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Dysgenics (also known as cacogenics) is the decrease in prevalence of traits deemed to be either socially desirable or well adapted to their environment due to selective pressure disfavoring the reproduction of those traits.^[1]

The adjective "dysgenic" is the antonym of "eugenic". In 1915 the term was used by David Starr Jordan to describe the supposed deleterious effects of modern warfare on group-level genetic fitness because of its tendency to kill physically healthy men while preserving the disabled at home.^[2]^[3] Similar concerns had been raised by early eugenicists and social Darwinists during the 19th century, and continued to play a role in scientific and public policy debates throughout the 20th century.^[4] More recent concerns about supposed dysgenic effects in human populations have been advanced by the controversial psychologist Richard Lynn, notably in his 1996 book Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations, which argued that a reduction in selection pressures and decreased infant mortality since the Industrial Revolution have resulted in an increased propagation of deleterious traits and genetic disorders.^[5] In popular culture, concerns about dysgenics have also formed the basis for speculative fiction, notably the 2006 film Idiocracy.

Despite these concerns, genetic studies have shown no evidence for dysgenic effects in human populations.^[6]^[7]^[8]

In fiction

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, in Judge's film, voluntary childlessness among high-IQ couples leaves only automated systems to fill that role in Idiocracy.^[9]

Notes

^ Rédei, George P. (2008). Encyclopedia of Genetics, Genomics, Proteomics, and Informatics, Volume 1. Springer. p. 572. ISBN 978-1-4020-6755-6.
^ 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 978-1-4102-0900-9.
^ Carlson, Elof Axel (2001). The Unfit: A History of a Bad Idea. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. pp. 189–193. ISBN 9780879695873.
^ Carlson, Elof Axel (2001). The Unfit: A History of a Bad Idea. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. ISBN 9780879695873.
^ Richard Lynn: Dysgenics: genetic deterioration in modern populations Westport, Connecticut. : Praeger, 1996., ISBN 978-0-275-94917-4.
^ Conley, Dalton; Laidley, Thomas; Belsky, Daniel W.; Fletcher, Jason M.; Boardman, Jason D.; Domingue, Benjamin W. (14 June 2016). "Assortative mating and differential fertility by phenotype and genotype across the 20th century". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 113:24: 6647–6652.
^ Bratsberg, Bernt; Rogeberg, Ole (26 June 2018). "Flynn effect and its reversal are both environmentally caused". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 115:26: 6674–6678.
^ Neisser, Ulric (1998). The Rising Curve: Long-Term Gains in IQ and Related Measures. American Psychological Association. pp. xiii–xiv. ISBN 978-1557985033. There is no convincing evidence that any dysgenic trend exists. . . . It turns out, counterintuitively, that differential birth rates (for groups scoring high and low on a trait) do not necessarily produces changes in the population mean.
^ Mitchell, Dan (2006-09-09). "Shying away from Degeneracy". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-06-29.

