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IDIOCRACY Opening Scene (2006) Mike Judge

JoBlo Movie ClipsCited 10× on HN, 2020–2026
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comedy · general · evergreen · 2020–2026 on HN

The opening scene of the 2006 film Idiocracy, which explains in a short montage how average intelligence declines as less intelligent people have more children.

HN links it in threads on fertility, IQ and demographics as a famous, if satirical, illustration of the argument.

10 comments from Hacker News

@dist-epoch2026-04 · in “Are We Idiocracy Yet?”

> Unless I'm misremembering, and it did make direct reference to intelligence rather than education and access to it. They literally show IQ numbers in that scene. > Trevor: IQ 138, Carol: IQ 141 vs: > Clevon: IQ 84 ▶ this video

@LargoLasskhyfv2025-11 · in “Are We Doomed?”

Yes. As shown by the intro/trailer of Idiocracy in 2006. link or ▶ this video Don't worry. Enjoy the ride...

@theshrike792023-06 · in “Global fertility has collapsed, with profound economic consequences”

A conversation about fertility isn't complete without a link to The Idiocracy (2006) opening scene: ▶ this video (length 4:39) It's surprisingly accurate, even if it's very exaggerated, because that's the premise of the movie. tl;dw "Smart/Rich" people put off having kids to the Perfect Time in their life and never end up having kids or maybe just the one. "Stupid/Poor" people just keep having kids all the time.

@Herval_freire2023-04 · in “American IQ Scores Have Rapidly Dropped, Proving the 'Reverse Flynn Effect'”

It's useful. You have to think on the macro scale. The evolution of the entire population rather then individuals. On the individual level stupider people reproduce more so evolutionary speaking it's more efficient to be stupid. However if a small portion of the population has high IQ they can move society forward via say the discovery of electricity, mathematics, etc, etc. This propels every individual forward as a whole at the detriment of a few individuals who are to nerdy or geeky to get laid that often. Thus from a high level perspective, there is selection pressure that works on the population of people that makes it so that our genes have the mechanisms in place to produce an occasional genius via specific combinations of or simple mutations. For reference this is a short and informative video on the topic: ▶ this video

@tpmx2022-08 · in “How to stay focused while working on your startup and having a 9 to 5”

I don't think anyone is blaming the kids. I mean, the decisions to have the kids were made by adults. I'm in favor of blaming the adults. That said, us nerds probably shouldn't stop reproducing. The intro to Idiocracy (2006) is quite relevant today: ▶ this video I heard Mike Judge on a podcast about a month ago (JRE) saying that the ability to make that intro was a large factor in his motivation of making the Idiocracy movie in the first place.