Race and Genetics: Time Magazine long article shows how deceptive the debate has been

Since there is some occasional controversy over race and IQ, I thought I’d give a 2014 link to a booklet-length Time article by Nicholas Wade, “What Science Says About Race and Genetics”, link here.  

  

Evolution doesn’t stop,  Generally, over time, colder climates may tend to encourage the survival of people who have traits of deferral of gratification and lower time sensitivity (which translates into lower interest rates).  That may help explain why Western Europe tended toward capitalism and overcame the “Malthusian Trap”. Environmental influences may explain why China and much of Asia favored people who were more group oriented and obedient. 

There is nothing magical about skin color or other physical traits.  But when a society matures in a particular geographical environment with specific challenges, people with certain traits do better than others and may have more children with the same traits. In the late 20^th Century, with gender equality and individualism, the notion of reproductive advantage for “smarts” may decrease and other populations may become larger again, producing a demographic winter threat.

These views may relate a bit to Charles Murray’s “The Bell Curve:Intelligence and Class Structure in America” (1994, the Free Press)    While the book produced anger from the left, the coldness of its logic is striking and hard to escape, especially for those who want to push intersectionality.  Politicians like Putin use this kind of reasoning to try to get educated people to have more kids and as an excuse for homophobia.