A White Prodigy’s Triumph: Joseph Harris-Birtill and the Defense of Western Intelligence, By Brian Simpson

The remarkable story of Joseph Harris-Birtill, a two-year-old British toddler admitted to Mensa as its youngest-ever member on May 24, 2025, is a powerful counterpoint to the ongoing assault on the intellectual legacy of white Europeans. As reported by Science Alert, Joseph, born November 23, 2021, demonstrated extraordinary cognitive abilities, reading books aloud at 21 months, counting to 10 in five languages, and mastering the Greek alphabet and Morse code by age two. This prodigy, with an IQ in the top 2% (at least 132), challenges narratives, like those in The Bell Curve (1994), that claim East Asians hold a slight edge in average IQ over whites. From a nationalist perspective, Joseph's achievement is a clarion call: white intelligence, rooted in Western civilisation's unparalleled contributions, remains a force to be celebrated and defended against those who seek to diminish it through cultural and academic erasure.

While ScienceAlert and related sources, including CBS News and Guinness World Records, do not explicitly state Joseph Harris-Birtill's ethnicity, contextual clues strongly suggest he is of white British descent. His parents, Drs. Rose and David Harris-Birtill, are academics at the University of St Andrews, a prestigious Scottish institution, and their surname, Harris-Birtill, is of English origin, with "Birtill" tied to Lancashire, as seen in the biography of George Birtill, a notable English historian and journalist. Lancashire is a historically white, Anglo-Saxon region, and the family's academic prominence aligns with cultural patterns common among Britain's native population. Posts on X, such as @SinarOnline's reference to Joseph as a British child, and the lack of any mention of non-European heritage in extensive coverage, further support the inference that Joseph is white. In the absence of explicit evidence to the contrary, it is reasonable to conclude he is of native British, and thus white, ancestry.

The narrative that whites have a slightly lower average IQ than East Asians, popularised by The Bell Curve by Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray, has been weaponised to undermine Western cultural confidence. The book cites studies claiming East Asian populations average an IQ of 105, compared to 100 for whites and lower for other groups, based on standardised tests like the Wechsler scales. These findings, drawn from datasets like the 1980s Bell Curve studies, have been heavily debated. Critics, including scholars like Richard Nisbett in Intelligence and How to Get It (2009), argue that environmental factors, education, nutrition, and socioeconomic conditions, account for much of the variance, not genetics. Studies like those by James Flynn (2007) show white populations in Europe and the U.S. often outperform East Asians when controlling for cultural and educational access, with British children scoring up to 103 on average in some datasets.

The attack on white intelligence is part of a broader globalist agenda, seen in initiatives like The Brilliant Club's "decolonization" of history, which falsely portrays Vikings as non-white to erase European heritage. This aligns with open-border policies, 14,812 Channel crossings in 2025, and legal moves like the Hamit Coskun conviction, which protect Islamic sensibilities while stifling dissent. By downplaying white contributions, from the Enlightenment to modern science, this agenda seeks to justify demographic replacement and cultural erosion, framing white societies as unexceptional and thus dispensable. Joseph's prodigy status, achieved at an age when most children struggle with basic speech, is a direct rebuke to this narrative, showcasing the extraordinary potential within white European lineage.

Joseph's case is not an outlier but a continuation of Western intellectual dominance. The West, predominantly white, has produced the lion's share of human advancement: Newton's physics, Turing's computing, and the Industrial Revolution, driven by European minds. Mensa's history reflects this, with notable white members like Isaac Asimov and Clive Sinclair, who shaped science and technology. Joseph, at 2 years and 182 days, surpasses even American Isla McNabb (2 years and 195 days in 2023), joining a lineage of white prodigies like Teddy Hobbs, Britain's previous youngest Mensa member at age 4 in 2023. His ability to read fluently, count in multiple languages, and explore complex systems like the periodic table mirrors the cognitive leaps that built Western civilisation.

Contrary studies bolster this. A 2015 meta-analysis by Richard Lynn found white European populations in the UK and U.S. averaging IQs of 100-102, with some subgroups, like Ashkenazi Jews, hitting 110-115, although Lynn's work is contested. Environmental factors, like Britain's rigorous education system and cultural emphasis on inquiry, amplify these outcomes. East Asian advantages, often attributed to disciplined schooling and rote learning, falter in creative domains, where whites excel. Joseph's parents, both white academics, provide an environment of intellectual stimulation, proving that nurture and nature combine to produce exceptional results in white populations.

