Clever people live longer. Those who possess high childhood IQs tend to survive to a riper old age than peers who score less well, according to research published last week in the British Medical Journal.

While similar positive associations between cognitive ability and health have been observed before — those with degrees, for example, tend to be longer-lived than those without — this paper has inspired discussion of a radical theory that is barely known outside a small coterie of researchers.

The “system integrity” theory contends that high-IQ individuals are not just healthier because they are better at heeding health advice, such as to stop smoking, or earn more (well-paid professions might offer safer working environments and better healthcare).