In the mid-19th century a number of biological and social scientists came to believe that the genetic quality of the populations of the Western world was deteriorating due to the relaxation of natural selection, the process by which nature eliminates the unfit in each generation by reducing their fertility and by early death. Francis Galton, Darwin's young cousin, argued for consciously designed selection through which human societies would control and improve their own genetic quality. For this consciously designed selection, Galton in 1883 proposed the term eugenics. Almost a century later, William Schockley proposed the term dysgenics for the genetic deterioration that eugenics was designed to correct.Although the view that the populations of Western nations were deteriorating genetically and that steps needed to be taken to correct this came to be widely accepted in the first half of the 20th century, by the time Shockley wrote, a reaction had set in and eugenics was almost universally dismissed. In this book, Richard Lynn reviews the history of the eugenics movement and argues that, in repudiating eugenics, an important truth has been lost. By showing weaknesses in the arguments against the theory, he seeks to rehabilitate the argument that genetic deterioration is occurring in Western populations and in most of the developing world. A controversial book, it should stimulate debate not only among biologists, psychologists, educators, and those involved in setting social policy, but among all readers concerned with contemporary social issues.

Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations (Human Evolution, Behavior, and Intelligence)

Politics & Social Sciences

Lynn, Richard

Anthropology

Praeger Pub Text

Lynn argues that the condemnation of eugenics in the second half of the 20th century went too far and offers a reassessment. The eugenic objectives of eliminating genetic diseases, increasing intelligence, and reducing personality disorders he argues, remain desirable and are achievable by human biotechnology. In this four-part analysis, Lynn begins with an account of the foundation of eugenics by Francis Galton and the rise and fall of eugenics in the twentieth century. He then sets out historical formulations on this issue and discusses in detail desirability of the new eugenics of human biotechnology. After examining the classic approach of attempting to implement eugenics by altering reproduction, Lynn concludes that the policies of classical eugenics are not politically feasible in democratic societies.
The new eugenics of human biotechnology--prenatal diagnosis of embryos with genetic diseases, embryo selection, and cloning--may be more likely than classic eugenics to evolve spontaneously in western democracies. Lynn looks at the ethical issues of human biotechnologies and how they may be used by authoritarian states to promote state power. He predicts how eugenic policies and dysgenic processes are likely to affect geopolitics and the balance of power in the 21st century. Lynn offers a provocative analysis that will be of particular interest to psychologists, sociologists, demographers, and biologists concerned with issues of population change and intelligence.

Eugenics: A Reassessment (Human Evolution, Behavior, and Intelligence)

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Psychology & Counseling

Praeger

Lynn and Vanhanen test the hypothesis on the causal relationship between the average national intelligence (IQ) and the gap between rich and poor countries by empirical evidence. Based on an extensive survey of national IQ tests, the results of their work challenge the previous theories of economic development and provide a new basis to evaluate the prospects of economic development throughout the world.
They begin by reviewing and evaluating some major previous theories. The concept of intelligence is then described and intelligence quotient (IQ) introduced. Next they show that intelligence is a significant determinant of earnings within nations, and they connect intelligence with various economic and social phenomena. The sociology of intelligence at the level of sub-populations in nations is examined, and the independent (national IQ) and dependent (various measures of per capita income and economic growth rates) variables are defined and described. They then provide empirical analyses starting from the 81 countries for which direct evidence of national IQs is available; the analysis is then extended to the world group of 185 countries. The hypothesis is tested by the methods of correlation and regression analyses. The results of statistical analyses support the hypothesis strongly. The results of the analyses and various means to reduce the gap between rich and poor countries are discussed. A provocative analysis that all scholars, students, and researchers involved with economic development need to confront.

IQ and the Wealth of Nations

Business & Money

Vanhanen, Tatu

Economics

Educational standards in Japan are the highest in the world. In this first comprehensive study of these standards Professor Richard Lynn concludes that Japanese teenagers are about two years ahead of their contemporaries in Europe and the United States.

