>>12599847IQ is postively correlated with impulse control; the smarter you are the easier it is to get over addictions, phobias, restrict sexual urges, defer gratification, be emotionally stable, not have violent/homicidal outbursts etc.
>or is that overcoming simply an overcoming of genetically instilled mental obstacles to overcome?Unlikely. We were probably under selection for traits like impulse control/conscientiousness (and IQ) until recently for the fitness advantage they used to give us (in preindustrial europe the richer half of the population had double the amount of children surviving to adulthood than the poorer half) but there's probably a limit to how much "rationality driven" as opposed to emotionally so can humans get. If you think yourself out of basic things like falling in love and having kids you are mot gonna pass on your genes. Unsurprisingly, historically, geniuses have had an extremely low fertiljlity rate. Right now, it looks like the direction of selection has been inverted and we're getting dumber and more impulsive as the generations pass.
