Racial Differences In Intelligence:myth Or Reality?

By Author: Harry Jean-Philippe
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In this article, the author has the presumption of taking manhood to brotherhood by considering cautiously what we are and what we are not from an anthropological standpoint.
Clearly, we can no longer ignore the profound impact of genes in the determination of human behavior. Over the century, many scholars, social scientists and philosophers have come to recognize the explanatory power of neo-Darwinian biology. Some go even further in asserting that, there is a genetic basis responsible for racial differences in intelligence. One of them is Richard Lynn, famous psychologist and competent scholar, who devotes a great deal of time, pain, and pleasure to the study concerning the evolution of racial differences in intelligence. According to Lynn, survival in temperate and cold environments acted as a selection pressure favoring enhanced intelligence and explains why the Caucasoids and the Mongoloids are the races, which have evolved the highest intelligence. The debate on racial differences in intelligence is not about to be over. On one side, some scholars accept the thesis in general terms, although they elaborate ...
... or suggest modifications to a number of points; on the other, some are simply unsympathetic to it and raise various objections. However, the anthropological evidence fails to support Lynn's hypothesis. We will take a closer look at it to reveal its weaknesses. Indeed, Lynn argued eight(8) principal points: 1- In relation to a mean I.Q. of approximately 100(and standard deviation of 15) for Caucasoids in Europe, North America and Australasia, Mongoloids typically obtain mean I.Q. in the range of 97-110, South East Asians 80-95, Amerindians 70-90, Negroids 65-81, and Negroid-Caucasoid hybrids 81-94. 2-The three major races show the same differences in reaction times as they do in intelligence, suggesting a neurological basis to the differences. 3-The mean I.Q. of the races is also associated with their achievements in the development of civilization during the last 5,000 years. 4-Mongoloids and Ameridians have a different pattern of intelligence from Caucasoids and negroids, consisting of strong visuospatial abilities and weak verbal abilities. 5-The consistency of the races'levels and patterns of intelligence, found in a variety of geographical locations and over 5,000 years of history, cannot be explained in environmental terms. Therefore, we have to infer the presence of genetic differences. 6-Racial differences in intelligence are also associated with differences in living standards. This is best explained by the theory of Genotype- environment correlation, which states that peoples construct their own environment in accordance with their genetic capabilities. A genetically intelligent people will make a superior environment. 7-If racial differences in intelligence have a genetic basis; some explanation is required for how the differences have risen. Two possibilities were considered: a) That the cold environments of Eurasia acted as a selection pressure on the Caucasoids and Mongoloids for enhanced intelligence necessary to solve the problems of hunting, tool and weapon making, and keeping warm; b) among Caucasoids and Mongoloids mutant alleles may have appeared for enhanced intelligence and a shift toward a high visuospatial- low verbal profile in the Mongoloids, and these alleles spread through the populations, because they conferred a selection advantage. 8-Where populations experience selection pressure for increased intelligence, they have typically responded by evolving larger brains which have afforded the necessary enhanced problem solving, information processing and learning capacities. The same thing has apparently happened in the evolution of the human races, where brain sizes are greater in Mongoloids and decrease in the other races in accordance with their mean I.Qs. Obviously, Lynn was concerned to set out the evidence on a worldwide basis and to advance a theory to explain how the differences have evolved. Nevertheless, the static concept of race that is used by Lynn has been seriously challenged by both physical anthropologists and human geneticists many years ago because of continuous morphological variability between major races, gene flow, migrations and isolation of various populations and many other factors (Benes 1979, Geist 1979, Santangelo 1989). It is almost impossible to establish precisely whether the degree of intelligence in individual human groups has been influenced by the genetic parameters specific for the major races or by the non-specific genetic factors and up to which degree. These two(2) facts make it difficult to accept Lynn's concept as really comprehensive. Who can now admit not knowing the large inconsistencies revealed by genetic studies on population distinctions? These findings have given proof that every population is genetically polymorphous( Lewontin,1974) and that, according to the genetic characters under consideration, human populations present different genetic relationships. Yet it is well