Educational Achievement in Japan (Studies in Social Revaluation)

Education & Teaching

Schools & Teaching

PALGRAVE~MACMILLAN

In The Science of Human Diversity, Richard Lynn gives an account of the research sponsored by the Pioneer Fund of New York. The Fund was established in 1937 by the textile millionaire Wickliffe Draper to support research in genetics, heredity and eugenics. Since its foundation, the Fund has sponsored much of the most significant research on genetic contributions to intelligence and personality. The work supported by the Fund has been on both the individual and race differences. The Fund has frequently been attacked for supporting work regarded as controversial. In this book, Lynn sets the record straight by providing a history of the individuals supported by the Fund and their work.

The Science of Human Diversity: A History of the Pioneer Fund

History

Americas

University Press of America

In The Science of Human Diversity, Richard Lynn gives an account of the research sponsored by the Pioneer Fund of New York. The Fund was established in 1937 by the textile millionaire Wickliffe Draper to support research in genetics, heredity and eugenics. Since its foundation, the Fund has sponsored much of the most significant research on genetic contributions to intelligence and personality. The work supported by the Fund has been on both the individual and race differences. The Fund has frequently been attacked for supporting work regarded as controversial. In this book, Lynn sets the record straight by providing a history of the individuals supported by the Fund and their work.

Educational Achievement in Japan: Lessons for the West: Lessons for the West

Routledge

Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations

Ulster Institute for Social Research

This book challenges social scientists to reconsider the theoretical foundations of the study of social phenomena. Until now social scientists have assumed that varying environmental factors explain social phenomena and that there cannot be any common explanatory factor behind various social phenomena. However, the empirical evidence presented in this book and covering nearly 200 countries indicates that many kinds of human conditions depend significantly on differences in average intelligence of nations (national IQs).\nDifferences in intelligence help to explain all kinds of phenotypic social phenomena as well as the persistence of social inequalities in the world. Environmental factors affecting such phenomena vary from case to case, but intelligence reflecting the evolved human diversity remains the same explanatory factor across all phenotypic social phenomena. This means that it provides a unifying theoretical construct for the social sciences. Unfortunately social scientists have not yet realized that most problems explored in social sciences are phenotypic phenomena depending on both genotypic and environmental factors and that intelligence is a powerful genotypic common explanatory factor.\nThe arguments and hypotheses presented in this book are tested and supported by extensive empirical evidence. Ultimately empirical evidence will decide the destiny of conflicting theoretical arguments.

Intelligence: A Unifying Construct for the Social Sciences

"Richard Lynn and David Becker have done an excellent job in updating IQs for all nations in the world showing that they range from an average of 69 in sub-Saharan Africa to 105 in Northeast Asia. In addition, they summarize studies of the genetic and climatic causes of these IQ differences and also of their numerous educational, economic, sociological and demographic effects. They conclude by discussing the future of national IQs and argue that dysgenic fertility and immigration will reduce intelligence in the United States and Europe, leaving China to emerge as the world super-power in the second half of the twenty-first century." Professor Helmuth Nyborg, University of Aarhus, Denmark "This update of IQs for 128 nations of the world and their causes and consequences will be welcomed by everyone interested in intelligence as a unifying construct for the social sciences." Professor Heiner Rindermann, University of Chemnitz, Germany

The Intelligence of Nations

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Lynn, Richard. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Lynn, Richard

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Lynn, Richard. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations (Human Evolution, Behavior, and Intelligence)

Eugenics: A Reassessment (Human Evolution, Behavior, and Intelligence)

IQ and the Wealth of Nations

Educational Achievement in Japan (Studies in Social Revaluation)

The Science of Human Diversity: A History of the Pioneer Fund

The Science of Human Diversity: A History of the Pioneer Fund

Educational Achievement in Japan: Lessons for the West: Lessons for the West

Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations

Intelligence: A Unifying Construct for the Social Sciences

The Intelligence of Nations