The modern West is in decline. Economic stagnation, rising tax burdens, moral disorientation, political corruption, bloated bureaucracies, and soaring levels of poverty, drug addiction and homelessness, all point to a faltering civilization. While many agree that the West is faltering, explanations as to why vary; some blame the collapse of religion and the loss of a shared moral order, others the rise of consumerism and hedonism, or the dumbing down effects of modern technology. Still others point to mass-immigration, the rise of socialist ideologies, or the corrosive influence of the mainstream media. Yet these explanations may be masking a deeper, more fundamental cause: the biological deterioration of Western men and women. Or as the medical doctor Peter Niemann writes:
“Many books have been written about the decline of the West, some brilliant… Unfortunately, however, they do not focus on the biological dimension and so miss the point…the decline, even collapse, of the United States and the Western countries as a whole is directly, causally connected to changes in biology.”
Peter Niemann, From Apex to Abyss: The Biological Roots of the West’s Decline and What Can Be Done to Reverse It
In this video, we draw from Niemann’s book From Apex to Abyss: The Biological Roots of the West’s Decline and What Can Be Done to Reverse It, to explore how widespread biological changes are driving the West’s fall from grace.
For all our technological and cultural sophistication, we are biological animals, and the body is the foundation of the human world. Every thought we form, every value we hold, every invention we produce, is influenced by our biology. Politics may flow downstream from culture, but both culture and politics flow downstream from biology. If the biological condition of a people deteriorates, if they become physically weaker, more obese, less intelligent, or if their hormonal balance is disrupted, the state of culture and politics deteriorates as well. As Niemann puts it:
“It should be obvious how changing just a few things in a person’s body can make people think, act, and live completely differently. What would happen to societies if they were to experience these effects among most or even all of their citizens? What if they all experienced a drop in their IQ or gained weight; would not their societies act differently? If the people making up society are not the same as before, how could the societies themselves be immune to those effects?.. Well, this is just what happened in recent decades. People have changed because their bodies have changed. The biological reality of today’s society and citizens is vastly different from what it was a few decades ago.”
Peter Niemann, From Apex to Abyss: The Biological Roots of the West’s Decline and What Can Be Done to Reverse It
A decline in intelligence is one sign pointing to a biological decline among Westerners. For most of the 20th century, average IQ scores in developed nations rose steadily – a trend first identified by the researcher John Flynn in the 1980s. Subsequent studies confirmed this finding and showed that between 1909 and 2013, IQ scores in Western countries increased by roughly two standard deviations, or about 0.28 points, per year. This phenomenon is known as the Flynn effect.
“Many experts believe that this rising intelligence contributed significantly to the wave of innovation in the 20th century, which saw breakthroughs in science, technology, and industry.”
Peter Niemann, From Apex to Abyss: The Biological Roots of the West’s Decline and What Can Be Done to Reverse It
But starting in the early 21st century, the rise in IQ slowed, plateaued, and then IQ levels began to decline. Western individuals started to become less intelligent, year over year. This dumbing down of Westerners was first noted by scientists in Denmark, but in recent years researchers in nearly all Western countries have confirmed this trend.
“Something happened to the West,…the new generation stopped being smarter than their parents’ generation and even started becoming dumber…As scientists studied and compared various countries, it became evident that prosperous Western countries had, for the most part, experienced a decline in the average IQ starting around the turn of the century… while most non-Western countries, including those in Asia, Africa and also South America had experienced the opposite, a continued rise in IQ rates…The magnitude of the IQ reduction [in the West] is in the range of 0.1-0.3 IQ points per year, seemingly offsetting the rise in IQ levels of Western populations in prior decades.”
Peter Niemann, From Apex to Abyss: The Biological Roots of the West’s Decline and What Can Be Done to Reverse It
Niemann lists several factors that can account for this widespread IQ reduction. The first is the increase in marijuana usage. In 1970, only 4% of American adults reported using marijuana in the last year. Today, around 22% of adults report past-year use, with daily or near-daily use 5–10 times higher than in the early 1970s. Among the youth, daily marijuana use is now higher than daily alcohol use for the first time in history. And as Niemann writes:
“A large number of scientific publications show that regular use of marijuana and THC (a main active ingredient in marijuana) leads to lower adult IQ values. The younger one is when starting to use THC products, the more regular the usage and the larger the quantity consumed… correlate negatively with intelligence in adulthood.”
