Richard Lynn

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Richard Lynn, 2008

Richard Lynn (* 1930 in Bristol ) is a retired British professor of psychology from the University of Ulster , Northern Ireland .

Act

Relationship between intelligence and ethnicity

Content

In the 2002 article Skin color and intelligence in African Americans , published in the journal Population and Environment , Lynn claims that the brightness of skin color of African Americans is positively correlated with IQ. He explains this with the higher admixture of " Caucasian genetic material".

In IQ and the Wealth of Nations (2002) Lynn and his co-author say Tatu Vanhanen from the University of Helsinki , there exists a correlation between the per capita gross domestic product of countries and the intelligence quotient of their inhabitants. These differences in intelligence are, among other things, genetic. In IQ and Global Inequality (2006) they take the line of argument further by comparing social inequality with the alleged intelligence quotient of the nations studied.

In his book Race Differences in Intelligence: An Evolutionary Analysis (2006), Lynn identifies intelligence quotients of peoples around the world. Lynn sees the Jews as the most intelligent. He further claims that East Asians have an average IQ of around 105, Europeans 100, and Sub-Saharan Africa 80 and less. This is related to the higher selection pressure in the more difficult to inhabit northern latitudes, which is promoting the emergence of more intelligent peoples. He connects the achievements of the peoples in mathematics, science and economics with the average intelligence of their members.

Lynn is among the 52 co-signers of Mainstream Science on Intelligence by Linda Gottfredson and published by the Wall Street Journal in December 1994 .

reception

Lynn's work on ethnic differences in intelligence is controversial. In a 2004 review by IQ and the Wealth of Nations in the journal Heredity from the Nature publishing house , Ken Richardson said that this work was less about science than about a social crusade (“this is not so much science, then , as a social crusade "). There are circular arguments drawn and made numerous other methodological errors, such as the use of a non-statistically representative database - as was, for example, in the calculation of the IQ value for Equatorial Guinea , a study used only 48 10- to 14-year-old children as a single data base. In addition, the Pioneer Foundation , which had supported the book financially, had attracted attention in the past due to its involvement in numerous "dubious cases". The Pioneer Foundation, on whose board Lynn is active, is also accused by numerous other critics of racist publications.

Methodical errors and misinterpretations were also accused of Lynn because of this work by Leon J. Kamin , among others .

Eugenics and dysgenics

Content

In his books Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations (1996) and Eugenics: A Reassessment , Lynn explains that the condemnation of eugenics widespread in the second half of the 20th century is exaggerated. In Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations , Lynn examines the history of eugenics from the early writings of Bénédict Morel and Francis Galton to the rise of eugenics in the early 20th century and its subsequent decline. He identifies three characteristics that are of particular importance to eugenicists: health , intelligence and conscientiousness . Lynn explains that natural selection promoted these traits in pre-industrial societies, which is no longer the case in modern societies due to lower selection pressures.

When it comes to intelligence, Lynn examines twin studies. Lynn concludes that the tendency of children to have the lowest intelligence with high numbers of siblings is evidence of dysgenic fertility . Lynn admits that while there has been a real increase in phenotypic intelligence, she argues that the increase is due to environmental factors (e.g. better education) and is masking a decline in genotypic intelligence. Lynn points to scientific evidence that those with higher educational attainment have fewer children, while children with lower IQ scores come from larger families, as evidence that intelligence and fertility are negatively correlated.

Lynn cites evidence that socio-economic status is negatively correlated with indicators of conscientiousness such as work ethics , moral values , and crime . He next explains the genetic basis of differences in conscientiousness and concludes that twin studies provide evidence that these traits are highly heritable. The less conscientious, such as criminals, tend to have more offspring. While most of the book is concerned with dysgenics in developed countries, Lynn recognizes that while dysgenics is less pronounced in developing countries , "dysgenic fertility ... is a global phenomenon of modern populations." (P. 196).

