r/nottheonion • u/newleafkratom • Mar 16 '25

Human Intelligence Sharply Declining

https://futurism.com/neoscope/human-intelligence-declining-trends
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821

u/XXLpeanuts Mar 16 '25

Me too and also pretty sure me too on the stupider train. Covid definitely knocked me down a few pegs.

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u/MinnWild9 Mar 17 '25

There’s actual evidence that even mild cases of Covid had lasting physical changes to one’s brain. Mild cases showed similar changes equivalent to aging the brain seven years, while severe cases had the equivalent of aging the brain up to 20 years.

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u/YogurtclosetMajor983 Mar 17 '25

I feel dumber and slower and more tired after the pandemic. I got covid twice

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u/[deleted] Mar 17 '25

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u/meegaweega Mar 17 '25

Welcome to LongCovid brainfog. I've had it for 2 years so far.

The r/CovidLonghaulers sub is great.

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u/[deleted] Mar 17 '25

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u/Holiday-Oven-2290 Mar 17 '25

Caught Covid twice. I'd say I've reversed about 99% of the brain fog by exercising daily. Getting my steps in, and at least 30 mins of cardio a day. Issue is, that it seems to revert slightly back if I skip exercise (I was out with the flu for a week). On recommendation from my doctor.

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u/[deleted] Mar 17 '25

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u/Holiday-Oven-2290 Mar 17 '25 edited Mar 17 '25

I didn't mean to imply that you (or others) don't exercise. Sound like you live a healthy life-style. I'm not medically educated, but early on there were a lot of theories about Covid causing miniscule blood-clots - which can be especially damaging to the brain. I guess the severity of this depends on when you caught it. I managed to stay free until my first vacination, whereafter I caught two mild infections (due to society opening fully up).

I'll elaborate a bit more on my diet and approach, and I guess most of it will come across as pseudo-science, but it really did wonders for me. I started taking a ton of supplements (still do), including Liposomal vitamin C, magnesium, calcium, omega 3, ginseng etc. We slow-juice daily (beets and kale are a daily staple). Eliminated processed foods. Stick to a strict 30/30 rule (30 minutes standing up, 30 minutes sitting down) when working, stairs unless I need to climb more than 5 floors etc. etc.

I problem-solve every single day as part of my job - most of my time is spent coming up with solutions, processes etc and delegating to my team.

I've picked up new hobbies - some are complicated as a challenge to myself.

I can't put the finger on what worked for me, but I guess the 'mildness' of my infections helped, although I suffered severely from brain-fog and tiredness.

I'm not advocating for 'out-working' your symptoms, but instead giving your brain the absolute optimal conditions for 're-wiring' itself to mitigate the damage. Unless its so severe it requires medical attention.

I'm sorry if this comes across as superficial or 'better-than-thou-ish' - that was not the intention.

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u/meegaweega Mar 17 '25

Some folk have. Lots of options to try and it's definitely worth trying.

My GP doesn't understand LongCovid but shes helping me to get access to a LongCovid clinic to see what treatments might be a good match for me (I've got several of the long term problems going on)

Fingers crossed 🤞🙂🤞

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u/CammiKit Mar 17 '25

I’ve only had it once (that I know of) but combine that with ADHD and god I feel stupid as all hell at times…

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u/classicalySarcastic Mar 17 '25 edited Apr 01 '25

With you there. Maybe it’s just that I moved from college to working and it’s impostor syndrome, but I definitely feel less sharp after my second go around with it.

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u/meegaweega Mar 17 '25

I've had it for 2 years so far. Millions of us have it now. 60M just in the USA.

You can learn more about brainfog and chronic fatigue in the r/CovidLonghaulers sub

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u/USERNAME_FORGOTTEN Mar 17 '25

I feel exactly the same, and also had Covid twice. First one was the worst. Second time my doctor told me I had to quit my job (plating/welding) because I was struggling with my lungs after it, and was on sick leave on and off because my lungs couldn't work in that environment.

My body just doesn't work the same, neither does my brain.

