7.3M views · Dec 6, 2019 · 4:40 · 0 HN recommenders · 10 mentions · discussed 2020–2026
The opening scene of the 2006 film Idiocracy, which explains in a short montage how average intelligence declines as less intelligent people have more children.
Why Hacker News points people here: HN links it in threads on fertility, IQ and demographics as a famous, if satirical, illustration of the argument.
“This had been well illustrated in the intro to the fantastic 2006 sf comedy Idiocracy”
Fluff piece, I don't see an answer to the question posed in the title. It mainly discusses fertility differences between different socioeconomic classes. This had been well illustrated in the intro to the fantastic 2006 sf comedy Idiocracy . this video
“The scenario of not wanting to bring a child into an environment that isn't stable is exactly one of the points of the intro to the movie Idiocracy”
The scenario of not wanting to bring a child into an environment that isn't stable is exactly one of the points of the intro to the movie Idiocracy: this video I definitely understand 100%... I just thought it sounded extremely familiar. In my personal scenario, I had my first kid (unplanned) when I was 25. It definitely changed the trajectory of my life, and in a good way in my case. Once I knew I was having a kid I really started to take things more seriously and tried to set up as good of an environment as I could. That meant studying a lot, surrounding myself with good families, moving into a place with more exposure to nature, etc. We never owned a home, had retirement saved up, or a lot of the other things one would consider good "nest egg" scenarios. We just made it work when we had to, and have 2 awesome teenagers now.
“The intro to Idiocracy (2006) is quite relevant today”
I don't think anyone is blaming the kids. I mean, the decisions to have the kids were made by adults. I'm in favor of blaming the adults. That said, us nerds probably shouldn't stop reproducing. The intro to Idiocracy (2006) is quite relevant today: this video I heard Mike Judge on a podcast about a month ago (JRE) saying that the ability to make that intro was a large factor in his motivation of making the Idiocracy movie in the first place.
“this is a short and informative video on the topic”
It's useful. You have to think on the macro scale. The evolution of the entire population rather then individuals. On the individual level stupider people reproduce more so evolutionary speaking it's more efficient to be stupid. However if a small portion of the population has high IQ they can move society forward via say the discovery of electricity, mathematics, etc, etc. This propels every individual forward as a whole at the detriment of a few individuals who are to nerdy or geeky to get laid that often. Thus from a high level perspective, there is selection pressure that works on the population of people that makes it so that our genes have the mechanisms in place to produce an occasional genius via specific combinations of or simple mutations. For reference this is a short and informative video on the topic: this video
“A conversation about fertility isn't complete without a link to The Idiocracy (2006) opening scene”
A conversation about fertility isn't complete without a link to The Idiocracy (2006) opening scene: this video (length 4:39) It's surprisingly accurate, even if it's very exaggerated, because that's the premise of the movie. tl;dw "Smart/Rich" people put off having kids to the Perfect Time in their life and never end up having kids or maybe just the one. "Stupid/Poor" people just keep having kids all the time.
“They literally show IQ numbers in that scene.”
> Unless I'm misremembering, and it did make direct reference to intelligence rather than education and access to it. They literally show IQ numbers in that scene. > Trevor: IQ 138, Carol: IQ 141 vs: > Clevon: IQ 84 this video
“Idiocracy is premised on the idea that dumb people have more kids than smart people”
Idiocracy is premised on the idea that dumb people have more kids than smart people: this video Based on the positive reaction to the "birthrates are at all time low!" article last week, it looks like most of the HN crowd is happy about it: link
So what you want to say is that glitch that was fixed 20 years back in all major email clients is back and the "de-facto standard provider for personal email" has neglected it?! Probably deliberately. Nice. With a huge facepalm. I wonder if they will also add support to run .pif files. /s I really didn't know that, haven't used gmail from the times when it was invite only, I prefer better email clients than the default one (now that you have told me this - even more) and I am happy camper with my own mail server for even longer while on the other side I don't have time to track how far the Idiocracy[1] has progressed It was 9 mail[2], not K-9. Firewalled to be able to access to only my and company domain. But yes. I am not typical user. [1] this video [2] link
“Reminds me of the opening scene of Idiocracy”
> I certainly would not choose to have children in these circumstances. Reminds me of the opening scene of Idiocracy: this video
“Don't worry. Enjoy the ride...”
Yes. As shown by the intro/trailer of Idiocracy in 2006. link or this video Don't worry. Enjoy the ride...