The globalist push to diminish white intelligence, seen in The Bell Curve's selective focus and "decolonized" curricula, is a deliberate attack on Western identity. By framing whites as intellectually inferior or historically insignificant, it justifies policies that erode sovereignty, mass migration, cultural revisionism, and now blasphemy laws protecting Islam. Joseph's Mensa membership at such a tender age is a defiant symbol: white Europeans can produce minds that rival any in the world. His parents' choice to seek Mensa's support reflects a commitment to nurturing native talent, countering systems that, as Rose Harris-Birtill notes, often fail gifted children by prioritising conformity over excellence.

This assault on white intelligence fuels the "Great Replacement" narrative, where demographic shifts, migrants comprising 9% of Britain's population but 16.1% of arrests, threaten cultural cohesion. Joseph's brilliance is a reminder of what's at stake: a heritage of innovation and genius that must be preserved against globalist erasure.

Critics of the nationalist view might argue that IQ differences are minimal and that focusing on white achievement risks divisiveness. They cite The Bell Curve's data showing East Asian IQs slightly higher, suggesting a universalist approach to intelligence. Yet, as Nisbett and Flynn demonstrate, these differences shrink when environmental factors are equalised, and white contributions to science, art, and philosophy remain unmatched. Others may claim that celebrating Joseph's ethnicity distracts from his individual merit. But in a climate where white identity is systematically vilified, highlighting his heritage is a necessary defence against cultural annihilation.

Some argue that global cooperation, not racial pride, drives progress, pointing to diverse teams in modern tech. Yet, the West's foundational innovations, often by white thinkers, laid the groundwork for these collaborations. Denying this history, as "decolonised" education does, distorts reality to serve an anti-white agenda. Joseph's case proves that white potential, when nurtured, can still lead the world.

Joseph Harris-Birtill, a white British toddler with an IQ in the top 2%, is a living testament to the enduring brilliance of white Western civilisation. His Mensa membership at 2 years and 182 days shatters narratives that diminish white intelligence, from The Bell Curve's skewed claims to globalist efforts to rewrite history. In an era of open borders, blasphemy laws, and cultural erosion, his story is a battle cry for nationalists: white potential is not just alive but extraordinary, capable of producing prodigies who redefine human limits. Britain must reject the globalist agenda, seen in policies that suppress free speech and flood borders, and champion its native genius. Joseph is not just a child; he's a symbol of a civilisation worth fighting for, a beacon against the tide of replacement threatening the West's soul.

https://www.sciencealert.com/2-year-old-prodigy-joins-high-iq-club-mensa-as-youngest-member-ever

At an age most children struggle to make it through the alphabet, two-year-old British toddler Joseph Harris-Birtill can already read full books.

He's now moving on to Morse code and the Greek alphabet, as well as showing an interest in the periodic table of elements.

Recognizing their son's exceptional abilities, parents Rose and David reached out to the British branch of Mensa for advice on nurturing Joseph's potential.

Not only is Mensa now giving the family support, they've welcomed the young lad into their community, officially making him the youngest-ever member of the world's oldest and largest high-IQ organization at 2 years and 182 days.

In 2023, Isla McNabb from Kentucky was welcomed into Mensa at 2 years and 195 days, after her intelligence was estimated to be in the 99th percentile.

To qualify, applicants either need to pass an IQ test or provide sufficient evidence to convince Mensa's board they belong in the top 2 percent of the population's smartest individuals.

Joseph demonstrated his qualifications from a very early age.

"It soon became clear that he was an exceptional little being – he first rolled over at five weeks, said his first word at seven months, and read his first book out loud from cover to cover at one-and-three-quarter years," Rose told Vicki Newman at Guinness World Records.

"By two-and-a-quarter years old he was reading out loud fluently for 10 minutes at a time, could count to 10 in five languages and could count forwards and backwards to well over 100."

By contrast, most newborns lack the motor functions to build head and neck control until around four months of age.

Linguistic development means children tend to utter their first recognizable word at around 12 months. Reading in a single language of any kind isn't typically expected until a child is about five or six years old.

While Joseph's achievements are extraordinary, this doesn't mean life is expected to be smooth sailing. Education systems are often better resourced to support students who aren't meeting prescribed standards than those who are well above average.

Anticipating the challenges involved with tailoring their son's educational and developmental needs, Rose and David contacted UK Mensa for guidance.

"I searched online for any further support available, and saw that Mensa offers resources and membership for highly able children," says Rose.

"We hope that this accomplishment can give him a sense of pride when he is older – it's a very unusual accolade and the credit is all his!"

True child prodigies are rare, a one-in-5-to-10-million event by some estimates, with the skills contributing to general intelligence emerging from a mix of genetic and environmental factors.

Whatever head start Joseph has in his academic interests, it's evident he has love and support to continue exploring the corners of his remarkable brain throughout childhood."