Satoshi Kanazawa has a theory that general human intelligence evolved partly in response to environmental novelty, and that high IQ people are more likely than low IQ people to crave novel experiences.
How did human intelligence evolve to be so high? Lynn [Lynn, R. (1991). The evolution of race differences in intelligence. Mankind Quarterly, 32, 99–173] and Rushton [Rushton, J.P. (1995). Race, evolution, and behavior: A life history perspective. New Brunswick: Transaction] suggest that the main forces behind the evolution of human intelligence were the cold climate and harsh winters, which selected out individuals of lower intelligence. In contrast, Kanazawa [Kanazawa, S. (2004). General intelligence as a domain-specific adaptation. Psychological Review, 111, 512–523] contends that it is the evolutionary novelty of the environment which increased general intelligence. Multiple regression analyses support both theories. Annual mean temperature and evolutionary novelty (measured by latitude, longitude, and distance from the ancestral environment) simultaneously have independent effects on average intelligence of populations. Temperature and evolutionary novelty together explain half to two- thirds of variance in national IQ.
Kanazawa has remarked that this theory explains why smarter people drink more than dumber people: Alcohol and its effects provide a novel mental and kinesthetic experience.
I can buy this. Based on personal observation, the smarties do tend to drink more, and take drugs more regularly. However, the less smart more often fall into crippling addiction when they take up drinking or drugs. It would seem the dumber can’t handle the novelty.
Masturbation is a form of novelty-seeking, particularly for men, because most masturbation material is hardcore porn featuring a variety of women (fatties, uggos and wall victims excluded — there’s only so far the concept of variety will stretch before it morphs into something grotesque). If Kanazawa is right, then I extrapolate from his theory that higher IQ people will masturbate more than lower IQ people.
Is there evidence for my inference? Inquisitive readers who want to collate GSS data, or who have access to any relevant studies, are welcome to try and find compelling evidence one way or the other. Operators are stroking by.
Note that I am asking for a fapping-to-prefrontal frisson correlation, rather than a sexual intercourse to smarts correlation. This way, we control for the possibility that smart people desire more sex than dumb people, but are less able (or willing) to fulfill their desires, leading to a misinterpretation of the results.
It may strike some as counterintuitive that smarties are more sexually charged than lunkheads, but sexual desire does recruit imagination centers of the brain, and imagination will be found in greater abundance in those with, well, greater brain abundance. “Vapid jocks” probably get more sexytime than the exquisitely self-aware, but that disparity could be just as much a consequence of the thwarted rocket-fueled desire of the smart as of the satisfied whitenoise desire of the dumb.