Peter Niemann, From Apex to Abyss: The Biological Roots of the West’s Decline and What Can Be Done to Reverse It
Pesticide usage also correlates negatively with IQ. Niemann cites a study showing that American children who live within five miles of farms that use pesticides have IQ levels 2.6 points lower than children who grow up farther away from such agricultural chemicals. Yet as Niemann adds, “As these pesticides are found in many residues in food and food products, we may assume that their effects go beyond those who work on or live close to farms where they are used: they affect people who consume food products or drink water tainted by these substances.”
Spending hours a day glued to the screen of a smartphone or tablet is also contributing to the dumbing down of Western individuals.
“There’s an abundance of evidence that screen time also adversely affects the brain, specifically the development of intelligence in children and infants.”
Peter Niemann, From Apex to Abyss: The Biological Roots of the West’s Decline and What Can Be Done to Reverse It
Increased screen time coincides with declining levels of physical activity, which is known to hinder neurocognitive development in children. And when reduced movement is paired with diets high in sugar and processed foods, the result is a dramatic rise in obesity. According to a study titled The Origins of the Obesity Epidemic in the USA, in the 1970s, only about 15% of American adults were obese. Today, that number has risen to 43%, and 74% of American adults considered overweight. Obesity among children has risen from 4.2% to 16.9% in the same time span. And as Niemann notes, multiple studies show that excess body fat impairs intelligence and cognitive functioning. In other words, one of the reasons Western populations are getting dumber is simply because they are fatter than ever. And as Niemann writes regarding the studies linking higher body weight to negative cognitive performance:
“These findings suggest that in Western societies, where overweight and obesity rates have risen sharply in recent decades, cognitive function across large segments of the population may be adversely affected.”
Peter Niemann, From Apex to Abyss: The Biological Roots of the West’s Decline and What Can Be Done to Reverse It
Obesity suppresses testosterone production, as does porn consumption, excessive screen time, and endocrine disrupting chemicals found in plastic products and packaging, personal care and household products, and tap water. And falling testosterone levels are another sign that the biology of Western individuals is deteriorating. Across the Western world, the average testosterone level of men has fallen by 30 to 50 percent in just two generations. In contrast, in many non-Western societies, such as regions of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and South America, men are experiencing less of a decline in testosterone levels, or in some cases, no decline at all.
“A 30-year-old [Western] male today has a significantly lower testosterone level than a 30-year-old male born 30 years earlier… almost the same (low) testosterone level as his 60-year-old father.”, writes Niemann.
Peter Niemann, From Apex to Abyss: The Biological Roots of the West’s Decline and What Can Be Done to Reverse It
Testosterone is not only a hormone associated with aggression and reproduction; it is the biological substrate of energy, confidence, drive, and purpose. It enhances muscular strength and bone density, as well as focus, mood, competitiveness, resilience, and it decreases fatigue and sensitivity to pain.
“In experiments where participants were splashed with ice-cold water, those with higher testosterone levels showed a reduced reaction and stress response, that is, stronger resilience and resistance to stress.”, explains Niemann. “The so-called parasympathetic nervous system, which has a more relaxing effect on the body, was more strongly activated in men with high T [testosterone], and they remained overall calmer.”
Peter Niemann, From Apex to Abyss: The Biological Roots of the West’s Decline and What Can Be Done to Reverse It
As testosterone levels have fallen, so has fertility. Sperm counts in Western men have declined by more than half since the 1970s, while birth rates have fallen below replacement levels in every Western country. The biological engine of civilization – fertility – is sputtering. And as Niemann explains:
“Declining testosterone levels also negatively affect sperm count and quality. Sperm cells are produced in the testicles under the direct influence of testosterone: if levels are low, then sperm quality and numbers decrease, impairing male fertility. It has been observed at least since the 1970s that both sperm count and quality are decreasing in most Western countries.”
