Politically Correct Science

Why are Asians boring? Why are Mexicans sleepy? These may be racist jokes to some, but they are a real science for Bruce Lahn. One of the pioneers in evolutionary neuroscience, Lahn was recently under fire for stating that there are more genes for bigger brain size in Europe and fewer genes in sub-Saharan Africa and East Asia. Although he didn't say it himself, many took his work to imply that certain races might have higher IQs than others.

Charles Darwin based his theories on Galapagos turtles-Lahn looked at microcephalin and ASPM, two genes that control bigger brain size. His analysis of these genes through human history led to two important findings, the first being that large cultural breakthroughs matched the evolution of the two genes perfectly. Microcephalin evolved 37,000 years ago, which coincides with the beginning of art, music, and fancier weapons. The new ASPM surfaced 5,800 years ago along with the first written languages, cities, and civilization (i.e., the Mesopotamians). Lahn then tested people today around the world for something called haplogroup D, which goes hand-in-hand with the two bigger-brain genes. He discovered that the ASPM's haplogroup D occurs more in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East and less in sub-Saharan Africa and East Asia. Microcephalin's haplogroup D crops up least in sub-Saharan Africa.

The work implied that people from sub-Saharan Africa and East Asia have smaller brains. And poor Lahn knew that his findings would lead to debate about their political correctness. Lahn recanted and said his study didn't mean anything, that two genes said nothing about intelligence. And even if they did, brain size doesn't matter much. Male brains are 3 to 4 percent larger, on average, than female brains, but we all have more or less the same IQ. But people kept hounding him as to whether one race or ethnicity was smarter than another. So Lahn quit. He said the research was getting too controversial, packed up his desk, and quietly moved on to non-IQ studies.

It's always a little uncomfortable when scientific research is discouraged, especially when public pressure nudges a leading scientist out of his research because it's getting too socially dicey. Issues such as eugenics enter moral territory. The church used to make sense of these matters, but science has found a way to circumvent many of the church's oppositions. In its void, then, political correctness has turned into the new religion, stepping on the toes of scientific research. Could Bruce Lahn be the newest Galileo martyr?

But, in truth, it's not just the PC factor. It's all of us. We're so hard-wired, and we don't even want to know it. Take, for example, the failure of the IQ Cap, a 16-second IQ test. It was a pretty simple study: you stare at a red thumbtack for 16 seconds with 12 electrodes glued to your scalp. Just by monitoring your brainwaves during those 16 seconds, the computer can predict, within one-half standard deviation, your score on 11 different IQ tests. One would expect the IQ Cap to be well-received for its cultural neutrality-it involves nothing more than staring at a red dot. But that's exactly the problem. It's too simple and brutally honest. We can't blame it on a bad day, not enough sleep, or being a bad test-taker.

Nietzsche warned that it would come to this. He hated science. He thought it sucked all the fun, all the myth out of life. Perhaps we've come full circle, and the Greeks had it right all along. We don't have free will. We don't have self-improvement. When Achilles chose a short life of immortal fame over a long life of luxury, it wasn't really his choice at all. When was fate ever a multiple-choice question?

Sadly, it's not all that far away. The National Institute of Mental Health had a study called the Violence Initiative. Accidentally divulged in 1992, the study looked to genetically identify urban youths who were pre-wired for crime. Blasted as Nazi eugenics by politicians, the institute quickly sacked the program before denying that it ever existed.

It's going to take some getting used to, but more scientists like Lahn are on the way, and some of their ideas will stick. Imagine a neuroscience future, a worker ant/soldier ant culture where "don't blame me, it's my IQ" is the latest "I'm not fat, I'm big-boned" excuse.