Rejoice nerds! Researchers at King’s College London have discovered a link between heightened intelligence and good physical health.
A recent study surveyed nearly 4,000 Vietnam veterans and discovered that those with lower IQs are more likely to suffer from a wealth of physical health problems, reports New Scientist.
While the study’s findings are obviously relative — there seems to be no definitive IQ point below which the human body is prone to illness — the conclusions drawn by the King’s College team suggest that there are common evolutionary factors between good health and raised intelligence.
Or, as New Scientist puts it, “low intelligence may be an indication of harmful genetic mutations.”
Psychologist Rosalind Arden points out that while the idea that more intelligent people would make more intelligent decisions related to their health is a solid argument, the study “found that indicators of healthy living, such as a low body mass index and not smoking, do not correlate with overall health of veterans as well as several tests of intelligence,” Arden says.
Remember that the next time you’re stuffed in a locker by some stereotypically Neanderthalic football player in a cliché reenactment of a John Hughes movie. He may be stronger, more attractive, and have some concept of what intercourse is like, but who’s going to be laughing when he’s dying of cancer at the age of 35?
Published: May 8, 2009 09:13 pm