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Dysgenics (rarely cacogenics)[1] is the study of factors producing the accumulation and perpetuation of defective or disadvantageous genes and traits in offspring of a particular population or species.[2][3]

The adjective "dysgenic" is the antonym of "eugenic". It was first used c. 1915 by David Starr Jordan, describing the supposed dysgenic effects of World War I.[4] Jordan believed that healthy men were as likely to die in modern warfare as anyone else and that war killed only the physically healthy men of the populace whilst preserving the disabled at home.[5]

Following Jordan’s initial use of  “Dysgenics” in 1915, the word was largely unused until author Richard Lynn used it in 1930 as part of the first popular academic paper on dysgenics titled: “DYSGENICS: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations” in which he identified three main concerns: deterioration in health, in intelligence, and in conscientiousness[6]. Lynn claimed that the term was created by Caleb Saleeby in 1915 to describe genetic factors that justify negative eugenics[6]. The justifications referred to by Lynn were specific to World War I, which raised future political discussion on dysgenics and its relevance to the political practice of eugenics[6][7].

[Edit Description: The creation and general usage of the word was unclear. Today it is certainly used mostly by geneticists, but its inception was spurred by politics. Also, the creation of the word is debated and its frequent usage didn’t appear until right before ww2 (1930). ]

***Dysgenics, alongside Social Darwinism, has been used as justification for eugenics in Britain in the 20th century[8]. In the United States, the International Federation of Eugenics Organizations was founded under the guise of halting dysgenics in society[9]. Similarly, the Immigration Restriction League was founded in the late 19th century in order to disallow races they saw as dysgenic from entering the United States but found little political success in regards to the goals outlined in the Constitution.***

Dysgenic effects can be seen in both human and animal genetics. Dysgenic mutations have been studied in animals such as the mouse[10] and the fruit fly[11][12]. Dysgenic muscles in a mouse is a result of a mutation that causes the excitation and the contraction of the muscle to fail[10]. In the fruit fly, dysgenics is studied in populations that exhibit sterility, increased mutation rate, and male recombination[11]. In the context of human genetics, a dysgenic effect is the projected or observed tendency of a reduction in selection pressures and decreased infant mortality since the Industrial Revolution resulting in the increased propagation of deleterious traits and genetic disorders[13].

Richard Lynn in his "DYSGENICS: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations" (1996) recalled that “the genetic quality of Western nations” was already deteriorating because “relaxation of natural selection”. This phenomenon presented itself in human history through different forms: social welfare, health, intelligence, and conscientiousness. However, the forces of natural selection experienced major decline starting in the 19th century due to the control of infectious diseases and decline in mortality, so even people with more unfavorable genes survived. People of poorer health, intelligence, and conscientiousness, have higher fertility rates than their counterparts; it was believed that these traits will eventually become prevalent in the population (Lynn 1996). **perhaps move to Richard Lynn's page

Genetic disorders[edit]

Lynn maintains that dysgenics is an unintentional genetic deterioration of the human population. Meanwhile, Rui Nunes, one of the founders of the Portuguese Association of Bioethics, writes that dysgenics is the purposeful selection of genetic traits that are "commonly accepted as a disabling condition[14][15]."

Nunes asserts that dysgenics can be positively selected or negatively selected. Positive dysgenics refers to an increase in traits that are commonly considered undesirable, and negative dysgenics refers to a decrease in traits commonly considered desirable. This is analogous to eugenics, in which positive eugenics is aimed to increase commonly desirable traits, and negative eugenics is aimed to decrease commonly undesirable traits[16]. An example of positive dysgenics is the conceiving of deaf children with the assistance of reproductive technologies, and an example of negative dysgenics is the abortion of “normal” embryos[14].

