In the Season 1 finale of Distraction Dive, Red & Del unpack IQ testing’s tangled history and present-day harms in this loooong episode.

From early 20th‑century eugenics labs to modern “high IQ” societies, we trace how supposedly neutral scores were weaponized to justify exclusion, segregation, and racist policy.

Along the way we call out the grifts, gatekeeping, and toxic culture inside elite clubs, explain why standardized metrics often fail to measure human potential, and spotlight the human cost (especially for children and communities of color).

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Sources:

• Gillham, Nicholas W. (2001). "Sir Francis Galton and the birth of eugenics." Annual Review of Genetics. 35(1): 83–101. doi:10.1146/annurev.genet.35.102401.090055. PMID 11700278. (On Galton and early eugenics)
• "Intelligence quotient." Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence\_quotient
• Strenze, Tarmo (2007). "Intelligence and socioeconomic success: A meta-analytic review of longitudinal research." Intelligence. 35(5): 401–426. doi:10.1016/j.intell.2006.09.004. (Meta-analysis on IQ and socioeconomic outcomes; note correlations with income and education)
• Bird, Kevin; Jackson, John P.; Winston, Andrew S. (2024). "Confronting Scientific Racism in Psychology: Lessons from Evolutionary Biology and Genetics." American Psychologist. 79(4): 497–508. doi:10.1037/amp0001228. PMID 39037836. (On scientific racism, race, and cognition)
• Panofsky, Aaron; Dasgupta, Kushan; Iturriaga, Nicole (2021). "How White nationalists mobilize genetics: From genetic ancestry and human biodiversity to counterscience and metapolitics." American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 175(2): 387–398. doi:10.1002/ajpa.24150. ISSN 0002-9483. PMC 9909835. PMID 32986847. (On misuse of genetics by extremist movements)
• Archive copy: https://archive.ph/9IexQ#selection-1403.264-1403.695
• Historical IQ scoring method: IQ originally calculated as (mental age ÷ chronological age) × 100. (See Wikipedia: Intelligence quotient.)
• Stability of IQ: Scores measured around age ~10+ tend to show long-term stability. (Discussed in episode; see psychometrics literature summarized on the Wikipedia page.)
• Correlations with socioeconomic outcomes: Meta-analytic estimates vary; Strenze (2007) reports modest correlations (examples: income r ≈ .15–.29 across studies), indicating limited predictive power for financial success.

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