r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • 20d ago

Neuroscience Twin study suggests rationality and intelligence share the same genetic roots - the study suggests that being irrational, or making illogical choices, might simply be another way of measuring lower intelligence.

https://www.psypost.org/twin-study-suggests-rationality-and-intelligence-share-the-same-genetic-roots/
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u/KristiiNicole 19d ago

So people who have mental illnesses that affect rationality are automatically less intelligent than those without mental illness?

OCD for example, can cause a lot of irrational thoughts and behavior, but I’ve also met some incredibly intelligent people who have it.

Or this another one of those exceptions to the rule kinda thing?

(To be clear, I am genuinely asking with curiosity, I’m not trying to start a disagreement!)

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u/snailbully 19d ago

Distorted and disorganized thought processes absolutely affect someone's cognitive abilities. During episodes of poor mental health, someone's mental functioning could be significantly reduced. I'm sure you could find a of studies on the subject as it seems fairly easy to test.

The big difference between mental illness and intellectual disability is that the former is transient, while the other is permanent.

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u/lasagnaman 19d ago

That's not what they meant by irrational

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u/Sinai 19d ago

"Automatically" dismisses the point of using populations in trials, but that being said, people with OCD have measurably lower IQ.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28864868/

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is associated with a moderate degree of underperformance on cognitive tests, including deficient processing speed.