Peter Niemann, From Apex to Abyss: The Biological Roots of the West’s Decline and What Can Be Done to Reverse It
Low testosterone levels can account for the crisis of masculinity and the scarcity of men who embody the virtues of heroic manhood. A society of men with healthy testosterone tends to be oriented toward building, protecting, taking principled risks, defending and upholding important values, and showing resilience in the face of hardship. But as testosterone levels decline, the character of men changes. Men with low testosterone are apathetic, physically and emotionally fragile, pathologically risk-averse, obsessed with safety, and increasingly dependent on external authorities – be it parents, bureaucrats, or the state – to guide, protect, and provide. And as Niemann writes:
“Could it be that young men increasingly stay at home because they are listless and lacking in energy? That they prefer video games to being out and about in reality because they feel apathetic about life? That there is less and less drive in men because they simply have less testosterone?…Western men are less competitive and aggressive, more listless, apathetic, depressed, less dynamic, childless, weaker, more sensitive to pain, and less powerful…We may safely assume that even the tendency towards androgynous could stem from a decrease in T [testosterone] levels.”
Peter Niemann, From Apex to Abyss: The Biological Roots of the West’s Decline and What Can Be Done to Reverse It
The biological decline of Western individuals can also help explain the growing authoritarian tendencies of Western governments. As IQ and testosterone levels have dropped, people have become more apathetic to political corruption, less resistant to governmental overreach, and more accepting of the simplistic narratives of state propaganda. An intellectually dull society is more likely to demand paternalistic government rule and far more likely to accept authoritarian or totalitarian forms of governance – as the COVID era made clear.
“Scientists have found a correlation,” Niemann writes, “between more intelligent citizens and a more vibrant, transparent, open, and largely corruption-free democracy…Research suggests that individuals with lower intelligence tend to show less interest in democratic values, combating corruption, and promoting transparency.”
Peter Niemann, From Apex to Abyss: The Biological Roots of the West’s Decline and What Can Be Done to Reverse It
Or as Niemann continues:
“The data show that corruption has increased in Western countries from 1996 to 2023, while many non-Western countries have seen a decline in that societal scourge. In other words, over the past 17 years, democratic processes have taken a hit in almost all Western countries, and corruption has worsened in the past 27 years…Just when these negative shifts in corruption and democracy began, we saw a drop in intelligence…On top of that, testosterone levels have fallen, and there’s an interesting (though subtle) correlation between high testosterone levels and the imperative to achieve justice. Men with lower testosterone are more likely to accept injustice rather than fight it.”
Peter Niemann, From Apex to Abyss: The Biological Roots of the West’s Decline and What Can Be Done to Reverse It
Despite the severity of our civilizational decline, Niemann reminds us that the West’s continued collapse is not inevitable. “Such decline or collapse can be and has been averted,” he writes. “There are countless examples of empires on the brink of collapse regaining strength to prosper again.” But for the West to recover strength, more individuals need to recognize that a healthy civilization “is based on certain types of behavior, not others, on specific body types and character types” (Peter Niemann, From Apex to Abyss)
The importance of a healthy body for a healthy mind, and in turn, a healthy society, was recognized by the great 20th century American psychologist William James, who wrote:
“I hope that here in America more and more the ideal of the well-trained and vigorous body will be maintained neck by neck with that of the well-trained and vigorous mind as the two coequal halves of the higher education for men and women alike.”
William James, The Gospel of Relaxation
Reversing the biological decline of the West begins with the individual. By eating less processed foods, minimizing exposure to pesticides and chemical-laden products, exercising regularly, lifting weights to support healthy testosterone levels, and prioritizing restorative sleep, we improve the health of our body and by extension our mind. But these choices do more than improve our personal well-being. For each act of biological renewal functions as a modest but important contribution to the renewal of Western civilization itself. For a society cannot be strong and vital when the bodies of its people are fat and weak.
“In reality only a change…of the individual can bring about a renewal in the spirit of nations. Everything begins with the individual.”, observed Carl Jung.
Carl Jung, Collected Works Volume 11
Or as Niemann warns:
“We are in jeopardy. We need to reverse the current trends, to realize that our nation was built on strong, healthy minds and bodies…Unfortunately, our bodies and, with them, our minds have become weaker, sicker, not what they used to be…the Western model will fail as long as we fail to recognize this decline and try to reverse it…as we, the peoples of the United States and other Western countries, continue to weaken, our countries will continue to decline, and our societies will become less efficient, more dysfunctional.”
Peter Niemann, From Apex to Abyss: The Biological Roots of the West’s Decline and What Can Be Done to Reverse It
