- Lead gasoline stopped being sold(this is also theorized why crime dropped alot from the 90's)
- Pollution being down across the board due to better EPA standards and electric vehicles.
- Increased internet access and more games/puzzles with smart phones to stimulate the mind.
- Lead paint being taken very seriously as being detrimental to health. having specialized crews dealing with removing it, also asbestos being removed from society in the same way.
Immigration is another factor that could be increasing IQs, which in turn may decrease the incidence of dementia. Many countries have immigration programs that give preference to skilled professionals, who are likely to have above average IQs. Another immigration route which favours above average IQ is education-based immigration – come for university, stay after graduation.
[1] https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/files/14297193/McGurn_D...
"Research suggests that there is an ongoing reversed Flynn effect, i.e. a decline in IQ scores, in Norway, Denmark, Australia, Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, France and German-speaking countries, a development which appears to have started in the 1990s".
In my country, Australia, we saw zero improvement on the Colored Porgressive Matrices from 1975-2003, and a decline since then.
If we examine countries with extremely strict immigration policies that favor the skilled (e.g. Singapore), will we see IQs going up?
The concept of IQ-shredder is also relevant: http://www.xenosystems.net/iq-shredders/
- Banning of transfats
- Better dietary and fitness practices in general
- People getting on daily antivirals if they have HSV
That's not happening in Europe, only Americans are weird about HSV. Most Europeans ignore it and don't make a big thing out of it.
Roughly 60% population have HSV-1 (and 10% HSV-2). I don't think that the percentage of people getting daily antivirals is the same.
Edit: a word
Your average office worker isn't going to get exposed to asbestos except for rare situations where asbestos material is being actively manipulated.
But idle suspicion.
For example measles vaccine introduced in late 70's I think, and chickenpox vaccine introduced in 90's? https://xkcd.com/1950/
and connection to friends and family thus more of communication and socialization, even if online, and less of pure solitude.
A 2018 follow-up piece: https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2018/02/an-updated-le...
I’m also not convinced on your point about crime in California. The police have essentially ceased prosecuting many of those petty crimes. It makes sense that they would go up with no deterrence.
> I’m also not convinced on your point about crime in California. The police have essentially ceased prosecuting many of those petty crimes. It makes sense that they would go up with no deterrence.
Yes, of course. Progressives blame rising inequality for an increase in property crimes, but it seems quite obvious the immediate cause is a lack of prosecution as I'm fairly sure not many people are supporting families by ripping off stores and smashing car windows. And while municipalities could and should prosecute, both the police and district attorney offices have the habit of only vigorously pursuing felonies--increasingly only violent felonies.
> Reyes (2002) offers an additional intriguing explanation for the decline in crime: the reduction in levels of lead in the blood due to the elimination of leaded gasoline and lead-based paints. Because of the highly speculative nature of the Reyes conjecture at the present time, I do not discuss this hypothesis at greater length, although it is clearly an area worthy of continued future
I would also say that they are far more likely. correlation is not causation. Lead exposure and crime are very widely separated variables.