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Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations Richard Lynn Praeger,1997 237pp., $59.95
Countless volumes have been written about the past evolution of the human species, yet hardly any attention has been paid to the crucial question, "Where are we evolving now?" Richard Lynn, of the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland, courageously addresses this question in his controversial book Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations. Professor Lynn presents compelling evidence that much of the world's population is deteriorating in its genetic potential for intelligence, health, and conscientiousness (or good character). The word for this is "dysgenics," the opposite of "eugenics."
The Bell Curve devoted one chapter to the question of where we are evolving with regard to IQ (Herrnstein and Murray, 1994). Dysgenics picks up where The Bell Curve left off. Professor Lynn surveys studies from around the world, and everywhere finds the less intelligent people having the most children. The only exception is sub-Saharan Africa where contraception is rarely used. He estimates that the genetic potential for intelligence has been declining in Europe and North America since the mid-1800s, with a total loss equivalent to some 5-8 IQ points, and a current loss of almost one IQ point each generation.
The beginning of the decline in genotypic intelligence coincided with the dissemination of information about contraception. For several centuries prior to 1800, married couples in Europe enjoyed natural fertility, essentially uninfluenced by efforts to limit it. Infant mortality was high, especially among the lower classes. Harsh though it may have been, natural selection operated to maintain a healthy population and to keep intelligence gradually increasing.
Then in the early 1800s, several books on contraception were published. These ideas naturally affected the reading classes disproportionately. Goodyear perfected the vulcanization of rubber, making it an ideal material for the mass production of condoms and diaphragms. By the middle of the century, it was becoming apparent that educated people were having fewer children than the uneducated. It was Darwin's cousin, Francis Galton, who coined the term "eugenics" and became its prime advocate:
The chief result of these Inquiries has been to elicit the religious significance of the doctrine of evolution. It suggests an alteration in our mental attitude, and imposes a new moral duty. The new mental attitude...