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[–]trident765 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

How can the IQ of 1700 be like that of today? Francis Bacon lived before then, and he is in my opinion the greatest genius to have ever existed in history. Does anyone alive today come close to rivalling Francis Bacon's intelligence? Does anyone come close to rivalling Isaac Newton's intelligence? Does anyone come close to rivalling Bach's intelligence?

[–]fschmidt[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I don't know if Dutton is right, but I think it may be a mistake to judge average IQ by the intellectual output of the most intelligent men. I mean what would Isaac Newton be doing if he was alive today? I think there is a good chance that he would just run a family farm and nothing more. The one overwhelming difference between 1700 England and the modern West is that the English mostly decent tolerant people while modern scum are intolerant scum. Someone like Isaac Newton could feel at home in old England and find like-minded people, while today he would be a total outcast. I knew highly intelligent men, and they went insane or killed themselves. But they did exist in my lifetime.