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-{{Short description|Study of factors producing the accumulation and perpetuation of defective genes/traits}}
+{{Short description|Decrease in prevalence of traits deemed to be socially desirable or well adapted to their environment}}
 {{Distinguish|Dysgenesis (embryology)}}
+{{expert|1=Biology|reason=Contemporary genetics research on the topic could be substantially unpacked}}
-{{expert|1=Biology}}
+'''Dysgenics''' (also known as '''cacogenics''') is the decrease in prevalence of traits deemed to be either socially desirable or well adapted to their environment due to selective pressure disfavoring the reproduction of those traits.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rédei|first=George P.|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Encyclopedia_of_Genetics_Genomics_Proteo/c9e9pqQCqrEC?hl=en&gbpv=0|title=Encyclopedia of Genetics, Genomics, Proteomics, and Informatics, Volume 1|publisher=Springer|year=2008|isbn=978-1-4020-6755-6|pages=572}}</ref>
-'''Dysgenics''' (also known as '''cacogenics''')<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/cacogenics |title=cacogenics|publisher= Freedictionary.com |access-date=2008-06-29|quote= 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.}}</ref> is the study of factors producing the accumulation and perpetuation of defective or disadvantageous [[gene]]s and [[phenotypic trait|traits]] in offspring of a particular population or species.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bartleby.com/61/60/D0446000.html|title=Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and hundreds more|website=www.bartleby.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090318135516/http://www.bartleby.com/61/60/D0446000.html|archive-date=2009-03-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/dysgenics | title=Definition of dysgenics | work=Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary}}</ref>
-The adjective "dysgenic" is the antonym of "[[eugenic]]". It was first used {{abbr|c.|circa}} 1915 by [[David Starr Jordan]], describing the supposed dysgenic effects of [[World War I]].<ref>''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''</ref> 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.<ref name="Jordan">{{cite book| last = Jordan| first = David Starr| title = War and the Breed: The Relation of War to the Downfall of Nations| publisher = University Press of the Pacific| year= 2003|edition=Reprint| isbn = 978-1-4102-0900-9|location = Honolulu, Hawaii}}</ref>
+The adjective "dysgenic" is the antonym of "[[eugenic]]". In 1915 the term was used by [[David Starr Jordan]] to describe the supposed deleterious effects of modern warfare on group-level genetic fitness because of its tendency to kill physically healthy men while preserving the disabled at home.<ref name="Jordan">{{cite book| last = Jordan| first = David Starr| title = War and the Breed: The Relation of War to the Downfall of Nations| publisher = University Press of the Pacific| year= 2003|edition=Reprint| isbn = 978-1-4102-0900-9|location = Honolulu, Hawaii}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Carlson|first=Elof Axel|title=The Unfit: A History of a Bad Idea|publisher=Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press|year=2001|isbn=9780879695873|pages=189–193}}</ref> Similar concerns had been raised by early eugenicists and [[Social Darwinism|social Darwinists]] during the 19th century, and continued to play a role in scientific and public policy debates throughout the 20th century.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Carlson|first=Elof Axel|title=The Unfit: A History of a Bad Idea|publisher=Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press|year=2001|isbn=9780879695873}}</ref> More recent concerns about supposed dysgenic effects in human populations have been advanced by the controversial psychologist [[Richard Lynn]], notably in his 1996 book ''[[Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations]]'', which argued that a reduction in [[Mutation–selection balance|selection pressures]] and decreased [[infant mortality]] since the [[Industrial Revolution]] have resulted in an increased propagation of deleterious traits and [[genetic disorder]]s.<ref name="Dysgenics 1996">Richard Lynn: ''Dysgenics: genetic deterioration in modern populations'' [[Westport, Connecticut|Westport]], Connecticut. : Praeger, 1996., {{ISBN|978-0-275-94917-4}}.</ref> In popular culture, concerns about dysgenics have also formed the basis for [[speculative fiction]], notably the 2006 film ''[[Idiocracy]]''.
