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Please help me identify a movie referred by an acquaintance. (I haven't watched it.) No cast or director info is available.

The protagonist is today's average man who participates in a scientific experiment with a time machine and lands into the future. The people in this timeline have mentally degraded due to TV addiction, their top IQ is about 80, average is 40-50. They still use technology, but have no idea how it works. They use sweet carbonated drinks for watering their crops, because they believe it is beneficial. The protagonist explains them that they should use plain water for that. When they see that it works out, they elect him as their president. At some point, they want him to solve some problem with a nuclear reactor, and ask if they should water it as well.

Buzz
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TimSparrow
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  • It appears that a lot of the plot details I provided were incorrect - word of mouth accuracy. – TimSparrow Dec 04 '17 at 12:34
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    Kind of OT, but IQ's were by definition averaged at 100, based on samples of the population (at least they used to be). The future people's IQ should average 100 too. Comparing two different populations, especially from different cultures, is troublesome at best. But that's arguing semantics, the movie's idea is fun & I plan to watch it – Xen2050 Dec 04 '17 at 12:40
  • @Xen2050 me, too. I just needed to identify it to be able to find what to watch. – TimSparrow Dec 04 '17 at 12:41
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    @Xen2050: obviously, the average person there would have, by definition, an IQ of 100; realizing that, I just assumed TimSparrow meant the average IQ there was 40 to 50 based on the scale in use today. – Jennifer Dec 04 '17 at 13:33
  • @Jennifer, I gave these details (IQ 40-50, etc) "as is" to help me with movie identification (which worked). I believe the assumptions of people's IQ are based on the current scale. Again, it is a movie, and (as it appears, a comedy), so one should not expect everything to be accurate ans scientifically justifiable. – TimSparrow Dec 04 '17 at 13:59
  • Yes, that's what I thought. – Jennifer Dec 04 '17 at 14:02
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    Honestly, if people got that stupid, I feel like they would no longer have the knowledge to rebase IQ scores or create new tests. They'd be using decades old testing which would give low scores. (Have seen the movie. People are super dumb.) – JPhi1618 Dec 04 '17 at 14:56
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    "It's got ELECTROLYTES!" – Mykewlname Dec 04 '17 at 19:38
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    Are you sure it is a Sci-Fi? That does sound nearly familiar for some places I know. – Aganju Dec 04 '17 at 21:36
  • @JPhi1618 In reality, they do rebase IQ tests pretty frequently. But not downward—humanity is improving, rather rapidly, at its ability to perform on IQ tests, so they have to keep making the tests harder to maintain the 100 average. See the Flynn effect for more details (also known as, “why Idiocracy is just plain dumb,” see also xkcd). Also note that in all cases, we are talking about IQ (and similar) test scores, which are pretty consistent measures but we aren’t quite sure exactly what they measure. – KRyan Dec 05 '17 at 05:11
  • @Xen2050: You know that, but I think they are kind of too dumb to know it... – PlasmaHH Dec 05 '17 at 20:41
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    @KRyan You seem to be invalidly extrapolating from the past into the future. The Flynn effect is an explanatory model of the observed past, it’s not a valid predictive model (nor is it meant to be). In particular, the potential explanations (from the article you linked) of the Flynn effect don’t carry over into the future, except in the short term. – Konrad Rudolph Dec 06 '17 at 10:57
  • @KonradRudolph Nnnnno, that’s not quite what I am doing, though I see your point and it is a good one. It’s not that I am saying that humanity will indefinitely continue to improve on IQ tests, it’s just that “improving on IQ tests” is what humanity has done so far, which makes the premise that IQ will go down dramatically and precipitously rather weak. Idiocracy preys on confirmation bias and it’s worth pointing out that the existing trend, anyway, is quite the opposite. Because people tend to believe that the downward trend is already happening. – KRyan Dec 06 '17 at 13:26
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    @KRyan All good points. But just because it’s so recent and so salient, here’s an intelligent more pessimistic view: http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2017/12/the_flynn_effec.html – Konrad Rudolph Dec 06 '17 at 14:44
  • We may note in passing that the premise is similar to that of “The Marching Morons” (1951) by Cyril Kornbluth. – Anton Sherwood Dec 10 '17 at 04:10
  • Cyril Kornbluth went to that well on a couple of other occasions - it was part of the background of "The Little Black Bag" and "Search the Sky", the latter of which he co-wrote with Frederik Pohl. – user888379 Mar 16 '18 at 00:23

2 Answers2

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Idiocracy

IMDb has the following summary for the film:

Private Joe Bauers, the definition of "average American", is selected by the Pentagon to be the guinea pig for a top-secret hibernation program. Forgotten, he awakes five centuries in the future. He discovers a society so incredibly dumbed down that he's easily the most intelligent person alive.

