IQ /Eugenics?

dougall · 716714. Sun Jun 06, 2010 3:33 pm

This book states "There is no evidence that intelligence, still less virtue, is inherited" (p110)
This seemed both unlikely and interesting to me. I have started researching the subject and am finding that there are several studies that show that IQ is at least partially inherited.
The application of eugenics is a moral minefield, particularly in light of it's history but the science itself should not be defined by morality.

bobwilson · 717101. Mon Jun 07, 2010 8:37 pm

samivel · 717102. Mon Jun 07, 2010 8:39 pm

Well, seeing as this thread is in a part of the forum dedicated to The QI Book of the Dead, I should think even you could work it out with a bit of effort.

CB27 · 717109. Mon Jun 07, 2010 9:18 pm

There's a difference between Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and General Intelligence (g). I think a number of studies have shown that IQ differs for people from different backgrounds and cultures, so it seems that IQ has a high amount of "nurture" involved, whereas tests for g have produced results that show the capacity for intelligence is mostly inherited.

I think what this shows is that while we inherit our capacity for intelligence ("nature"), our development of that intelligence is affected greatly by outside influences, even from as early as when we're in the womb, from the food our mothers eat, the temperature and health of her body, etc, so that by the time we're born we've already been affected by nurture far more than we tend to give credit.

michellejane · 719297. Sun Jun 13, 2010 11:32 pm

I read it else where - I think this is one reason why so many forum owners are very hesitant to allow ethnic debates: there is too much bias, emotion, and "mean-spiritness." But if all text was written in pure scientific data format, most moderators would not even be smart enough to understand .I agree with this .