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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