Dumb and Grandumber
Ma and I popped off to the Co-op this morning*. I have to sit outside with all the other poor pooches, all licking their lips and whining for their mas and their pas (whatever they are) for fear of being dognapped.
So Ma bought some bits, and a few bobs, including some frozen soya beans and a bag of crunchy granola with dried pineapple, coconut and banana chips (mmm, good choice Ma - lovely. Don’t forget to save me some, just in case I need ammunition against potential dognappers.) Get this though. There is a warning on the back of the packet: “This is a crunchy product. If in any doubt about the state of your teeth, please consult your dental practitioner.” Well Ma’s top set nearly flopped right out onto the floor.
I learnt today that, for most of the last century, it was widely thought that intelligence was in decline. The idea was that those at the lower end of the intelligence spectrum were having more children, thereby reducing the general intelligence level. Some bright spark called James Flynn, however, carried out a few tests and discovered that IQ was going up by 3 points per decade in the developed and developing worlds. This ‘Flynn’ effect is a little bit long to chat about, but suffice it to say that he predicted that somebody with an average IQ today (that’s 100), will have grandchildren with a score of 120. Perhaps more shocking, it suggests that someone with an average score today would have had grandparents who were close to mental retards.
If Flynny’s theory holds true then the illiterate, barmy, cereal-munching grandparents of yesteryear would have all choked to death on their granola, thus annihilating their own stupid gene pool and safeguarding the intelligence of today’s generation.
So what went wrong poppet?
*It’s a bit like the Pope, full of good intentions, but lacking in charm and ethical diversity (where are the free-range meats Poppet?).