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Agreed that intelligence is a good thing, but the question is about whether there is a set of genes that are “best” for producing it. At the moment it’s unclea

Agreed that intelligence is a good thing, but the question is about whether there is a set of genes that are “best” for producing it. At the moment it’s unclear which genes those are, and even if we found some genes related to intelligence, they may have other negative consequences that make the idea of a “best” set of genes questionable

jlawson 7y ago
Well, to add some data: Intelligence genes discovered by scientists The Telegraph, Dec 21 2015 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/12061787/Intelligence-genes-discovered-by-scientists.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/120617... Many similar articles, not all about the same discovery, at this DDG search: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=genes+for+intelligence+found&t=ffab&ia=news https://duckduckgo.com/?q=genes+for+intelligence+found&t=ffa...
- cafebeen 7y ago
  Yes, there is surely evidence that intelligence is heritable, but it's worth giving the research on this a close reading. Current approaches can only explain 10% of the variance in intelligence (https://www.nature.com/articles/nrg.2017.104 https://www.nature.com/articles/nrg.2017.104), plus the effects from the environment. My main issue with the article though was the assumption that a "best" set of genes exists without futher discussion (in addition to obvious ethical concerns)
  - jlawson 7y ago
    I was just responding to this: "intelligence is a good thing, but the question is about whether there is a set of genes that are “best” for producing it. At the moment it’s unclear which genes those are" Basically just noting that we now know at least some of those genes. Many more will be found. Some will have other deleterious effects, and we'll figure that out too. The cause-and-effect of genotype and phenotype will be slowly decoded. It's just a matter of time; there's nothing unsurmountable here at all.
    - lanstin 7y ago
      If there are 200 mind trait affecting genes you are saying a 2^200 search is fine.
      - jlawson 7y ago
        That's... Not how any of this works.

jlawson 7y ago

Well, to add some data: Intelligence genes discovered by scientists The Telegraph, Dec 21 2015 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/12061787/Intelligence-genes-discovered-by-scientists.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/120617... Many similar articles, not all about the same discovery, at this DDG search: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=genes+for+intelligence+found&t=ffab&ia=news https://duckduckgo.com/?q=genes+for+intelligence+found&t=ffa...

cafebeen 7y ago
Yes, there is surely evidence that intelligence is heritable, but it's worth giving the research on this a close reading. Current approaches can only explain 10% of the variance in intelligence (https://www.nature.com/articles/nrg.2017.104 https://www.nature.com/articles/nrg.2017.104), plus the effects from the environment. My main issue with the article though was the assumption that a "best" set of genes exists without futher discussion (in addition to obvious ethical concerns)
- jlawson 7y ago
  I was just responding to this: "intelligence is a good thing, but the question is about whether there is a set of genes that are “best” for producing it. At the moment it’s unclear which genes those are" Basically just noting that we now know at least some of those genes. Many more will be found. Some will have other deleterious effects, and we'll figure that out too. The cause-and-effect of genotype and phenotype will be slowly decoded. It's just a matter of time; there's nothing unsurmountable here at all.
  - lanstin 7y ago
    If there are 200 mind trait affecting genes you are saying a 2^200 search is fine.
    - jlawson 7y ago
      That's... Not how any of this works.