They're coming for behaviour genetics - by Noah Carl
So far as I’m aware, all the major controversies surrounding genes and intelligence since 1990 have concerned either race differences or dysgenics. In other words: those who’ve limited themselves purely to discussing individual differences have largely avoided scandal. The last three decades could thus be seen as the era behaviour genetics entered the mainstream.
Steve Pinker’s book The Blank Slate, which expertly debunked the myth that genes don’t matter for intelligence (and other psychological traits), was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize – arguably the second most prestigious prize in writing. What’s more, both twin and genome-wide association studies studies of intelligence were routinely published in leading journals like Nature Genetics. It was in era in which you could mention in polite company that, actually sir, intelligence is a heritable trait.
The first inkling that behaviour genetics might be going the same way as race differences came in 2018, with the publication of Blueprint by Robert Plomin. While the book was warmly received in many quarters, it prompted an unexpectedly hostile review in Nature. I say ‘unexpectedly’ because Plomin has published dozens of papers in Nature journals, and his book had nothing to do with race. In any case, the reviewer claims that Blueprint is “filled with retrograde ideas about genes”, and in the final sentence goes so far as to say, “Plomin has made it pretty clear what kind of world he wants. I oppose him.”