Improved medical and social care may possibly lead to increased incidences of genetic disorders. For example, congenital pyloric stenosis was considered a lethal condition until effective treatment was developed in 1912. Treatment allowed individuals with pyloric stenosis to live to reproductive age and pass the disorder on to their children, potentially perpetuating a dysgenic condition[6]. Phenylketonuria, a recessive disorder that normally results in intellectual disability and delayed behavioral development, can now be treated if the affected individual receives treatment upon diagnosis at birth. Offspring of these individuals will be carriers of the phenylketonuria allele, increasing the allele frequency of this trait in a population[17]. Another more widely recognized example is insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, which drastically decreased a person’s life-expectancy until insulin injections were developed in 1922[6].

Practices such as genetic counselling and prenatal screening may counteract the increased incidences of genetic disorders.[10][11 Parents who receive genetic counseling can decide not to reproduce if they are both carriers of deleterious alleles, decreasing the frequency of genetic diseases in populations[17]. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is an example of prenatal gene screening where a female’s eggs are extracted and fertilized in a laboratory. After a few days, genetic tests are performed to identify any gene mutations in the cells. Cells with a desired genetic makeup are then transferred back to the female’s uterus. Using this method, parents can avoid having children with inherited genetic diseases[18].

Fertility and intelligence[edit]

Lynn argues that natural selection in pre-industrial societies favored traits such as intelligence and character but no longer does so in modern societies.[19] The hypothesized dysgenic decline in human intelligence is traced to a change in the distribution of fertility and intelligence.[19][20]

The Bell Curve, a controversial book written by Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray in 1994, argues that the gap between those of higher IQ and those of lower IQ is widening[21]. Herrnstein and Murray claim that there are certain heritable traits, such as intelligence, that are affiliated with race. They also claim that those on the lower spectrum of the socioeconomic scale are poor solely because of their low IQ. They further propose that governments should institute ways to make it harder for those with lower IQ levels to immigrate, have children, and achieve upwards social mobility. In response to the The Bell Curve, Conley and Domingue (2016) concluded that the claims made by Herrnstein and Murray lacked adequate evidence.

Lynn (1996) has received both favourable[22][23][24][25][clarification needed] and unfavourable[26] reviews.[27][28][clarification needed]

Selective fertility[edit]

Lynn and Harvey (2008)[29] suggest that designer babies may have an important counter-acting effect in the future. Initially this may be limited to wealthy couples, who may possibly travel abroad for the procedure if prohibited in their own country, and then gradually spread to increasingly larger groups. Alternatively, authoritarian states may decide to impose measures such as a licensing requirement for having a child, which would only be given to persons of a certain minimum intelligence[citation needed]. The Chinese one-child policy was an example of how fertility can be regulated by authoritarian means.[30] Geoffrey Miller claims the one-child policy was implemented to reduce China's population explosion, and "to reduce dysgenic fertility among rural peasants."[31] While the one-child policy made exceptions for rural families so that those families could have 2 children, this only applied "if their first-born is a girl."[32]

War[edit]

According to Soloway, war is dysgenic because war selects for those with supposed genetic disorders[33]. In a population such as the British during World War I, war resulted in the loss of those who were physically and mentally capable, while those unfit for combat or recruitment survived to reproduce[33]. Winter claims that the British upper class had the highest casualty proportion among the social classes during World War I[34]. In the Eugenics Review, Usher reasons that global war is not dysgenic because a nation with more resources will have better weapons, so it will survive[35]. Therefore, war ensures that the nation with the most resources will be selected for[35].

Reaction Time[edit]

A study by Woodley, te Nijenhuis, Murphy (2013) conducted a meta-analysis of sixteen studies between 1889 and 2004 that measured human reaction time. Using reaction time as a measurement for intelligence, Woodley et. al (2013) concluded that IQ has declined by 13.9 points since the Victorian Era, and argued that this showed a dysgenic trend. This study was met with criticism (Woodley, te Nijenhuis, Murphy 2014). Many critics argue that Woodley et. al (2013) did not account for different sample demographics and methodology between studies, outliers in the dataset, and the inability of older instruments to accurately measure reaction time; several authors also contest that reaction time could not be used as a singular measurement for intelligence (Dodonova & Dodonov 2013, Flynn 2013, Nettelbeck 2014, Silverman 2013). The critics argue that when those factors are taken into account, conclusions cannot be drawn about a dysgenic trend of declining human intelligence over the last century.