+Despite these concerns, genetic studies have shown no evidence for dysgenic effects in human populations.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Conley|first=Dalton|last2=Laidley|first2=Thomas|last3=Belsky|first3=Daniel W.|last4=Fletcher|first4=Jason M.|last5=Boardman|first5=Jason D.|last6=Domingue|first6=Benjamin W.|date=14 June 2016|title=Assortative mating and differential fertility by phenotype and genotype across the 20th century|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4914190/|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=113:24|pages=6647–6652}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bratsberg|first=Bernt|last2=Rogeberg|first2=Ole|date=26 June 2018|title=Flynn effect and its reversal are both environmentally caused|url=https://www.pnas.org/content/115/26/6674.short|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=115:26|pages=6674-6678}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Neisser|first=Ulric|title=The Rising Curve: Long-Term Gains in IQ and Related Measures|publisher=American Psychological Association|year=1998|isbn=978-1557985033|pages=xiii–xiv|quote=There is no convincing evidence that any dysgenic trend exists. . . . It turns out, counterintuitively, that differential birth rates (for groups scoring high and low on a trait) do ''not'' necessarily produces changes in the population mean.}}</ref>
-In the context of [[human genetics]], a dysgenic effect is the projected or observed tendency of
-a reduction in [[Mutation–selection balance|selection pressures]] and decreased [[infant mortality]] since the [[Industrial Revolution]] resulting in the increased propagation of deleterious traits and [[genetic disorder]]s. [[Richard Lynn]] in his ''[[Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations]]'' (1996) identified three main concerns: deterioration in [[health]], in [[Heritability of IQ|intelligence]], and in [[conscientiousness]].
-== Genetic disorders ==
-[[Rui Nunes]] wrote that dysgenics is the selection of genetic traits that are "commonly accepted as a disabling condition," and like eugenics, dysgenics can be positively selected or negatively selected.<ref name="nunes">{{cite journal |last=Nunes |first=Rui |date=March 2006 |title=Deafness, genetics and dysgenics |journal=Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=25–31 |doi=10.1007/s11019-005-2852-9  |pmid=16645795 |s2cid=46237044 }}</ref> Nunes defined positive dysgenics as a selection that increases the number of individuals with dysgenic traits, while negative dysgenics is the discarding of genetics that cause disability.<ref name="nunes"/>
-Improved medical and social care may possibly lead to increased incidence of [[genetic disorder]]s. Practices such as [[genetic counselling]] and [[prenatal screening]] may counteract this effect.<ref>{{Cite journal
-| last1 = Holloway | first1 = S. M.
-| last2 = Smith | first2 = C.
-| title = Effects of various medical and social pracitices on the frequency of genetic disorders
-| journal = American Journal of Human Genetics
-| volume = 27
-| issue = 5
-| pages = 614–627
-| year = 1975
-| pmid = 1163536
-| pmc = 1762830
-}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Matsunaga | first1 = E. | title = Perspectives in mutation epidemiology: 5. Modern medical practice versus environmental mutagens: Their possible dysgenic impact | doi = 10.1016/0165-1110(83)90040-4 | journal = Mutation Research/Reviews in Genetic Toxicology | volume = 114 | issue = 3 | pages = 449–457 | year = 1983 | pmid =  6835245}}</ref>
-== Fertility and intelligence ==
-{{main|Fertility and intelligence}}
-Lynn argued that [[natural selection]] in pre-industrial societies favored traits such as intelligence and character but no longer does so in modern societies, finding that criminals in the [[United Kingdom]] tend to have more children.<ref name="lynn">{{Cite journal | last1 = Lynn | first1 = R. | doi = 10.1017/S0021932000023014 | title = Dysgenic fertility for criminal behaviour | journal = Journal of Biosocial Science | volume = 27 | issue = 4 | year = 2008 | pages = 405–408 | pmid =  7593047}}</ref>
-The hypothesized dysgenic decline in human [[intelligence]] is traced to a change in the distribution in fertility and intelligence by Woodley (2015).<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Woodley | first1 = Michael A. | year = 2015 | title = How fragile is our intellect? Estimating losses in general intelligence due to both selection and mutation accumulation | journal = Personality and Individual Differences | volume = 75 | pages = 80–84 | doi=10.1016/j.paid.2014.10.047}}</ref>
-== Selective fertility ==
