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Re: IQ and "far transfer." Daviess County in KY had a K-12 program where every child in the system from 1996/7 to 2010 was taught chess, a foreign language, given music lessons, and folkdancing. The idea was to build better brains in general, not make the children grandmasters or concert violinists. It was called Graduation 2010, and initial results were encouraging. But in the end there was nothing after all. I was saddened at the time. I had hopes that exactly this sort of nonspecific intervention was going to be the long-term solution.

https://assistantvillageidiot.blogspot.com/2010/08/disappointing-news.html

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I should mention that one of my commenters had it right. It can still be valuable because those things are good to do for their own sakes, whether they make you smarter or not. I feel the same way about reading aloud to your children. It's just fun to do. Do it.

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I find it funny that you mention BMI. As a young man mine was high even though I was in excellent shape because I lifted weights. I later had a bad accident and I am disabled now. I weight 400 lbs and I shrunk in height. I am obviously morbidly obese, but when I was 200 lbs, I was in shape, but I was heavy from muscle. Men who have spent years lifting will weigh considerably more than men who do not. That said, it is roughly right I assume.

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I enjoyed reading the links you provided on the replication crisis in history. Gosh, it’s hard enough to trust scientific results, having to vet historical storytelling is even worse!

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