[ WP ] Several hundred years in the future , the average intelligence of humanity has increased 100 fold . You have just discovered the dark history behind this change that had remained hidden for centuries .

It was our children who brought up our average intelligence. As quickly as the savants entered the school system, they graduated with multiple PhDs just as quickly. Even the stupidest only took a few years to go from kindergarten to bachelor's degree, and another few to get their first PhDs. 
 
 Most of us parents thought each of our children were something precocious, a special snowflake that was far smarter than the rest. 
 
 I, however, noticed that all of our kids were getting smarter and an entire generation was that special snowflake. I just wish I had noticed it sooner. 
 
 My kids were 10 and 12, and the youngest had just gotten his bachelor's and the oldest had gotten multiple PhDs at the same time, without even breaking a sweat. Among a generation of geniuses, she was a true genius, and the boy was showing signs of similar promise. 
 
 This is when I had decided to ask them the question, `` Why are you guys so smart?'' I asked. `` Not just you but your entire generation.'' 
 
 The kids looked at each other. `` Daddy,'' said my girl. `` It was the cigarettes. Monsanto sold genetically engineered tobacco to all of the companies back when it was legal to smoke. That genetically engineered tobacco rippled throughout the human DNA for the last seven centuries, among smokers and non smokers, and finally kicked in with us. The only effects were to increase our cognitive power and to increase the likelihood of several cancers.'' 
 
 I just stared at her dumbfounded. 
 
 `` I wrote several peer reviewed papers on it. You can read them if you want.''