-Lynn and Harvey (2008)<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lynn |first1=Richard  |last2=Harveyb |first2=John  |title=The decline of the world's IQ |journal=Intelligence |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=112–120 |doi=10.1016/j.intell.2007.03.004 |year=2008  }}</ref> 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|date=July 2012}} The Chinese [[one-child policy]] was an example of how fertility can be regulated by authoritarian means.<ref name="ReferenceB">{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1016/j.intell.2007.03.004| title = The decline of the world's IQ| year = 2008| last1 = Lynn | first1 = R.| last2 = Harvey | first2 = J.| journal = Intelligence| volume = 36| issue = 2| pages = 112–120 }}</ref> [[Geoffrey Miller (psychologist)|Geoffrey Miller]] claims the one-child policy was implemented to reduce [[Demographics of China|China's population explosion]], and "to reduce dysgenic fertility among rural peasants."<ref>Edge, Chinese Eugenics, http://edge.org/response-detail/23838/</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite web |last1 = Tsintolas |first1 = Alexa |title = Exceptions - China's One-Child Policy | access-date = 14 June 2018 |url = http://alexatsintolas.weebly.com/exceptions.html }}</ref>
 == In fiction ==
-[[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, in Judge's film, [[voluntary childlessness]] wipes out the bloodlines of above-average intelligence and leaves only [[automation|automated systems]] to fill that role in ''Idiocracy''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/09/business/09online.html |title=Shying away from Degeneracy|work=The New York Times|author=Mitchell, Dan|date=2006-09-09|access-date=2008-06-29}}</ref>
+[[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, in Judge's film, [[voluntary childlessness]] among high-IQ couples leaves only [[automation|automated systems]] to fill that role in ''Idiocracy''.<ref name=":0">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/09/business/09online.html |title=Shying away from Degeneracy|work=The New York Times|author=Mitchell, Dan|date=2006-09-09|access-date=2008-06-29}}</ref>
 == See also ==
@@ Line 51: / Line 26: @@
 *{{Cite book |title=Intelligence, Genes, and Success: Scientists Respond to the Bell Curve |editor1-last=Devlin |editor1-first=Bernie |editor2-last=Fienberg |editor2-first=Stephen E. |editor3-last=Resnick |editor3-first=Daniel P. |display-editors=3 |editor4-last=Kathryn <!--|authors=Stephen E. Fienberg, Daniel Resnick, Terry W. Belke, Michael Daniels, Bernie Devlin, Kathryn Roeder, Douglas Waslsten, Burton Singer, Carol Ryff, Earl Hunt, Nicholas Lemann, John Cawley, Karen Conneely, James Heckman, Edward Vytacil, Alexander Cavallo, Hazem El-Abbadi, Randal Heeb, Christoper Winship, Sanders Korenman, Lucinda A. Manolakes, Clark Glymour, Edward Zigler, Sally J. Styfco--> |location=New York (NY) |publisher=Springer |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-387-94986-4 |lay-url=https://www.springer.com/statistics/social+sciences+%26+law/book/978-0-387-94986-4?cm_mmc=Google-_-Book%20Search-_-Springer-_-0 |lay-date=13 November 2010 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/intelligencegene00bern }}
 *{{Cite book |title=The Rising Curve: Long-Term Gains in IQ and Related Measures |editor-last=Neisser |editor-first=Ulric |authors=Ulric Neisser, James R. Flynn, Carmi Schooler, Patricia M. Greenfield, Wendy M. Williams, Marian Sigman, Shannon E. Whaley, Reynaldo Martorell, Richard Lynn, Robert M. Hauser, David W. Grissmer, Stephanie Williamson, Sheila Nataraj Kirby, Mark Berends, Stephen J. Ceci, Tina B. Rosenblum, Matthew Kumpf, Min-Hsiung Huang, Irwin D. Waldman, Samuel H. Preston, John C. Loehlin--> |year=1998 |publisher=American Psychological Association |location=Washington (DC) |isbn=978-1-55798-503-3 |series=APA Science Volume Series |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/risingcurvelongt00neis }}
-* {{cite journal|last1=Conley|first1=Dalton|last2=Laidley|first2=Thomas|last3=Belsky|first3=Daniel W.|last4=Fletcher|first4=Jason M.|last5=Boardman|first5=Jason D.|last6=Domingue|first6=Benjamin W.|title=Assortative mating and differential fertility by phenotype and genotype across the 20th century|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|date=14 June 2016|volume=113|issue=24|pages=6647–6652|doi=10.1073/pnas.1523592113|pmid=27247411|pmc=4914190|doi-access=free}}
 * {{cite journal|last1=Beauchamp|first1=Jonathan P.|title=Genetic evidence for natural selection in humans in the contemporary United States|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|date=11 July 2016|pages=7774–7779|doi=10.1073/pnas.1600398113|pmid=27402742|volume=113|issue=28|pmc=4948342|doi-access=free}}
 * Barban et al. 2016, [https://www.dropbox.com/s/ec7byi2g8egpfgh/2016-barban.pdf "Genome-wide analysis identifies 12 loci influencing human reproductive behavior"]
-== External links ==
-*[https://archive.org/details/Dysgenics-Richard-Lynn ''Dysgenics''] online ebook.
-{{Global catastrophic risks}}
-{{Authority control}}
 [[Category:Eugenics]]
 [[Category:Evolutionary biology]]

Revision as of 19:08, 3 January 2022

In fiction

See also

Notes

Further reading