Edit description: the wikipedia article contains very little on studies done on dysgenics. This provides an example of the kind of studies that show dysgenic trends. Woodley, te Nijenhuis, Murphy (2013) also received a fair bit of press coverage at its release.

In fiction[edit]

Cyril M. Kornbluth's 1951 short story "The Marching Morons" is an example of dysgenic fiction, describing a man who accidentally ends up in the distant future and discovers that dysgenics has resulted in mass stupidity. Mike Judge's 2006 film Idiocracy has the same premise, with the main character the subject of a military hibernation experiment that goes awry, taking him 500 years into the future. While in the Kornbluth short story, civilization is kept afloat by a small group of dedicated geniuses, voluntary childlessness wipes out the bloodlines of above-average intelligence and leaves only automated systems to fill that role in Idiocracy.[36]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ "cacogenics". Freedictionary.com. Retrieved 2008-06-29. Cacogenics, the study of the operation of factors that cause degeneration in offspring, especially as applied to factors unique to separate races. Also called dysgenics.
  2. ^ "Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and hundreds more". www.bartleby.com. Archived from the original on 2009-03-18.
  3. ^ "Definition of dysgenics". Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary.
  4. ^ Oxford English Dictionary
  5. ^ Jordan, David Starr (2003). War and the Breed: The Relation of War to the Downfall of Nations (Reprint ed.). Honolulu, Hawaii: University Press of the Pacific. ISBN 1-4102-0900-8.
  6. ^ a b c d e Lynn, Richard (1996). Dysgenics: genetic deterioration in modern populations. Westport, Conn.: Praeger. ISBN 0275949176. OCLC 34926720.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  7. ^ Kuhl, S. (2001). "Science in the Third Reich: The Relationship between Eugenics and the so-called 'Euthanasia Action' in Nazi Germany: A Eugenically Motivated Peace Policy and the Killing of the Mentally Handicapped during the Second World War". German Historical Perspectives. 12: 185–210.
  8. ^ MacKenzie, D. (1975). "Eugenics in Britain". Social Studies of Science. 6 (3): 499–532. doi:10.1177/030631277600600310. PMID 11610196. S2CID 33556080.
  9. ^ The Oxford handbook of the history of eugenics. Bashford, Alison, 1963-, Levine, Philippa. New York. 24 September 2010. ISBN 9780195373141. OCLC 495597195.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  10. ^ a b Tanabe T, Beam KG, Powell JA, Numa S (November 1988). "Restoration of excitation-contraction coupling and slow calcium current in dysgenic muscle by dihydropyridine receptor complementary DNA". Nature. 336 (6195): 134–9. Bibcode:1988Natur.336..134T. doi:10.1038/336134a0. PMID 2903448. S2CID 4278426.
  11. ^ a b Kidwell MG (March 1983). "Evolution of hybrid dysgenesis determinants in Drosophila melanogaster". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 80 (6): 1655–9. Bibcode:1983PNAS...80.1655K. doi:10.1073/pnas.80.6.1655. PMC 393661. PMID 6300863.
  12. ^ Almeida LM, Carareto CM (June 2002). "Gonadal hybrid dysgenesis in Drosophila Sturtevanti (Diptera, Drosophilidae)". Iheringia, Sér. Zool. 92 (2): 71–79. doi:10.1590/S0073-47212002000200007.
  13. ^ Weiss, Volkmar (2007). "The Population Cycle Drives Human History - from a Eugenic Phase into a Dysgenic Phase and Eventual Collapse". Journal of Social, Political and Economic Studies. 32 (3): 327–358.
  14. ^ a b Nunes, Rui (March 2006). "Deafness, genetics and dysgenics". Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy. 9 (1): 25–31. doi:10.1007/s11019-005-2852-9. PMID 16645795. S2CID 46237044. Retrieved October 29, 2016.
  15. ^ "Rui Nunes". CINTESIS. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  16. ^ Wilkinson, S (2010). "On the distinction between positive and negative eugenics". In Häyry, Matti; Takala, T; Herissone-Kelly, P; Árnason, G (eds.). Arguments and analysis in bioethics. Amsterdam: Rodopi. ISBN 9789042028036. OCLC 608337429.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  17. ^ a b Jacquard, A; Ward, R (1976). "Genetic Consequences of Changing Genetic Behavior". Journal of Human Evolution. 55: 139–154. doi:10.1016/0047-2484(76)90105-6.