Lynn concludes his book with an examination of counter-arguments: These include, among other things, that the properties dealt with in the book are not genetically determined, that intelligence and fertility can be related to one another even without dysgenics, that socio-economic strata are genetically indistinguishable, and that there is no such thing as “bad genes”. These arguments are refuted, and Lynn explains that these trends were a serious problem.

reception

The majority of the professional world rejects Lynn's theses. A review of Dysgenics was written in 2002 by Nicholas Mackintosh , Professor Emeritus of Experimental Psychology at the University of Cambridge . Mackintosh initially ruled that Lynn "argued with an easy disregard for political correctness that the eugenicists' ideas were correct and that we ignore them at our own risk." based not on a biological imperative, but on certain value judgments "(" The eugenicists' argument does not rest on any biological imperative, but rather on a particular set of value judgments "). Overall, Mackintosh doubts the scientific neutrality of Lynn. (“Lynn's further comments on mortality rates are not designed to reassure the reader of his impartiality as an interpreter of the data he reviews”).

In his posthumously published review, WD Hamilton , professor of the Royal Society of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Oxford , wrote that Lynn “while [he] is discussing a great deal of scientific evidence still on the subject of the heritability of abilities and differences in the Accumulating Fertility, in his book, shows that almost all of the concerns of early eugenicists were well founded, despite the comparative lack of research evidence at the time. "

Eugenics received praise from David T. Lykken , a professor at the University of Minnesota , in a 2004 review for the American Psychological Association Review of Books , which called Dysgenics an "excellent scientific book," and noted that "you can Do not contradict him on any point in a reasonable way, as long as you can find an argument that he has not yet refuted himself. ”Like Lynn, Lykken was known for his controversial views on genetics and psychology, such as the hereditary nature of intelligence.

Fonts

  • (1982). IQ in Japan and the United States shows a growing disparity . Nature, 297, 222-3.
  • (1990). The role of nutrition in secular increases of intelligence . Personality and Individual Differences , 11, 273-285
  • (1996). Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations . Westport: Praeger Publishers.
  • (1998). The Decline of Genotypic Intelligence . In: U. Neisser (Ed.) The rising curve . Washington, DC American Psychological Association, 335-364
  • (2001). Eugenics: A Reassessment . Praeger Publishers, ISBN 0-275-95822-1
  • (2002) IQ and the Wealth of Nations . Praeger Publishers, ISBN 0-275-97510-X
  • (2003) The geography of intelligence . In H. Nyborg (Ed.) The scientific study of general Intelligence . Pergamon. ISBN 0-08-043793-1
  • (2006) Race Differences in Intelligence: An Evolutionary Analysis . Washington: Washington Summit Publishers. ISBN 1-59368-021-X
  • (2006). IQ and Global Inequality . Washington: Washington Summit Publishers. ISBN 1-59368-025-2
  • (2008). The Global Bell Curve. Race, IQ, and Inequality Worldwide . Washington: Washington Summit Publishers. ISBN 978-1-59368-028-2
  • (2011). The Chosen People. A Study of Jewish Intelligence and Achievement . Washington: Washington Summit Publishers. ISBN 978-1-59368-036-7

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Linda Gottfredson: Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Wall Street Journal , December 13, 1994, p. A18
  2. ^ A b K. Richardson: Book Review: IQ and the Wealth of Nations . In: Heredity , No. 92, 2004, pp. 359-360
  3. ^ Into the mainstream; An array of right-wing foundations and think tanks support efforts to make bigoted and discredited ideas respectable . ( Memento of the original from February 2, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Southern Poverty Law Center @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.splcenter.org
  4. ^ Racism Resurgent How Media Let The Bell Curve's Pseudo-Science Define the Agenda on Race . In: Extra , edition January / February 1995
  5. ^ Leon J. Kamin : The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life . ( Memento of December 14, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) In: Scientific American , February 1995, issue 272 (by R. Herrnstein, C. Murray; Free Press, 1994)
  6. ↑ Richard Lynn: Dysgenics: genetic deterioration in modern populations . Praeger, Westport CT 1996, ISBN 978-0-275-94917-4
  7. ^ E. Ramsden: A differential paradox: The controversy surrounding the Scottish mental surveys of intelligence and family size . In: Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences , 43, 2007, pp. 109-134 doi: 10.1002 / jhbs.20219
  8. ↑ NJ Mackintosh: Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations. By Richard Lynn. . In: J. Biosoc. Sci. . 34, No. 02, 2002, pp. 283-284. doi : 10.1017 / S0021932002212833 .
  9. ↑ WD Hamilton: A Review of Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations . In: Ann. Hum. Genet. . 64, No. 4, 2000, pp. 363-374. doi : 10.1046 / j.1469-1809.2000.6440363.x .
personal data
SURNAME Lynn, Richard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Psychologist, Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland
DATE OF BIRTH 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Bristol