Intelligence and disease

Smarts will get you far (maybe even farther than you need, as very often they are the smart alecs who get into the bushy situations). Still, linking IQ to the infectious disease burden is something totally new. I do trust the Economist, so I won't discard the theory offhand, yet it deserves consideration and critical analysis.



While I agree that the chances are higher that more educated people would wash their hands after using the restroom, it is very unlikely that they are less tasty for, let's say, a malaria mosquito or a treponema pallidum.  Besides, the experiments suggest that when people are not observed (or at least they are not aware of the fact) - 95% of university students will not wash their hands after having used the facilities.