  18. ^ Baruch, S (2008). "Preimplantation genetic diagnosis and parental preferences: beyond genetic disease". Houston Journal of Health Law & Policy. 8: 245–270.
  19. ^ a b Lynn, R. (2008). "Dysgenic fertility for criminal behaviour". Journal of Biosocial Science. 27 (4): 405–408. doi:10.1017/S0021932000023014. PMID 7593047.
  20. ^ Woodley, Michael A. (2015). "How fragile is our intellect? Estimating losses in general intelligence due to both selection and mutation accumulation". Personality and Individual Differences. 75: 80–84. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2014.10.047.
  21. ^ Herrnstein, Richard J.; Murray, Charles (1997). The bell curve : intelligence and class structure in American life (1st Free Press pbk. ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0684824299. OCLC 33243751.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  22. ^ Hamilton, W. D. (2000). "A review of Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations". Annals of Human Genetics. 64 (4): 363–374. doi:10.1046/j.1469-1809.2000.6440363.x. Retrieved 2008-05-11.[permanent dead link]
  23. ^ Loehlin JC (1999). "Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations, reviewed by John C. Loehlin". Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 561: 216–217. doi:10.1177/0002716299561001039. JSTOR 1049316. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |registration= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
  24. ^ Vining DR (1998). "Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations, reviewed by Daniel R. Vining, Jr". Population Studies. 52: 120–121. doi:10.1080/0032472031000150216. JSTOR 2584772. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |registration= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
  25. ^ "Dysgenics: Genetic deterioration in modern populations: by Richard Lynn. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996, 238 pp. $59.95". Journal of Social and Evolutionary Systems. 21 (3): 343–345. 1998. doi:10.1016/S1061-7361(98)80008-8. This could be one of the most important books written in the last fifty years.
  26. ^ Leon K (February 1995). "The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life". Scientific American. 272. Archived from the original on 2007-10-22. Lynn's distortions and misrepresentations of the data constitute a truly venomous racism, combined with scandalous disregard for scientific objectivity.
  27. ^ Rosenthal S. "Academic Nazism". Department of Sociology, Hampton University. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
  28. ^ Berhanu G. "Black Intellectual Genocide: An Essay Review of IQ of Wealth of Nations" (PDF). Gotberg University, Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-07-20. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
  29. ^ Lynn, Richard; Harveyb, John (2008). "The decline of the world's IQ". Intelligence. 36 (2): 112–120. doi:10.1016/j.intell.2007.03.004.
  30. ^ Lynn, R.; Harvey, J. (2008). "The decline of the world's IQ". Intelligence. 36 (2): 112–120. doi:10.1016/j.intell.2007.03.004.
  31. ^ Edge, Chinese Eugenics, http://edge.org/response-detail/23838/
  32. ^ Tsintolas, Alexa. "Exceptions - China's One-Child Policy". Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  33. ^ a b Soloway, R.A. (1990). Demography and degeneration: eugenics and the declining birthrate in twentieth-century Britain (2nd ed.). Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. pp. 138–140. ISBN 9781469611198. OCLC 868580597.
  34. ^ Winter, J. M. (1977). "Britain's 'Lost generation' of the First World War". Population Studies. 31 (3): 449–466. doi:10.1080/00324728.1977.10412760. ISSN 0032-4728. PMID 11630506.
  35. ^ a b Usher, C. (1940). "Is war dysgenic?". The Eugenics Review. 32 (2): 70. PMC 2985469. PMID 21260384.
  36. ^ Mitchell, Dan (2006-09-09). "Shying away from Degeneracy". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-06-29.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

Category:Eugenics Category:Evolutionary biology Category:Futures studies

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