Intelligent life yet to be discovered

Earlier I posted about unconscionable acts by a select few. What would happen if you could invent a drug that increased IQ by say 20%. What would the world look like if such a drug was so commonly available and side effect free that it became the norm to use it?

Imagine the possibilities. The lucky few on the leading edge of the bell curve would gain new insights and think new thoughts (or at least consider their existing thoughts more deeply). Those on the other thin edge would find themselves joining the majority. For the vast bunch of us in the middle there wouldn’t be a lot of change or would there?

We would understand things a lot better and perhaps that would be a good thing. The political and marketing assumption that the populous is basically stupid would fall apart.
Imagine a population with enough smarts to ignore hype, spot interest groups at work or corrupted government working against societies long term interests.

Imagine a mother of five from deep in the suburbs understanding the dietary requirements of her children or finding new and unique ways to enlighten her brood. Imagine these five children with enough sense to ignore the advertising barrage directed against them.

Would water cooler conversations revolve around the latest TV drama featuring autopsies or would the history of Middle East politics be more in vouge? (that might be going to far).

People in the meritocracies would feel less secure due to increased completion but that would be minor compared to the political class. Manipulation would be an order of magnitude harder. Simple sound bite jingoism would die a certain death as the population started understand what a poor service they receive from their elected representatives. The left/right division probably wouldn’t shift but I bet progressive and open government would result.

What would be the result of all this coupled to the vast resources of on line data? I often lurk around in the legislation data bases of my country and state checking various rules and legislation regarding my work. I bet there are only a few hits a day on those sites. Would people start looking into the governance of their particular field or interest? What about all the other great sources of data out there? Terra bites of goodies waiting to be absorbed. An informed public immune to fog and folly. The dream.

What about happiness. Hemmingway once quipped "Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know”. That’s not quite right. Recent studies show no correlation between the two. One thing is for sure, the smarter you are the more you appreciate the alternatives and that is depressing when you look at the state the world is in.

Intelligence is linked with health but I don’t know if that is a causal relationship. If you are healthy through out your life you will have more learning opportunity and less damage to the brain. If you are smart you should know how to take care of yourself better (beware of outliers).

I wonder if entertainment would be more entertaining. I like clever dialogue and I guess that would get better but I also like to low brow comedy. Insert a fart scene and I am howling. I know that music would only get better. Would sporting events be more sporting?

Crime is an interesting one. I don’t think much would change. Crimes of passion are just that. Fraud and the like might be harder but both the perpetrators and victims would be smarter. May be the rate would reduce but the magnitude would increase. Hate and envy crime might reduce and so would negligence.

I don’t understand fanatical religion of any flavour. I suspect religious adherence is a social thing and I doubt that much will change. The US would continue on its fundamentalist path with their Middle Eastern adversaries while the rest of the world looks on shaking our collective heads. Perhaps open and progressive thinking will catch on once more in those places, who knows.

In my enlightened utopia there are a few problems. The work reserved for the least able would be even less appealing with less least able. Cleaners and muscle work, boring and repetitive tasks might not get done. Would the bowl hair cut become the norm? Would rubbish and waste intrude on this enlightened world?

I suspect that the environment would be helped. I have found the more intelligent have a longer view of the future and are better able to understand the implications of our present path. They tend to critically analyse the available data and are less prone to the smoke and mirrors of the carbon/timber/farm/fishing/whatever lobbies, are more aware of the global degradation of land and sea resources and are more likely to trust science over rhetoric.

I suspect that at the very least it would be interesting. At best the world would find a new path where humanity could inhabit this planet in a sustainable way and in peace. At worst anger and frustration would cause so much turmoil that the wonder drug would be abolished for all time. Still, it would be worth a try.