{"id":3046,"date":"2012-06-16T15:23:19","date_gmt":"2012-06-16T14:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/?p=3046"},"modified":"2012-06-16T15:23:19","modified_gmt":"2012-06-16T14:23:19","slug":"thoughts-about-why-night-owls-are-more-intelligent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/2012\/06\/thoughts-about-why-night-owls-are-more-intelligent\/","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts about “Why night owls are more intelligent”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why night owls are more intelligent<\/a>, Personality and Individual Differences 47 (2009) 685\u2013690.<\/p>\n

Abstract:<\/p>\n

The origin of values and preferences is an unresolved theoretical problem in social and behavioral sci-
\nences. The Savanna\u2013IQ Interaction Hypothesis suggests that more intelligent individuals are more likely
\nto acquire and espouse evolutionarily novel values and preferences than less intelligent individuals, but
\ngeneral intelligence has no effect on the acquisition and espousal of evolutionarily familiar values and
\npreferences. Individuals can often choose their values and preferences even in the face of genetic predis-
\nposition. One example of such choice within genetic constraint is circadian rhythms. Survey of ethnog-
\nraphies of traditional societies suggests that nocturnal activities were probably rare in the ancestral
\nenvironment, so the Hypothesis would predict that more intelligent individuals are more likely to be noc-
\nturnal than less intelligent individuals. The analysis of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent
\nHealth (Add Health) con\ufb01rms the prediction.<\/p>\n

It doesn’t happen often, but i don’t like this evo psych hypothesis. :P I am referring to the Savanna hypothesis.<\/p>\n

Choice is not incompatible with or antithetical to genetic in\ufb02u-
\nence. As long as h2<\/sup> < 1.0, genes merely set a broad reaction range,
\nand individuals can still exercise some choice within broad genetic
\nconstraints. For example, political scientists have discovered that
\ntwo genes are responsible for predisposing individuals to be more
\nor less likely to vote in elections (Fowler & Dawes, 2008). However,
\nindividuals can still choose to turn out to vote or not for any elec-
\ntion, and there are environmental (nongenetic) factors that can
\npredict their voting (Kanazawa, 1998, 2000).<\/p>\n

Pretty interesting. The full cite is: Fowler, J. H., & Dawes, C. T. (2008). Two genes predict voter turnout<\/a>. Journal of Politics, 70, 579\u2013594.<\/p>\n

Virtually all species in nature, from single-cell organisms to
\nmammals, including humans, exhibit a daily cycle of activity called
\nthe circadian rhythm. \u2018\u2018This timekeeping system, or biological
\n\u2018\u2018clock,\u201d allows the organism to anticipate and prepare for the
\nchanges in the physical environment that are associated with day
\nand night, thereby ensuring that the organism will \u2018\u2018do the right
\nthing\u201d at the right time of the day\u201d (Vitaterna, Takahashi, & Turek,
\n2001, p. 85). The circadian rhythmin mammals is regulated by two
\nclusters of nerve cells called the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) in
\nthe anterior hypothalamus (Klein, Moore, & Reppert, 1991). Genet-
\nicists have by now identi\ufb01ed a set of genes that regulate the SCN
\nand thus the circadian rhythm among mammals (King & Takahashi,
\n2000). A behavior genetic study of South Korean twins (n = 977
\npairs) shows that heritability in morningness\u2013eveningness is .45
\nand nonshared environment accounts for 55% of the variance,
\nwhile shared environment does not appear to explain any of the
\nvariance in it (Hur, 2007).<\/p>\n

Interesting to me on a personal level. Since i appear to have a non-24 circadian rhythm<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In order to ascertain the extent to which our ancestors might
\nhave engaged in nocturnal activities, we have consulted ethno-
\ngraphic records of traditional societies throughout the world. In
\nthe 10-volume compendium The Encyclopedia of World Cultures
\n(Levinson, 1991\u20131995), which extensively describes all human cul-
\ntures known to anthropology, there is no mention of nocturnal
\nactivities in any of the traditional cultures. There are no entries
\nin the index for \u2018\u2018nocturnal,\u201d \u2018\u2018night,\u201d \u2018\u2018evening,\u201d \u2018\u2018dark(ness),\u201d and
\n\u2018\u2018all-night.\u201d The few references to the \u2018\u2018moon\u201d are all religious, as
\nin \u2018\u2018moon deity,\u201d \u2018\u2018Mother Moon (deity),\u201d and \u2018\u2018moon worship.\u201d
\nThe only exception is the \u2018\u2018night courting,\u201d which is a socially ap-<\/strong>
\nproved custom of premarital sex observed among the Danes and<\/strong>
\nthe Finns, which are entirely western cultures far outside of the<\/strong>
\nancestral environment.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What. Never heard of this. Googled it and found this<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Marriage. <\/strong> Women married into the circumstances of their grooms, whether landed or landless. Property owners tended to arrange marriages for their sons and daughters so that the young couple could have a farm of their own. Marriage was neolocal insofar as newlyweds usually set up housekeeping on their own. A patrilocal quality was imparted, however, by the tendency to settle in the community of the groom’s family or even to take over the farm of the groom’s parents. Divorce was difficult to obtain legally and was strongly censured by village opinion and church morality. Adultery in the village was regarded as highly reprehensible. Unmarried mothers were ostracized. A woman encountered no difficulty, However, if a pregnancy occurred before marriage but in betrothal, especially when a gold ring had been given to the young woman. Many couples hitherto only casually joined saved the situation when a pregnancy occurred by announcing that they were engaged. Premarital sexual activity was, in fact, common, and young men in many villages were permitted to sleep over in the bed of a young woman in the custom called night courting. Village customs thus set the stage for the Sexual freedom and independence of both women and men that is characteristic of Denmark today.<\/p>\n

Seems to be an older cultural thing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why night owls are more intelligent, Personality and Individual Differences 47 (2009) 685\u2013690. Abstract: The origin of values and preferences is an unresolved theoretical problem in social and behavioral sci- ences. The Savanna\u2013IQ Interaction Hypothesis suggests that more intelligent individuals are more likely to acquire and espouse evolutionarily novel values and preferences than less intelligent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1624,1653],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-evolutionary-psychology","category-psychology","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3046"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3050,"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3046\/revisions\/3050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emilkirkegaard.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}