What If...?

This paper is written in response to a certain story called Flowers for Algernon about a man who's intelligence was boosted from an I.Q. of 68 to 200 and the suffering and joy he felt because of it. The experiment was also done on a rat called Algernon and both of the test subjects died as a result of the experiment.

68 to over 200 in about 2 months. These I.Q. numbers are about as impossible as zero-gravity on Earth. But as McDonald's likes to put it, "Hey, it could happen." But what would happen if it did?

Imagine a world where an operation permanently increases everyone's intelligence. Perhaps only the rich could have this operation but then they would be greedy and take over the world. Or perhaps everyone on earth could have this operation and all people were on the same level of intelligence. There would be no poor or ignorant people and there would not be enough jobs for all these "super-intelligent" people. Most people would fight for the top jobs where they could use their knowledge to its fullest. Or maybe they would stay where they are in life and not use their new intelligence at all. Either way, at some point in time, people would not be anxious to learn because there would not be much else to learn. The value of knowledge would disappear and the progress of the world and our society would decrease.

If this kind of extremely intelligent world were to occur, then no one would specialize in any field. Everyone would be an expert in all areas of study. With this amount of intelligence, not many people would want to sink to the level of factory worker, janitor, or similar jobs. These jobs would not use peoples' intelligence as much as they would want. Also, there not enough topics in the world to study so they would have to come up with more complex ideas, plans, and theories for the human race to use. This could be good or bad. A person could create a cure for AIDS or a more complicated way to fight war and destroy the earth.

If everyone's intelligence is raised, then I.Q. averages would have to be raised. What would be the point of going to school? A child with increased intelligence could study independently and listen to informational and learning tapes at night during their sleep. At what age would a person's intelligence be permanently increased. A 6-year-old child could could not function in an adult world because she/he would not have matured yet. This would happen no matter how intelligent he/she is. It would be like telling a 5'4" person to shoot a basketball exactly the same way as a 6'1" person. The ball would fall short of the hoop. The same thing would happen with intelligence.

Permanently increasing intelligence could virtually destroy our world and our society as we know it. Could it happen to you?

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