People generally like to believe we are the most highly evolved we have ever been. From my research I have seen that people think evolution is ongoing. And most people who think they know how it works don't know how it works. Most universities and high-school do not teach how evolution works in depth in entry level classes because it is offensive. But the fact is, humans have stopped evolving. We are actually devolving, and some of the most intelligent scientists ever have recognized this. Their theories culminated in what happened in nazi Germany. But eugenics was being practiced throughout the western world, even in America.
What gasoline has done to humans is not related to "good breeding." Or to genetics. It's actually an environmental cause. The reason is simple: Lead was added to gasoline for decades. Lead is a neurotoxin, because the body cannot distinguish it from calcium. The dangers of Lead have been known for centuries and yet humans being humans, still thought it was a bright idea to use it in gasoline, pencils, paint, plumbing and more. Science is old, the scientific zeitgeist is not.
When leaded gas was burned it released lead into the atmosphere. Which people breathed in! Or, were exposed to through foods from soils exposed to the lead dust. A significant number of people, if not everyone, was poisoned with lead into the 1980s, and in some countries are being poisoned with lead to date.
Lead is particularly harmful to children. Developing brains exposed to lead were noted to have impaired cognitive function, leading to lower IQ. Scientists have discovered a correlation between the severity of lead exposure and crime rates. In fact the graph that shows how much lead exposure increased by year corresponds exactly to the graph showing an uptick in crime. The difference is that the graphs are offset by a 20 year difference. With the uptick in crime coming 20 years later, when the children had grown up.
Highest exposure was in the 1960s, 1970s where the average iq dropped by 5-10 points, compared to people who were also exposed to lead. Meaning the average IQ has likely dropped more than 15 points the last 200 years. And in fact researchers have found that reaction times have decreased by about that much, reaction times indicate the speed of the nervous system (IQ). The effect wasn't just on IQ. It was on all types of behavior.
What countries are most affected? Nowadays, probably South and Central American countries. And this makes sense because the average IQ is lower and the crime rate is higher. Sand in the Sahara desert blows across the Atlantic and settles in Central and South America. It's just an idea but I would say it's highly likely that a significant amount of lead from industrial causes is in that dust.
What can be done? Become more scientific and aware. Stop saying its impossible to update technology. Gas and oil are still damaging the planet regardless if there is lead in it or not. Electric vehicles are the future. Whether or not they're more practical today is irrelevant, they will only become practical by making them practical.
What else can be done? Lowering vitamin D/sun exposure might help. Vitamin D helps the body absorb minerals. Which maybe BAD due to the years of contamination of our soils. Lower vitamin D levels might actually protect you from lead toxicity. (Just an idea.)
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