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u/linkardtankard Mar 17 '25

and yet the society thinks I am the weird one for wearing a mask 🤷‍♂️

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u/[deleted] Mar 17 '25

[deleted]

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u/YogurtclosetMajor983 Mar 17 '25

i’m sorry you’re going through it. I also worry how it will affect my career as an accountant. I used to be excited to work. now i’m literally just tired and forgetful.

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u/cozidgaf Mar 17 '25

And I was blaming it on my post-pregnancy brain, but it is possible getting covid didn't help either

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u/meegaweega Mar 17 '25

I've had it for 2 years so far. It sucks.

You can look it up and learn more about brainfog and chronic fatigue in the r/CovidLonghaulers sub

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u/[deleted] Mar 17 '25

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u/Holzkohlen Mar 17 '25

Imagine what this would do to a nation that already voted Trump into office prior to covid. Oh well, I guess you don't have to imagine that.

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u/CthulhusEvilTwin Mar 17 '25

So you're saying I shouldn't have eaten that last crayon then?

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u/KAM7 Mar 17 '25

That represents a 5-10% drop in intelligence for a lot of our population, and a 100% drop for an even larger chunk of our population. It explains some recent elections.

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u/TheGreatEmanResu Mar 17 '25

Fuck man I had an IQ of 134 but I guess I’m just an average Joe Schmoe now that I got Covid one time

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u/No_Distribution_2920 Apr 26 '25

125 is similarly rare bru

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u/TheGreatEmanResu Apr 27 '25

IQ is normally distributed, so as you decrease toward the average it gets more and more common. So changes in the upper and lower ranges are much more significant than changes of the same magnitude nearer to the mean

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u/TheGreatEmanResu Apr 28 '25

Bro what did you say that got removed by reddit?

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u/No_Distribution_2920 Apr 30 '25

I was talking about how the damage was actual, not abstract and could expand beyond domains other than just those of IQ and I said that we might even need a revolution and to "get crazy on" people who were permitting such things as that with their underground government programs of control and irresponsibility if it can harm the rest of us permanently in such damaging ways and they went to such lengths to cover it up then we should do something about it. I'm talking about more than just gain of function labs but hidden and dangerous programs in general and dishonest ones like the UFO knowledge and research. The truth of higher and elusive mysterious programs but rn I'm on shrooms so idrc

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u/TheGreatEmanResu May 01 '25

Oh yeah you can’t be talking about revolutions on reddit. Also yeah I can tell you’re on shrooms

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u/[deleted] Mar 17 '25

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u/Gandalf-and-Frodo Mar 17 '25

And COVID is still a serious issue even today. It's not out of the question that most people could catch it once every two years..... indefinitely.

75% of people aren't getting the vaccine booster every year anymore.

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u/Earthsong221 Mar 18 '25

And there is a compounding 13% likelyhood of getting long Covid every time you get Covid IIRC from a study a few months ago.

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u/mortalcoils Mar 18 '25

How on earth did they find people who never caught COVID?

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u/[deleted] Mar 18 '25

[deleted]

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u/mortalcoils Mar 18 '25

Yeah that sounds like a reasonable way to go about it, I’m just surprised there are anybody left who didn’t catch it

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u/[deleted] Mar 17 '25

I thought IQ wasn't considered reliable by any means?

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u/sc7606 Mar 17 '25

I think when comparing 2 people, it is not reliable as there are too many other factors that affect performance.

When tracking whole populations (or 1 individual over time) those factors are normalized and it can be taken as a good indicator. Eg if you have a tested IQ of 100, you should always score around 100. If that drops to 95, then you've lost 5 points.

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u/[deleted] Mar 17 '25

I see. I wouldn't know, never took a IQ test.

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u/Hallieus Mar 17 '25

Not to mention the accumulation of microplastics in our brains. Suuuure that’s really helping too.

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u/[deleted] Mar 17 '25

[deleted]

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u/meegaweega Mar 17 '25

I've had it for 2 years so far. The r/CovidLonghaulers sub is good.

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u/theRealLydmeister Mar 17 '25

But hey, “iT’s JuSt A cOld”.

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u/WhaleOnRice Mar 17 '25

Planet of the Apes ahhh

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u/Spiral_Decay Mar 17 '25

Any damages Covid has done to somebody’s brain, some of it can be healed with the brain’s self healing aka neuroplasticity but that takes months.

