The Intelligence Paradox: Why the Intelligent Choice Isn't Always the Smart One - Satoshi Kanazawa 2012

Reproduction Is the Ultimate Goal of All Living Organisms
Why Intelligent People Are the Ultimate Losers in Life

If any value is deeply evolutionarily familiar, it is reproductive success. If any value is truly unnatural, if there is one thing that humans (and all other species in nature) are decisively not designed for, it is voluntary childlessness. All living organisms in nature, including humans, are evolutionarily designed to reproduce. Reproductive success is the ultimate end of all biological existence. While having children is not the only means to achieve reproductive success (representation of one's genes in the next generation), as it could also be achieved by investment in close genetic relatives, it is nonetheless the primary means of maximizing reproductive success. None of us are descended from ancestors who remained childless, and we are disproportionately descended from individuals who achieved disproportionate reproductive success. So voluntary childlessness is not part of evolved human nature, just as exclusive homosexuality is not part of evolved human nature.

In Chapter 8, I address the question of why some people identify themselves as homosexual and engage in homosexual behavior despite the fact that human nature is largely heterosexual. In this chapter, I address the question of why some individuals choose to remain childless or have fewer children than they can safely raise to sexual maturity despite the fact that reproductive success is the ultimate meaning of life.

Having children, and having as many children as one can potentially raise to sexual maturity so that the children themselves can reproduce, is an evolutionarily familiar goal. In contrast, voluntary childlessness, or having far fewer children than one can reasonably raise to sexual maturity, is evolutionarily novel. The Intelligence Paradox would therefore predict that more intelligent individuals are more likely to have fewer children or to remain childless than less intelligent individuals.