SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the better-than-growing-up-to-be-a-sink dept.
Scientists at Kings College London performed a longitudinal study to test the 'Pareto principle' and found that adults who were greater users of public services were most likely to have had a low score on the intelligence and impulsivity test administered at age three.
"About 20 per cent of population is using the lion's share of a wide array of public services," said Prof Terrie Moffitt, of King's College and Duke University in North Carolina. "The same people use most of the NHS, the criminal courts, insurance claims, for disabling injury, pharmaceutical prescriptions and special welfare benefits.
"If we stopped there it might be fair to think these are lazy bums who are freeloading off the taxpayer and exploiting the public purse.
"But we also went further back into their childhood and found that 20 per cent begin their lives with mild problems with brain function and brain health when they were very small children.
"Looking at health examinations really changed the whole picture. It gives you a feeling of compassion for these people as opposed to a feeling of blame.
"Being able to predict which children will struggle is an opportunity to intervene in their lives very early to attempt to change their trajectories, for everyone's benefit and could bring big returns on investment for government."
Full Paper: Childhood forecasting of a small segment of the population with large economic burden DOI: 10.1038/s41562-016-0005
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 15 2016, @04:12PM
But, we still have a eugenics program today; it's called Welfare: Productive people are being forced to subsidize the creation of unproductive people; unproductive people are being selected in favor of productive people.
(Score: 5, Informative) by ikanreed on Thursday December 15 2016, @05:07PM
Ah, yes, the same anti-logic that gets us "white genocide" as a real thing.
That is not, and will never be how eugenics worked, you ignorant cretin, please stop having opinions until you can learn the most basic ideas of the subjects you discuss. Thanks, bye.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday December 15 2016, @06:23PM
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 15 2016, @07:09PM
What? Evolution is the result of variation and selection. There is variation in productivity, and Welfare is selecting those with poor productivity by subsidizing their reproduction.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 15 2016, @11:46PM
u 2 dum 4 db8
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 16 2016, @12:41AM
Nobody is willing to let them just starve in the streets. They won't stop reproducing, either. Nobody is willing to tell them they cannot reproduce. Even if we were to assume some kind of social eugenics, nobody is willing to take their children from them as infants so they can be raised outside of the cycle of poverty.
There is no selection happening here.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 16 2016, @04:38AM
Those choices make it selection, pal.
There are plenty of ways to reward people for choosing not to reproduce.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 16 2016, @07:09AM
TIL every society is a eugenics society
wait for it...
TIL I am a sucker
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday December 16 2016, @05:51AM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 15 2016, @09:27PM
The study of hereditary improvement of the human race by controlled selective breeding.
In this case it is free breeding. I guess you are arguing that welfare programs are shaping genetics by making bad genes flourish, but you're just so very very wrong. There are stupid rich people, stupid successful people, and plenty of smart and capable poor people.
The great thing about reality is that it does not twist itself to match your weird ideas, so eugenics programs and research to support such is easily seen for what it is.