After a few consecutive posts about my resolution fulfilling antics, I figured it was time for something topical. Unfortunately, skin lotion only has so much comedic potential. So instead I came across another piece of research from the "Common sense, innit?" files.

According to a study dug out by the Telegraph, people who score higher on intelligence tests tend to live longer. It cites factors such as better diet, lower incidence of smoking or alcohol abuse and even a reduced suicide rate in the higher-scoring portion of the populace. I figure it has more to do with the intelligentsia being a bit less likely to do stuff like this:

So yet again, a large amount of time and effort has gone into conducting surveys and poring over death certificates, when all the evidence they needed was right there in the Darwin Awards.

Now, there are some potential applications of this research - it might help convince politicians that education would help solve some of the drink and obesity problems we face as a nation.

However, my faith in the academic community was immediately dashed when I saw the related link: Healthy Life Can Give You Another 14 Years

An unhealthy person is more likely to die than a healthy person. Isn't that just a definition of unhealthy? Granted, they put a number on it, but that takes all the mystery out of life. Clean living people would know that as soon as their couch potato friends started dying, they themselves would have less than a decade and a half to live. And nobody wants detailed knowledge of their own life expectancy looming over them, especially when taking the edge off with a beer and a fag would shorten their remaining days even further.

But its ok, all our health problems can be solved by making the unhealthy stuff cost more. It must be the solution, it came from a Scottish GP, and who would know more about moderation than a nation who batter pizzas?