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Intelligence and Human Progress Intelligence and Human Progress The Story of What was Hidden in our Genes James R. Flynn AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON NEW YORK • OXFORD • PARIS • SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO Academic Press is an imprint of Elsevier Academic Press is an imprint of Elsevier The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford, OX5 1GB, UK 225 Wyman Street, Waltham, MA 02451, USA First published 2013 Copyright r 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Details on how to seek permission, further information about the Publisher’s permissions policies and our arrangement with organizations such as the Copyright Clearance Center and the Copyright Licensing Agency, can be found at our website: www.elsevier.com/permissions This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by the Publisher (other than as may be noted herein). Notices Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary. Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility. To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress ISBN: 978-0-12-417014-8 For information on all Academic Press publications visit our website at store.elsevier.com DEDICATION To Steven Pinker Who did so much to fortify my resolve For the Colonel’s Lady and Judy O’Grady are sisters under their skins. Kipling (1896) LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURE Tables Table 2.1 WAIS Subtest Gains Over Three Periods..........................22 Table 2.2 Correlations Between WAIS Subtest Gains and Subtest g Loadings When Coding Gains are put at Zero ..............23 Table 2.3 WISC-III to WISC-IV Subtest Standard Score Gains Altered by Substitution of WAIS-III to WAIS-IV Vocabulary and Information Gains (for WISC Ones). When Altered, Half the Difference Between the WISC and WAIS Correlations is Eliminated...............................24 Table 2.4 WISC-III to WISC-IV Gains with WISC-IV g Loadings: GQ Versus IQ................................................27 Table 2.5 Comparing IQ and GQ Gains WISC to WISC-IV and WAIS to WAIS-IV.....................................................28 Table A.1 WISC-III to WISC-IV and WAIS-III to WAIS-IV: Compared for Correlations Between Subtest Gains and Subtest g Loadings .....................................................32 Table A.2 WISC Subtest g Loadings (Corrected for Subtest Reliabilities) ......................................................................33 Table A.3 WISC Subtest Standard Score Gains (Corrected for Subtest Reliabilities)..........................................................34 Table A.4 WAIS Subtest g Loadings (Corrected for Subtest Reliabilities) ......................................................................34 Table A.5 WAIS Subtest Standard Score Gains (Corrected for Subtest Reliabilities)..........................................................35 Table A.6 From Table A.1, Kendall’s Tau-b Correlations Unadjusted and As Corrected by Either Method 1 or Method 2 ......................................................................37 xii List of Tables and Figure Table A.7 From Table 2.2, Kendall’s Tau-b Correlations Unadjusted and As Corrected by Either Method 1 or Method 2 ......................................................................37 Table 5.1 Adult Versus Child IQ Differences at Four Times at Five IQ Levels...................................................................86 Table 5.2 Adult Versus Child Vocabulary Gaps: How Much Do Gaps at Levels Above/Below Median Differ from those at Median? ......................................................87 Table 5.3 Decline of Family or Common Environment Effects with Age............................................................................90 Table 5.4 Disadvantaged Family Environment and College or Life Prospects (Age 17) .....................................................93 Figure Figure 4.1 Atmospheric CO2 projections from 2010 to 2110 .............75 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Steven Pinker, to whom this book is dedicated, is of course not respon- sible for any of its flaws. Arthur Jensen who plays an important role in Chapter 2 has recently died. What a great loss. I wish to acknowledge his indispensible role as a keen critic of my ideas who always looked to evidence rather than rhetoric. Who can take his place? CHAPTER 11 Our Genes and Ourselves How much do our genes affect how we live? Addressing that theme will mean recapitulating material from my scholarly works. But the theme is important and something that I have not systematically dis- cussed. I am writing to address the general reading public, but straight talk does not compromise anything I intend to say. As for specialists, they will, I hope, use the new data and material in Chapter 2 to clarify their thinking, and use the new method in Chapter 5 to go beyond kin- ship studies to measure the decay of family environment. Everyone has heard generalizations, such as “our genes make us inherently violent,” or “we are irrational by nature,” or “the average person cannot hope to contribute much to human society.” These are usually said in the context of denying the possibility of either human or personal progress. This book will test these assertions against his- tory. If we have actually done something, such as become more ratio- nal, become more moral, made contributions to society beyond our so-called genetic potential, genes were powerless to forbid any of these things. You would think that our genes simply veto anything new. In fact, they have empowered us to progress our intelligence and moral rectitude toward limits as yet unknown. The quickest way to sell your soul is to keep saying “I cannot.” Genes are of great importance. Evidence shows that an individual’s genes have a powerful influence on his or her life history. But not so powerful that individuals cannot choose to love both the truth and the good and thereby transcend the place on the human hierarchy at which their genes would “tend” to fix them. Particularly over the last 10,000 years, the collective genes of humanity have evolved away from a pro- clivity that favors violence and the principle of might makes right; and toward genes that allow a surprising degree of rationality and moral behavior. I call these two trends cognitive progress and moral progress, respectively, and try to show how they cross-fertilize. Throughout the evolution of our genes, there runs the domestication of the human spe- cies. We have tamed our genes (rather like taming domestic animals) 2 Intelligence and Human Progress as we have learned to live in larger societies. Throughout the pacifica- tion of our behavior, there runs the domestication of men by women. As the balance of power shifts toward women, the latter tame male violence more effectively. 1.1 OUTLINE OF THE CHAPTERS The wonder is in the detail. Chapter 2 will defend the cognitive prog- ress of humankind against criteria that purport to show that IQ gains are “hollow.” New data about adults and children will drive the point home. It is followed by Appendix A, which adds background data and may be mainly of interest to specialists. Chapter 3 will look at dys- genics and eugenics: the thesis that current mating trends are sapping the quality of human genes so that, over the next few generations, hard-won progress will be lost. It will also look at whether the cata- strophic events of recent history, such as the rule of Pol Pot in Cambodia, have depleted genes for cognition in various nations. Chapter 4 will summarize moral progress. We have turned away from violence and cruelty toward humanity. It will also emphasize the role that cognitive progress has played in enhancing moral progress. Finally, it will pose challenges for the twenty-first century: our combi- nation of reason and morality may not be able to solve problems that could reverse our evolving international society. Chapter 5 will look at the role of genes in individual life history. At first, family environment, whether for good or ill, prevents the match- ing of genes and environment. However, it fades away at about the ages of 17À25. At that point, at whatever level of cognitive ability you choose, there is a tenuous matching of genes and environment for group achievement. This does not mean any individual’s mind is immune to positive or negative environment.

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