Blindspots of Arkianism

I personally think you are framing your idea of an ideal intentional community the wrong way and that you are looking for some of the wrong traits. IQ is overrated.

I actually think being an average to slightly above average IQ community with a strong sense of adherence to religious law, patriarchal customs, asabiyyah ( social solidarity with an emphasis on unity, group consciousness, and a sense of shared purpose and social cohesion, originally used in the context of tribalism), etc.  is all that you need.

Intentional communities of 'high IQ' individuals fail for a variety of reasons.  I think lack of asabiyyah is a big reason. These communities may share 'values' on a surface level or may belong to these same 'race'  but at the end of the day its just a hodge-podge of pseudo intellectuals trying to use a group for their own gain. Also there often times is not enough kinship ties to bind these groups together. Europens are pretty deracinated and have been detribalized due to the policies of the Catholic Church with the expansion of Christianity. I doubt most Amerimutts or even Europeans can identify their specific ethnic group ie 'caste'/'tribe'/'clan' they belonged to before the Catholic Church deracinated them and forged them into entities that would lead to the modern day nation state.

Another reason These eugenic intentional communities fail is because they are hyperfocused on certain traits such as high IQ. Thought experiment, If you were the leader of your own 'eugenic' intentional community who would you rather have as your new kin?:

1. Some 'high iq'/ low testosterone theoreticians that cannot attract women, cant bench press 135 lbs despite having adequate nutrition their whole lives, have been sedentary and glued to electronic screens their whole lives, and have no practical skills

2.High testosterone tribal/pastoral/nomad such as a Pashtun in Afghanistan or a Mongol that are battle tested and/or have useful skills such as herding, farming, a manual trade, religious knowledge due to years of study in a madrassah , etc.
Pashtuns were able to defeat the most powerful military in history starting with nothing. They essentially had to claw tooth and nail for basic weaponry off of defeated enemies.

Trying to be inclusive of many faiths is a failed approach. You need 1 religion. I think Islam is better than mennonites due to the fact that Mennonites have not shown to be capable of self defense.

" sedentary people have entrusted defense of their property and their lives to the governor who rules them, they find full assurance of safety in the fortifications that protect them. No noise disturbs them, and no hunting occupies them. They are carefree and trusting, and have ceased to carry weapons.
Successive generations have grown up in this way of life. They have become like women and children who depend on the master of the house. Eventually, this has come to be a quality of character that replaces natural disposition."- Ibn Khaldun

Mennonites are dependent on stability that the state provides them. In the breakdown of any order they will be among the first people targeted by malevolent parties.

The logical religion for an intentional community that hopes to have a sense of asabiyyah  is Islam. You can fix the kinship problem by arranging marriages to your founding stock members by blood this is a practice that was done by the companions of the prophet and the salaf (first 3 generations of Muslims).

A criticism that someone can have is that Islam is too inclusive. That can be both a blessing and a hinderance and something that requires a more nuanced separate conversation.

But my point is that IQ is overrated. I would rather have some seasoned warriors with useful skills, a backbone, and some courage than many of the 'high iq' people that yearn for a society built on religious values. People that think they have 'high IQ' tend to have some neuroticism and  many that I have interacted with in the United States tend to be soft and not committed to taking action.

Patriarchal 'lower IQ' people that I have interacted with in the east tend to be more masculine, more comitted to taking action, and are better at protecting their values.

I don't see where we disgree, I just think you misunderstand the Arkian idea.  I don't believe in intentional communities in general as I wrote here.  I removed this section when I rewrote the about page to be more focused on religion.  Should I add it back?

The whole point of the Arkian idea is to complement a religious community by making sure that there is at least a subset of the religious community that can think clearly.  Thinking clearly is more than just IQ.  In fact I recently updated the Go test section to make this point.

Asabiyyah should come from religious community, but asabiyyah is not enough by itself.  You still need some people who can think clearly.

I am not sure why you think high IQ correlates to low testosterone.  I just googled it and found the opposite.

People that think they have 'high IQ' tend to have some neuroticism and many that I have interacted with in the United States tend to be soft and not committed to taking action.

I think high IQ people are almost extinct in America, so I doubt you met many if any.  Of the 2 high IQ people I knew, one went insane and the other killed himself.  America is not a good environment for intelligent people.  Both of the 2 people I knew were not soft and were action-oriented.

I think Islam has the most hope, but that is not a reason not to give other religions a chance to increase their intelligence.  When I move, I will just see who is interested, but I will start with the mosques.

fschmidt wrote

Thinking clearly is more than just IQ.

True. I wouldn't want people with no creativity or sense of humor in my community. IQ tests or board games don't test for these.