> why do so many communist nations end up massacring their people
I always assumed it was because Communism/Leninism/Maoism countries as implemented were authoritarian rather than democratic and encouraged "Animal Farm" type power distributions. Adoption of communism probably doesn't make people smarter, causally. But rejection of evidence-based worldviews can certainly have consequential results for individuals and communities.
Surprisingly, this has been studied -- here a broad introduction: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religiosity_and_intelligence#S...
> why do so many communist nations end up massacring their people
I always assumed it was because Communism/Leninism/Maoism countries as implemented were authoritarian rather than democratic and encouraged "Animal Farm" type power distributions. Adoption of communism probably doesn't make people smarter, causally. But rejection of evidence-based worldviews can certainly have consequential results for individuals and communities.