Future Human Evolution: Eugenics in the Twenty-First Century

Unfortunately, it seems that people are not blank slates and that intelligence is not evenly distributed. It is significanly heriditary, although there is still considerable variance. For instance, two siblings may vary by 12 IQ points. This book provides a reasonable overview of the history of what is called eugenics. One of the concerns is the trend in industrial nations of more educated and perhaps more intelligent people to have fewer children. It is well documented that those involved in violent crime and long term welfare tend to be of lower than average intelligence. For instance, the book 'Freakanomics' notes the drop in US crime in the 90's may partially be due to the Roe v Wade decision. An issue is whether a liberal democracy should have the coercive power to regulate an individuals reproductive ability. To avoid this, the Singaporeans offered incentives to graduates to have more children. The other option is incentives to those at the other end of the spectrum to not have children. Obviously, it is a politically radioactive topic but at least Glad (who is Jewish) is prepared to approach it in an open and honest manner.