As for the specific points you raise:

  • The protagonist is today's average man who participates in a scientific experiment with a time machine and lands into the future.

    A United States Army librarian, Corporal "Average Joe" Bauers, is selected for a suspended animation experiment on grounds of average appearance, intelligence, behavior, etc.

  • The people in this timeline have mentally degraded due to TV addiction, their top IQ is about 80, average is 40-50.

    The human population has become morbidly stupid, speaks only low registers of English competently, is profoundly anti-intellectual, and individuals are named after corporate products.

  • They use sweet carbonated drinks for watering their crops, because they believe it is beneficial. The protagonist explains them that they should use plain water for that.

    Joe discovers that the nation's crops are irrigated with a sports drink named "Brawndo", whose parent corporation had purchased the FDA, FCC, and USDA. When Joe has the drink replaced with water

  • When they see that it works out, they elect him as their president. This one is slightly different because he's elected president due to his high IQ, and when he replaces the drink with water he causes riots and is sentenced to death.

    He is apprehended, but is taken to the White House, where he is appointed Secretary of the Interior, on the grounds that his IQ test identified him as the most intelligent person alive.
    ...
    When Joe has the drink replaced with water, Brawndo's stock drops to zero, and half of the population lose their jobs, causing mass riots. Joe is sentenced to die in a monster truck demolition derby featuring undefeated "Rehabilitation Officer" Beef Supreme.

  • At some point, they want him to solve some problem with a nuclear reactor, and ask if they should water it as well.

    And what about the nuc-
    "nucular" reactor in Florida?
    It's broke and leaky and something's happening.
    I thought it was in Georgia.
    Georgia's in Florida, dumb ass.
    Hey. Hey, I know.
    Let's put toilet water on it. Huh?
    Yeah!
    Good, good. That's a good idea.
    Idiocracy

You can view the trailer here:

TheLethalCarrot
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    Congratulations, you beat me by about five seconds. – Mike Scott Dec 04 '17 at 12:30
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    @MikeScott 9 seconds to be exact. – Edlothiad Dec 04 '17 at 12:31
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    I always thought that was a documentary... – PlasmaHH Dec 04 '17 at 14:54
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    And for what it's worth, Brawndo is Gatorade. It's an electrolyte drink, and the salts in it poison the crops. OP describes it as a carbonated soda and no one corrected that. – JPhi1618 Dec 04 '17 at 15:01
  • This is the correct answer to this and many other questions. – THE JOATMON Dec 04 '17 at 15:47
  • @PlasmaHH - it wasn't a documentary when filmed ... but wait a decade ... – davidbak Dec 04 '17 at 21:10
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    (RE: Nuclear Reactor) It was right after he was made vice president, after fixing the crop problem. It goes: "But how are we gonna figure out about the garbage 'ambulanches' and the 'comony'? And what about the nuc- 'nucular' reactor in Florida?". "It's broke and leaky and something's happening." ... "Hey. Hey, I know. Let's put toilet water on it. Huh?" Quote from: https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.php?movie=idiocracy –  Dec 05 '17 at 00:32
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    @AytAyt Nice find I've edited it in – TheLethalCarrot Dec 05 '17 at 08:57
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    "Water. Like out the toilet?" One of the great movie quotes. – BobRodes Dec 05 '17 at 19:15
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That's Idiocracy, for sure.

In a speech, President Camacho gives Joe the impossible job of fixing the nation's food shortages, Dust Bowls, and crippled economy within a week. Joe discovers that the nation's crops are irrigated with a sports drink named "Brawndo", whose parent corporation had purchased the FDA, FCC, and USDA. When Joe has the drink replaced with water, Brawndo's stock drops to zero, and half of the population lose their jobs, causing mass riots. Joe is sentenced to die in a monster truck demolition derby featuring undefeated "Rehabilitation Officer" Beef Supreme.

Frito and Rita discover that Joe's reintroduction of water to the soil has prompted vegetation to grow in the fields. During the televised event they show the sprouting crops on the stadium's display screen, and Camacho gives Joe a full pardon, appointing him Vice President. Joe and Rita find that the "time masheen" Frito had mentioned is merely an inaccurate, history-themed amusement ride. Following Camacho's term, Joe is elected President. Joe and Rita marry and conceive the world's three smartest children, while Vice President Frito takes eight wives and fathers 32 of the world's stupidest children.

Mike Scott
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