known that genetic variations are very much higher within-races than between-races as established in the 1970's by several studies concerning protein variation and blood group distributions, 85% of global genetic variations can be explained by intraracial group variability( Lewontin 1972, Loehlin,Lindzey and Spuhler1975. Jacques Juhel of the University of Rennes worries and asks himself what is the scientific interest of a distinction between races when no one significant genetic differentiation between them is proven? Furthermore, there is a major problem with Lynn's theory because of the irrelevance of I.Q. tests to determine racial differences in intelligence. As far as we are concerned, I.Q. tests only indicate the ability, conditioned by culture, of certain individuals to respond to certain socially conditioned problems. Yet we have known for a long time that the use in cross-cultural studies of our classic intelligence tests such as for instance the Weschsler scales or even culture-free tests is problematical. The truth of the matter is that, the racial differences in intelligence could be due to various factors including physiology of reaction, brain laterality, learning abilities, ontogenetic patterns etc..That is very different in individual populations, and dependant on their adaptive complexes. Also motivation to pass the tests could differ in different cultural traditions. Lynn himself mentions malnutrition as a possible cause of I.Q. differences, only to dismiss it rather casually. Then, the strict genetic interpretation of I.Q. tests and basic rejection of environmental factors and influences presented by Lynn is at least one-sided and doubtful to some degree. Many anthropologists are far from sharing his view because of the numerous contradictions found by paleontologists. For instance, contrary to the assumption made by Lynn( Larger brain, greater intelligence), they found no significant correlation between brain size and intelligence. Even the correlation coefficient 0.35 in university students( which cannot be taken as a representative sample) is very low for claiming that brain size is positively correlated with intelligence.. Moreover, Vaclav Vancata observed that, the cranial volume does not change significantly in Homo Sapiens or, according to Henneberg cited by Vancata, there has even been a slight decrease in cranial capacity. Another argument inducing Lynn to insist that the two(2) races with the highest intelligence levels are the Mongoloids and the Caucasoids concerns their significant contribution to civilization. Nobody would dispute the fact that progress in civilization has emerged from Asian and European crucibles. But still we need to resist the temptation of assimilating what one must primarily consider as a cultural evolution with a biological evolution. Finally, one of the most striking contradictions in Lynn's theory is what Maria Phelps called The Amerindian Anomaly. The fact that Amerindians(who are Mongoloids) exhibit lower mean I.Q. scores than their asian relatives, although they display many other behavioral and physiological similarities, still needs to be explained. Lynn argued that the main Wurm glaciation of approximately 24,000-10,000 years ago was the selective agent that raised the cognitive abilities of Asiatic-Mongoloids. According to him, the Amerindians escaped exposure to the severe cold of the main wurm glaciation by crossing the Bering land bridge as early as 42,000-36,000 years ago. In support, Lynn claimed that Amerindian artifacts had been dated at 30,000 years in California, at 32,000 years in North East Brazil, and at 30,000 years at Monte Verde in Chile. Anthropological evidence regarding the settlement of the Americas shows, however, that it was far more recent an event than Lynn suggests. In fact, many anthropologists contend that native peoples entered the New World between 20,000-12,000 years ago. This means that Amerindians did not escape the severe cold of the main wurm glaciation that, according to Lynn, produced further increases in intelligence in Mongoloid populations. In conclusion, Lynn's choice of propounding a speculative and unverifiable evolutionary theory on racial differences in intelligence shows the strength of his conviction concerning the interest of research and theory on racial differences. Although Lynn has an absolute right to academic freedom, one may perhaps worry about the ethical and social implications of such a thesis. As a matter of fact, we have seen in the past the disastrous influence of hierarchically oriented racial theory. We may even have the impression that Lynn is trying more to convince rather than to strictly present data and discuss ideas. However, his work is fruitful if it is used as a gateway to provoke qualitatively new and more detailed discussions on human evolution integrating biological and cultural aspects of the hominization process. About the Author Harry E. Jean-Philippe is a former journalist.He is a born-writer.He has published various articles in English and in French.He likes to tackle on complex issues..He lives in Charlotte with his wife,Margarett and his daughter,Linda.