IQ Is Destiny

A People's Average IQ Fixes the Difference between a Despotic and a Free Society

Let’s start off with a bold statement: A people’s average cognitive ability determines what type of society it can uphold. Based on a people’s cognitive ability, I identify three main types of societies: Free Societies, Despotic Societies, and Hunter-Gatherer Societies, and one exemption: High-Cognitive Networks.

Free Societies (Average IQ 90-110)

If the people’s IQ averages between 90-110, you may have a free market economy. It requires people to think and act for themselves to a large degree. Citizens are considered independent actors. On the low end of the cognitive spectrum, people are educated to fit in. At the higher end, people may sort things out for themselves. A general sense of freedom permeates every aspect of life. People are not expected to sit around waiting to be told what to do. They are expected to be proactive, start a business, or study to apply for a job. As Ronald Reagan said, “Don’t ask what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Citizens are held responsible for their actions. People have little trouble reflecting upon themselves. They can help each other solve each other’s problems without needing a strong government to step in. A guiding doctrine, such as a constitution, suffices, but it does not tell people how to live.

Examples of free societies include mostly Western nations such as Germany, the USA, Spain, and to some extent, certain East-Asian nations.

Despotic Societies (Average IQ 70-90)

If a people’s IQ averages between 70-90, we find ourselves in a very rigid, authority-based system. ‘Government’ tends to come in the form of an unchanging belief system. People have to be told what to do and are not expected to act on their own merit, nor are people held responsible for their actions. (There is no concept of personal responsibility if you are always told what to do.) Nevertheless, people are severely punished for stepping out of line. The mantra for this society goes, “Do exactly what your leadership tells you to do and don’t do anything else.” In many cases, the people worship an exemplary citizen (e.g., a Kim Jung Un or a Mao Tse Tung) or a prophet whose example everyone is expected to follow. The despot himself is a low-IQ person in the range of 70-90, though often a more intelligent ruling elite is pulling the strings behind the scenes. It is also because of the general lack of intelligence among the people that citizens believe they are, in fact, ‘superior people’. They have trouble with self-reflection. People see flaws in others but not in themselves.

Examples of despotic societies include the Chinese inland, India, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Northern-African nations, many Latin-American nations, and so on.

Hunter-Gatherer Societies (Average IQ 50-70)

An IQ of 40 is the lowest score possible on an official IQ test. And some nations in Africa indeed have average national IQs of below 50. Most West and Central African nations score between 50-70. These are not real “societies”. The nations imposed on the tribesmen living in these areas are European inventions. Though a national infrastructure now exists, many black regimes are supported by Western (corporate) actors who have an interest in nation-building. At heart, most West-African and Central-African peoples form hunter-gatherer societies that center around one’s kin. Blood ties determine economic interaction. Hunter-gatherers do not and cannot think abstractly. They have no need for it. Both men of low and high IQ can be successful hunters. However, people who think like hunter-gatherers cannot hold jobs in more advanced societies. They will fall into poverty, live off welfare, or end up in prison for violent and sexual crimes. The Western belief that ‘education’ can somehow wrong colonial injustices is a naive fantasy. People with IQs of 50-70 cannot be educated. Hunter-gatherers also feel no empathy toward people outside of their kin. Consequently, they do not have a concept of ‘civilization’. Since hunter-gatherers have to live in the ‘real’ world, they have no need for ideological fiction, nor for organized religion.

Examples of hunter-gatherer societies include Mali, Guatemala, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Morocco, Congo, and so on.

Cognitive Networks (High IQ > 110+)

There is one more type of society that isn’t really a society. They are high-cognitive networks of people who crave ultimate freedom to do whatever they like to do, while still being able to support each other, often unconditionally. They don’t need any government or authority. They can take care of themselves. However, there is one major drawback to such high-IQ networks, namely that they may cook up fantastical visions of a future that, sooner or later, prove false or fruitless. These people entertain fiction more than anyone else. It benefits them when the fantasies show new paths to explore in the real world. It hurts them (and others) when their fantasies lose all bearing on reality. People of high ability must, therefore, take care to benefit the societies they are embedded within. The benefits need to be made clear, lest the creative crowd becomes a target for persecution. (It is easy to accuse high-cognitive cliques of parasitism since they can enjoy other people’s labor without having to labor for themselves.)

Examples of High-Cognitive Networks are the Jewish Diaspora, networks of academic intellectuals, cliques of highly intelligent business people, international communes for creative individuals, and so on.