What we are breeding.

[NTSOG]

Lazarus: "A Kalahari Bushman might not do well on a Wechsler or a Stanford-Binet, but in his own milieu, he would be the genius and the arrogantly dismissive westerner would end up feeding the birds."

Which brings us to the notion of adaptive behaviour. An IQ score on a WISC test simply tells about the performance on one day on that test. 'Adaptive' behaviour can be considered as intelligent behaviour. I know that my scores on psychological tests are very high, but stick me out in the Kalahari and my adaptive behaviour skills would be insufficient for me to survive.

Jim

[Lazarus]

Yes, that was my point Jim, everything is relative

[Lazarus]

Yes, that was my point Jim, everything is relative

[Oldbloke]

Intelligence is affected by many variables not just economic. Any of us could be rendered brain injured by a sudden whack on the head. Being poor does not directly make a person of low intelligence. Rather impoverished circumstances may limit his/her opportunity to develop to the maximum potential. Being very intelligent in an academic sense does not necessarily make a person smart in practice. I know some pretty stupid smart people.


Jim

Your spot on there. Met a few like that. Top of their game re their spciality. But can't hold a conversation or tighten a screw. Yet, perhaps a Dr or chemical engineer. (I found these the worst) I suspect its often due to asbergers.

https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/aspergers-syndrome

[Oldbloke]

Obesity is a complex beast, and dealing with it will likely take generations to address.
I think we need to start with children, and drum into them that obesity is as dangerous long-term as smoking and/or excessive drinking.
Diet and exercise/activity are key to that, but how you convince them to ditch the high-sugar/fat diet and phone/gaming console in this age, I have no idea.

I did weight-loss surgery in 2017, before a vascular surgeon would fix a blood-plumbing defect I was born with( that was trying hard to kill me).
Plumbing defect had been unknown my whole 50 years of life, but turns out is quite common(May-Thurner Syndrome).
I'm pretty sure the problem snowballed as a result of my excessive weight, and poor health at the time it first appeared in the form of a massive blood-clot in my left leg(2014).
Vasc. Surgeon said it wasnt worth his time if I didnt get the weight off first, and he strongly doubted I would keep it off through diet alone.
And the fact was; he was exactly right.
So, I went under the knife, and had stomach sleeve surgery, where they removed 80% of my stomach.
And I lost around 33%(58kgs) of my pre-surgery body weight.
My sleeve surgery resulted in me no longer feeling hunger; suspect they took that bit out.

But one of the catches, is that(according to the Bariatric surgeon) the largest nerve in the human body, is the one between the stomach and the brain.
And the brain can often tell me that I'm not eating enough, and routine can easily convince me that I need to eat, even if I dont need it.
This is easy to control in the paddock, or out on the run, or in the shed, but it's a bugger to control when you are in close proximity to the fridge..
So, DESPITE having a stomach that is about 35% the size of original(they expand a bit afterwards), 5 years on, it's still possible to eat more than I should.
I can still gain weight if I dont pay attention to my diet.
And if I'm preoccupied(like POXED office work), autopilot will tell me to raid the fridge..
In discussions with the Bariatric surgeon one time, I asked him if obesity is similar to a drug addiction, and he said that was about the best way to describe it.

My point is, that many of the middle-aged obese people I see out there(and I'm also horrified at how many there are), need a LOT of help to get back close to a healthy weight.
And most of them would kick me in the nuts before recognising that they actually NEED the help.
Many of them wont realise how many chronic health issues will vastly improve if they fix their weight.
I know I didnt...
In my case, chronic asthma, knees and hips failing, sleep apnoea and back issues, all faded into the background.
Their own stomach/brain will work against them to try to keep that weight on; my best description is a subconscious drive that says you are starving to death.
So, getting the youngest generation into the mindset that exercise and a healthy diet are key to a healthy life, would be a big step.
Yep; convincing them that days in front of the gaming console while eating endless packets of chips and guzzling Cola, ISNT good for their later years, is going to be a hard sell.

One of the most frustrating elements in this, is how government dont seem to want anything to do with subsidising weight-loss surgery, but are considering supporting a number of gender-reassignment/affirming procedures under Medicare.
Somewhat ironic that in these enlightened days, I get more support if I'm Trans and needing a Nip&Tuck to get everything looking perky, rather than helping a poor simple Fat-Phuk make it through their 50's.

My 2 cents.

More weight loss info here:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-16/ ... c_news_web

[womble]

In nature vs nurture, biology isn’t destiny.
All comes down to a stable home and access to education and knowledge. Even a Kalahari child could be competitive in a highly technological society with this entry and access .
Unfortunately that stable home has to exist in a good neighbourhood and that means a wealthy neighbourhood.
So countries that have a large gap between rich and poor will always have a socio economic class to support.
And if you don’t support them they steal from you. They’re going to steal from you anyway of course, but you don’t want them entirely reliant on crime to support themselves.
Ideally all they ever needed was rich parents. And that’s all encompassing regardless of race, culture, genetics etc.

[NTSOG]

Womble: "All comes down to a stable home and access to education and knowledge. Even a Kalahari child could be competitive in a highly technological society with this entry and access."

I believe you're correct. The positive effect of good parenting can never be underestimated.

[Lazarus]

Womble: "All comes down to a stable home and access to education and knowledge. Even a Kalahari child could be competitive in a highly technological society with this entry and access."

I believe you're correct. The positive effect of good parenting can never be underestimated.

That's true Jim, but your last sentence ignores frame of reference.

The hypothetical parents of this hypothetical child, living deep in the bush, are being excellent parents in their frame of reference.
You need to find water, know which track is which animal, how to build shelter from your environment, not the three Rs

[Lazarus]

The old comedy "The gods must be crazy"
Is a good illustration

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8oqoud

[Lazarus]

What's breeding in the Ewe-Essay is a far right, ultra conservative religious lunatic asylum;

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-17/ ... tent=other

[womble]

That's true Jim, but your last sentence ignores frame of reference.

The hypothetical parents of this hypothetical child, living deep in the bush, are being excellent parents in their frame of reference.
You need to find water, know which track is which animal, how to build shelter from your environment, not the three Rs

Buts there’s also a natural knack for it through their ancestry.