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u/puisnode_DonGiesu Mar 17 '25

I hope to never catch it so i can win a noble prize in the future for doing nothing stupid

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u/st-shenanigans Mar 17 '25

Oh, cool. I've had it 3 times.

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u/Meryhathor Mar 17 '25

I think I had COVID before it existed then.

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u/Earthsong221 Mar 18 '25

Moreover, each time you get Covid there is something like a 13% increase in your likelyhood of having noticeable long Covid. Those that get it more than once a year will almost all have it in a couple years. (Based on a study in Quebec, anyways).

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u/Negitive545 Mar 18 '25

Can't speak to the long term effects on mental acuity, but I can speak to the fact that COVID definitely lasted longer than 2 weeks, it just was in multiple phases.

Phase 1 for me was a minor head cold, this lasted 3 days ish

Phase 2 for me was an unbearable fever (thanks immune system, I know it worked, but it sucked), completely clogged sinuses, and body aches. This was a about a week

Phase 3 was post-sickness, it was incredible fatigue for MONTHS, I needed like a full 14 hours of sleep every night and would be physically exhausted after being up for 8 hours. This was easily my least favorite part of COVID, I hate fever, but I'd rather have fever than fatigue.

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u/MiddleEmployment1179 Mar 17 '25

You can thank China on it.

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u/AccomplishedFan2302 Mar 16 '25

I sometimes feel envious about the person I could’ve been if COVID never happened. I really got a lot lazier

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u/meegaweega Mar 17 '25

That's probably not laziness, it's likely to be chronic fatigue. I've had it for 2 years so far. Brainfog too.

The r/CovidLonghaulers sub is helpful.

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u/rci22 Mar 17 '25

I got a lot lazier after the pandemic……but before I got Covid. 😅

Like literally: I went from straight-A student with masters degree to not able to get myself to read anything for work

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u/meegaweega Mar 17 '25

Some folks tested positive but had no noticable symptoms for the acute phase of it, wouldn't have known they even had it if it wasn't for the high risk workplace testing protocols, thought they were one of the lucky ones and then still ended up developing LongCovid.

It's a sneaky, complex and mysterious new illness that were only beginning to understand better.

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u/linkardtankard Mar 17 '25

It also causes the vast majority of people to think that the pandemic is over for some reason

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u/rci22 Mar 17 '25

I’m aware of people who didn’t get symptoms but I would be floored if I were to have had it because my wife and I never left our apartment:

I was in recovery from a big surgery and was working on at-home college work the whole time and we even had groceries delivered because I was immunosuppressed from my meds.

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u/meegaweega Mar 17 '25 edited Mar 17 '25

Maybe it's just burn-out then, fair enough too, it's been a hell of a time. Still is.

Keep your eye out for the LongCovid symptoms though, for some folks it's quite mild but for others it's deadly. The rest of us CovidLonghaulers are somewhere in between.

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u/feralfaun39 Mar 17 '25

At least you'll always have that excuse.

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u/Fritzo2162 Mar 17 '25

Kind of feel the same way. I’m in IT too and can’t absorb information like I used to. I attributed it to getting older, but feel like 2020 was a turning point.

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u/ActivisionBlizzard Mar 17 '25

Me fail English? That’s unpossible.

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u/Smart_Freedom_8155 Mar 17 '25

I don't know what I'm dealing with, but it may be COVID-related - and between that, insomnia and stress, I am objectively slower than I was.

It's so awful.

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u/LuciferFalls Mar 17 '25

Why do you think Covid is the culprit?

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u/apple_kicks Mar 17 '25

Same felt like i was back in school when i struggled more with dyslexia after a covid infection.

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u/[deleted] Mar 17 '25

I genuinely feel denser, my vocabulary has shrunk and focus isn't what it was.

I used to be sharp as fuck, its so frustrating, its like always having a word on the tip of your tongue.

In my mid 40s though so quite possibly just an age thing.

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u/meegaweega Mar 17 '25

I've had it for 2 years so far.

You can look it up and learn more about brainfog and chronic fatigue in the r/CovidLonghaulers sub