complex instructions like changing your diet, being able to research your diagnosis even if it's in lots of long latin words, being able to tell good advice from bad when researching online, being able to take time off for treatment or recovery, knowing the magic incantations to get yourself taken seriously, knowing when it's a good idea to get a second opinion and how to go about that, less stress caused by financial worries or job insecurity, etc etc
- thesz 6y ago"More intelligent environment" may prevent one from even contacting anything that can get one worms. For example, most first world urban kids do not eat berries directly from the bushes. These berries they eat are controlled for worms among other things.