3 ms·

You might not believe me, but the decline of the insect population (also on the frontpage) and the fall of test scores and the fall of sperm quality since the 9

You might not believe me, but the decline of the insect population (also on the frontpage) and the fall of test scores and the fall of sperm quality since the 90s have the same single origin. And nothing is being done about it.

mach1ne 4y ago
What is this origin?
- lynguist 4y ago
  The short explanation is insecticides: microtoxins to break the fertility of insects for higher crop yields. These same substances also affect humans, albeit on a different level: slightly lower intelligence because mothers are exposed to these substances and they transfer them to the womb, and they also decrease male fertility. Children of hairdressers or farmers have slightly lower IQ (controlled for all other variables) than others because the mothers are exposed to similar substances.
  - mach1ne 4y ago
    There is probably truth in that. It's difficult to say as to the magnitude of the effect however.
- snakeboy 4y ago
  They are probably referring to some kind of large-scale environmental contamination, but as far as I'm aware it's quite difficult to make any of these theories fit with the timeline of international historical trends. Typically the differences in rates and magnitudes are apparent across borders and thus would more easily be explained with cultural factors rather than an environmental contaminant that is (largely) agnostic to cultural effects.
infinityio 4y ago
From this specific data, this viewpoint is hard to justify, because the scores were at or near their highest in 2019, and the data shows modest improvements since the 90s
crummy 4y ago
Do you have a graph that overlays test scores with pesticide use? Because I'm looking at the one in the article and I'm not sure how they would match up.
rybosworld 4y ago
"You might not believe this random comment that claims to know the ~real~ reason for declining test scores" You're right about that. The timing of the decline in scores matches up pretty precisely with the start of covid shutdowns. Whatever you are alluding to (pesticides?) has been a thing for well before covid.
- lynguist 4y ago
  It’s called the Flynn effect and reverse Flynn effect. From the 90s on, test scores are falling, even if this specific data doesn’t show it. I agree that what is seen here in this short-term data is the lockdown effect. Study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6042097/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6042097/

mach1ne 4y ago

What is this origin?

lynguist 4y ago
The short explanation is insecticides: microtoxins to break the fertility of insects for higher crop yields. These same substances also affect humans, albeit on a different level: slightly lower intelligence because mothers are exposed to these substances and they transfer them to the womb, and they also decrease male fertility. Children of hairdressers or farmers have slightly lower IQ (controlled for all other variables) than others because the mothers are exposed to similar substances.
- mach1ne 4y ago
  There is probably truth in that. It's difficult to say as to the magnitude of the effect however.
snakeboy 4y ago
They are probably referring to some kind of large-scale environmental contamination, but as far as I'm aware it's quite difficult to make any of these theories fit with the timeline of international historical trends. Typically the differences in rates and magnitudes are apparent across borders and thus would more easily be explained with cultural factors rather than an environmental contaminant that is (largely) agnostic to cultural effects.

infinityio 4y ago

From this specific data, this viewpoint is hard to justify, because the scores were at or near their highest in 2019, and the data shows modest improvements since the 90s

crummy 4y ago

Do you have a graph that overlays test scores with pesticide use? Because I'm looking at the one in the article and I'm not sure how they would match up.

rybosworld 4y ago

"You might not believe this random comment that claims to know the ~real~ reason for declining test scores" You're right about that. The timing of the decline in scores matches up pretty precisely with the start of covid shutdowns. Whatever you are alluding to (pesticides?) has been a thing for well before covid.

lynguist 4y ago
It’s called the Flynn effect and reverse Flynn effect. From the 90s on, test scores are falling, even if this specific data doesn’t show it. I agree that what is seen here in this short-term data is the lockdown effect. Study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6042097/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6042097/