Intelligent Men 'have better sperm'

[n2doc]

Men of higher intelligence tend to produce better quality sperm, UK research suggests.

A team from the Institute of Psychiatry analysed data from former US soldiers who had served during the Vietnam war.

They found that those who performed better on intelligence tests tended to have more - and more mobile - sperm.

The study, which appears in the journal Intelligence, appears to support the idea that genes underlying intelligence may have other biological effects too.


Therefore, if tiny mutations impair intelligence, they might also harm other characteristics, such as sperm quality.

Conversely, people with robust genes might be blessed with a biological "fitness factor" making them fit, healthy and smart.

Previously, scientists tended to assume that lifestyle factors were more likely to underlie any relationship between intelligence and health.

For instance, brighter people may be less likely to smoke, and more likely to take exercise, both of which are known to impact on mental performance.

more:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7767877.stm

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Unfortunately, the stupid men breed more.

[slackmaster]

2. If that is true, why aren't the mean and median IQ continuously rising?

Do intelligent men tend to couple with dull women, or is "healthy sperm" not really a good predictor of reproductive fitness?

[n2doc]

3. Probably quantity over quality

If the stupid men are boinking 10x more than the intelligent ones, it makes a big difference....


Come on, ladies, choose quality first!

[MountainLaurel]

5. That's exactly it, almost

It's not that the latter are boinking less, it's that they're reproducing less.

[slackmaster]

6. Stupid men don't know when to wrap it up

Makes sense.

[MountainLaurel]

7. Smarter men procreate less in general

While the converse is also true, for a variety of cultural and other reasons.

[varkam]

8. They do, actually.

Every so often, makers of IQ test have to re-norm them to account for increases in general intelligence (I want to say it's once every ten years or so, but I think that's wrong). Since the tests are re-normed (basically re-calibrated) the mean and median IQ technically stays at 100, but in actuality society tends to get smarter.

There are many explanations for that, including medical advances, pre-natal care, etc. etc. I wouldn't be surprised if this fits in there somewhere, as well.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

4. I'll be sure to use that as a pickup line next time I'm at the bar.