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Roman Empire's use of lead lowered IQ levels across Europe, study finds

theguardian.com

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Re: Roman Empire's use of lead lowered IQ levels across Europe, study finds

#121

Post by kragen »

vasco wrote: post #81
peeters wrote: post #46

> Roman Empire’s use of lead lowered IQ levels across Europe, study finds I'm not a fan of this phrasing. None of the findings had anything to do with measuring IQ levels in ancient Europe. They were about measuring historical levels of lead, which they then just plugged into modern models to presume some levels of cognitive effects. A study that was actually able to measure cognitive disparities and correlate them w…

Could also happen that all the advances in hygiene and infrastructure and logistics during the Roman empire had a more positive impact on IQ than the negative effect of lead. Not starving while growing up does wonders for the brain.

Probably not in the parts of Europe outside the Roman Empire and definitely not in the peoples that the Romans killed all of.

Re: Roman Empire's use of lead lowered IQ levels across Europe, study finds

#122

Post by BSDobelix »

biggoodwolf wrote: post #119
vasco wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could also happen that all the advances in hygiene and infrastructure and logistics during the Roman empire had a more positive impact on IQ than the negative effect of lead. Not starving while growing up does wonders for the brain.

What did the Romans ever do for us?

I dont know who "us" is, but probably roads and writing?

Re: Roman Empire's use of lead lowered IQ levels across Europe, study finds

#124

Post by Anotheroneagain »

elcritch wrote: post #115
Anotheroneagain wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The explanation is that IQ measures the cerebellum, and the declining nutrition and increasing brain damage forces people to rely more on the cerebellum, the statistical engine, instead of abstract thinking.

Hmmm, I could imagine microplastics, PFAS, artificial dies, excessive and unhealthy amounts of sugar would all have a deleterious effect on IQ. Perhaps even specifically pre frontal cortex, etc. Though that goes against Europe hitting the decline earlier than the US which leads in sugars and unhealthy foods.

There is nothing wrong with sugar, people can't burn it, because the body needs lead to break it into pyruvate. Then you need arsenic to input that into the krebs cycle. The mitochondria need a wide assortment of metals (likely at least copper, arsenic, selenium, mercury, cadmium and possibly chromium) when you don't get those, your mitochondia begin to fail, and the tissues where they do turn into "fat tissue".

I suspect they don't do the research for real, they do some kind of simulation, and write it was in mice. They do know the metal changes the protein, but they incorrectly claim that the version without it works, but in reality the one with it does. They could'n make such an error if they actually did the research for real.

Re: Roman Empire's use of lead lowered IQ levels across Europe, study finds

#126

Post by luxuryballs »

SteveNuts wrote: post #24
luxuryballs wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Why specifically call out fluoride?

Didn’t studies come out connecting it to lower IQ? Places are pulling it or planning to pull it, nothing to do with RFK.

Re: Roman Empire's use of lead lowered IQ levels across Europe, study finds

#127

Post by martin_a »

biggoodwolf wrote: post #119
vasco wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could also happen that all the advances in hygiene and infrastructure and logistics during the Roman empire had a more positive impact on IQ than the negative effect of lead. Not starving while growing up does wonders for the brain.

What did the Romans ever do for us?

I mean, I guess the aqueduct was a nice thing?!

Re: Roman Empire's use of lead lowered IQ levels across Europe, study finds

#128

Post by xeonmc »

Ferret7446 wrote: post #57

I can't help but be pedantic and point out that since IQ is normalized, their average IQ would be 100 whether or not they used lead. More philosophically, the condition of life is inherently susceptible to damage, so you practically have to draw the line at what level of damage you want to try and mitigate given the realities of the time. Do you want to be wrapped up, only breathing, eating, and drinking perfectly ca…

Who are you, who are so wise in the Ways of Science?

Re: Roman Empire's use of lead lowered IQ levels across Europe, study finds

#129

Post by rayiner »

curmudgeon22 wrote: post #3

> On average, lead levels in children’s blood at the peak of the Roman empire could have risen 2.4 micrograms per decilitre, the researchers found, reducing their IQ by 2.5 to 3 points. When taking background lead into account, childhood blood levels may have reached about 3.5 micrograms per decilitre. > A 2021 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US found blood levels in children aged one t…

Wow. We mock those stupid Romans for putting lead in their drinking water supply, but we literally vaporized it and had everyone inhale it for decades so it'd go straight to the bloodstream.
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