How Long Do Idiots Live? A Look at the Research
In medical terms, an idiot is someone who has an IQ under 70. In layman’s terms, it’s someone with extremely limited mental ability or someone who behaves or speaks in an idiotic way.
While it’s generally considered rude to call someone an idiot, the word has become so common that it appears in many dictionaries as a synonym for stupid, moronic, silly, and foolish.
But how long do idiots live? Do people with low IQs die sooner than those with higher intelligence? If they do, what other factors might be responsible?
Study:
Study 1: Followed 2,000 people born in 1905: Those with an IQ of less than 80 died on average 12 years younger than those with an IQ above 125.
Study 2: Followed 6,000 people born in 1958: Those with a low IQ were twice as likely to die during the follow-up period.
Study 3: Followed 1,300 people born in 1972: Low childhood IQ was associated with a 60 percent increase in mortality risk during adulthood.
Study 4: Followed 5,000 people born in 1970: People with below-average intelligence were almost three times more likely to die prematurely than those with high intelligence.
Study 2: Data on over 8,000 people
The mean age of death for men ranked in categories of intelligence was 72.5 years for men with an IQ less than 90, 75.4 years for men with an IQ of 90 to 109, 78.8 years for men with an IQ of 110 to 119, and 83.1 years for men with IQ greater than 120 (Brigham, 1972).
They found that there was a very strong relationship between intelligence and how long you live with smarter people tending to live longer, even after controlling for health status, socioeconomic class, and lifestyle variables.
So, how long do idiots live in general?
According to a 2008 study published in the Annals of Epidemiology, individuals with lower IQ scores have significantly shorter lifespans.
Researchers analyzed data from nearly two million Swedish men who were born between 1918 and 1975; those men with low IQs, defined as having an average score less than 92, had a life expectancy of around 69 years, while those with high IQ scores (average score greater than 119) lived for about 82 years.
These are the statistics according to research.
