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Research Confirms a Link between Intelligence and Life Expectancy

Anomalism

Anomalism

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Research Confirms a Link between Intelligence and Life Expectancy - Scientific American

People are living longer than ever. According to a 2015 World Health Organization report, Japanese live the longest, with an average life expectancy of 84, while Americans can expect to live to 77. At the same time, it is an obvious fact that some people live much longer than other people. There is inequality in mortality. What explains this inequality? Epidemiological research confirms what intuition suggests: lifestyle matters. A 2012 study published in Preventive Medicine followed over 8,000 people over a 5-year period. Risk of death by any cause was 56% lower for non-smokers, 47% lower for people who exercised, and 26% lower for those who had a healthy diet. Italian researchers analyzed the diets of inhabitants of the Monti Sicani region of Sicily, where there is a remarkably high prevalence of people who live to be 100. Along with being physically active and having close contact with relatives, the centenarians surveyed were found to adhere to a traditional Mediterranean diet.

A more surprising discovery is that there is a strong link between mortality and IQ: higher intelligence means, on average, a longer life. This relationship has been extensively documented by Ian Deary and his colleagues at the University of Edinburgh using data from the Scottish Mental Surveys. In 1932, the Scottish government administered an IQ test to nearly all 11-year old children attending school on a single day. More than sixty years later, focusing on the city of Aberdeen, Deary and colleague Lawrence Whalley set out to identify who from the cohort was still alive, at age 76. The results were striking: a 15-point IQ advantage translated into a 21% greater chance of survival. For example, a person with an IQ of 115 was 21% more likely to be alive at age 76 than a person with an IQ of 100 (the average for the general population).
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Anomalism said:
Research Confirms a Link between Intelligence and Life Expectancy - Scientific American
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Those with higher IQs generally gain higher levels of education.

Those with higher levels of education generally gain higher incomes.

Those with higher incomes generally access better foods, more leisure time activities, better healthcare and better living standards.

Those with access to better foods, more leisure time activities, better healthcare and better living standards generally live longer.

But then, nothing is absolute.
 
ocean515 said:
Cool. I've sometimes wondered if I would live to 100, and now it's apparently been confirmed. ;)
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Greetings, ocean515. :2wave:

Ah ha! You ain't on trial, so let readers draw their own conclusions about what you posted? Brilliant! :mrgreen: :thumbs:
 
Link? Sure, it would make sense as to why in a general context.

Sure thing? Not at all.
 
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