my understanding is that transmitting intelligence to the next generation requires (a) the presence of whatever genes are responsible for intelligence and (b) the absence of mutations affecting those genes.
it would make sense that the quality of sperm correlates with intelligence, because it would have to be less damaged in order to reliably transmit these attributes. the headline seems to dance around this, perhaps because of the controversy involved.
one unfortunate factor which affects the quality of sperm - paternal age. average number of mutations increase every year. so if you're "thinking" about starting a family, consider that a disincentive to wait.
Comments
my understanding is that transmitting intelligence to the next generation requires (a) the presence of whatever genes are responsible for intelligence and (b) the absence of mutations affecting those genes.
it would make sense that the quality of sperm correlates with intelligence, because it would have to be less damaged in order to reliably transmit these attributes. the headline seems to dance around this, perhaps because of the controversy involved.
one unfortunate factor which affects the quality of sperm - paternal age. average number of mutations increase every year. so if you're "thinking" about starting a family, consider that a disincentive to wait.