From: Anders Sandberg (asa@nada.kth.se)
Date: Fri Nov 22 2002 - 16:05:23 MST
On Fri, Nov 22, 2002 at 01:20:31PM -0500, Alexander Sheppard wrote:
> >Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2002 20:44:33 +0100
> >From: Anders Sandberg <asa@nada.kth.se>
> >Subject: Class and genetics study
>
> >Interesting. Could you expand on why you think so?
>
> Well, actually, I may have spoken too soon here--I'm really not all sure
> how this would work out, thinking about it some more.
Please do that, I would love some input.
> It really depends on
> things that I just don't know. I mean, say we can use genetic engineering
> to give the children of the rich a boost in thier IQ. What's interesting is
> that wealth is not actually very correlated to IQ in our society,
> though--so I really don't know how that would work out.
There is an interesting plot in
http://www.americanscientist.org/articles/95articles/Hunt.html (good
article too) which suggests that IQ is more like a protector from
poverty than a generator of wealth. I have also found an interesting
paper that suggest that the important thing transmitted from parents to
offspring is not IQ genes (The Inheritance of Economic Status:
Education, Class and Genetics by Samuel Bowles and Herbet Gintis,
http://www.santafe.edu/sfi/publications/Working-Papers/01-01-005.pdf). I
think their conclusion holds even if IQ is made 100% heritable.
> Would a higher IQ
> mean that people would realize that exploiting others is not a desirable
> feature to have in a society and voluntarily desist from it? I don't know.
Hmm, are smart people behaving more ethically? I don't think so, looking
at the academic and corporate environment I can't see any real evidence.
However, stupid people often resort to coercion. So again, I think IQ
prevents something bad but does not by itself bring good.
> And, really, what do we even mean by increase intelligence? The IQ exam
> isn't necessarily a firm measure of intelligence on the whole. So, thinking
> about this some more, I'm not at all sure, really. Is "intelligence"
> defined as the ability to develop and implement increasingly monstrous
> schemes to increase one's personal power? I wouldn't use that definition,
> but with genetics, well, the results of modification are difficult to tell
> beforehand...
I think intelligence or IQ might also be irrelevant for the genetics of
class. I would expect social skills to be more powerful, and maybe a
tendency towards ambition / controlled aggression.
The big question I don't think anybody has really looked for is: what
enhancements would parents give their kids? Health, looks, lifespan,
personality, wings? I'm thinking of setting up a web survey to get at
least some ideas.
-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension! asa@nada.kth.se http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/ GCS/M/S/O d++ -p+ c++++ !l u+ e++ m++ s+/+ n--- h+/* f+ g+ w++ t+ r+ !y
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