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From: riddle@ut-sally.UUCP (Prentiss Riddle)
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: Re: Breeding of Humans
Message-ID: <677@ut-sally.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 21-Dec-83 13:03:59 EST
Article-I.D.: ut-sally.677
Posted: Wed Dec 21 13:03:59 1983
Date-Received: Fri, 23-Dec-83 00:38:52 EST
References: <331@hocda.UUCP>, <1123@rocksvax.UUCP> <1128@rocksvax.UUCP> <1160@mhuxm.UUCP>
Organization: U. Texas CS Dept., Austin, Texas
Lines: 31

I'm rather surprised that people are taking this discussion so seriously.  How
many of you really believe that qualities like intelligence can be bred for?
Do you have any trustworthy evidence that this is the case?

My suspicion, which I'll admit is not founded on any systematic study of the
matter, is that the genetic component of human intelligence is dwarfed by a
huge variety of environmental factors:  health of the mother, pre- and post-
natal nutrition, stimulation at an early age, education, and societal emphasis
on intellectual activities, just to name a few.  Serious neglect in any of
these areas can turn anyone with the genes for genius (if such even exist) into
a simpleton;  some would even argue that genius is really a fortuitous combi-
nation of these environmental factors, and that "native intelligence" is a myth
(with the one major exception that some people are born idiots).  Our very
definition of terms like "intelligence" and "genius" is subjective and 
cultural;  I.Q. tests and the like mostly just test society's notions of what
an individual's abilities should be, not the individual's innate capacity.  It
seems very unlikely to me that there is a gene controlling intelligence, at
least not what we usually mean by the word.

When the subject of eugenics comes up, the example of Nazi Germany usually gets
dragged in.  Whatever it was the Nazis were doing with their eugenics programs,
they were NOT breeding a race of supermen.  While they did do a limited amount
of selecting  a g a i n s t  certain genetic traits -- gross physical disorders
and the like -- they were certainly not selecting  f o r  intelligence or
anything like it.  They were selecting primarily along the lines of religion,
politics, and race, and if there is anything that the geneticists are sure of,
it is that such groupings have no bearing whatsoever on intelligence.
----
Prentiss Riddle
("Aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada.")
{ihnp4,seismo,ctvax}!ut-sally!riddle