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Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 12, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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A quick cross-cultural comparison: Wife-beating is common in Eastern-European cultures (say, 1-in-10 couples). A stereotypical Russian phrase, uttered by a Russian wife about to get beaten, is "Just don't punch the stomach!". It's reasonable to suppose that, in the past, the rate at which pregnant women got beaten was higher than now.

I recon that the force experienced from a car deceleration is smaller than an occasional drunken punch on the womb.

With this evidence, we could also say that Russia’s relatively lower IQ and relatively higher behavioral problem scores are related to how often the women are beaten… though I would guess that most wife-beaters target the face and not the womb, but I don’t know.

Russia doesn’t have lower IQ scores, though?

(taps calculator) Ah, so it's the prenatal beatings keeping them smart!

(this is intended as a joke)

The other way around. If it weren’t for the beatings, the average Russian would reach his natural IQ of 130.

If you think about it, many Russians are East Asians. Technically. Geography at least.

The mind reels (again).

I thought it was lower but just checked you’re right