Demography, genetics and intelligence: What happens when you let the greedy run wild? Danny Dorling

"The supposed genetic traits for intelligence may actually be the genetic traits for greed,” suggests Professor Danny Dorling. And in unequal societies like the UK, he adds, we let the greedy run wild.
AUDIO RECORDING of Professor Dorling's contribution to the panel Demography in Action at the Demographic Science Summit, held on 17 October 2024 at Rhodes House, University of Oxford by the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science.
Starting at 12:25 in this recording, Professor Dorling shares his thoughts on a genome-wide research project he is involved in, "looking at ability and doing lots of work on schools and how people do. And it’s a belief that you can get genetic scores which predict intelligence. Researchers tend to love this because they think they’re clever."
Professor Dorling suggests that someone in attendance at this event may wish to pursue an unanswered question raised by the research he refers to - and shares his thoughts about what some of the findings might mean.
"Scores for intelligence are found to be just as high in the UK amongst children going to independent private schools as they are amongst children going to selective state grammar schools. Now, to go to a selective grammar school you have to pass a test at age 11. But to go to a private school, your parents have to have money. Some are selective , but there are lots and lots of private schools which are not at all. If you’ve got cash, they will take you.
"What on earth is going on, when these complicated and very wide-ranging sets of genes supposedly associated with intelligence are found just as commonly amongst young people who are clearly not that good at passing tests, as amongst those who are good at passing tests?
"Here’s my suggestion: the genetic traits for intelligence are not genetic traits for intelligence. It doesn’t make sense for human beings to have a variation in our ability to be clever. It doesn’t make sense to have a set of people to be destined to be slaves and others who are destined to be rulers.
"So what are the genes for cleverness? They’re genes for greed. They’re genes for being acquisitive, for getting stuff, for holding on to stuff, for not being feckless, if you want to use the politics of another side to me. Some people are greedier than others.
"Those people who are greedy are going to amass more money because they look after it carefully and try and get it off others, and they will send their children to schools where they will get higher A-levels and marks. And their children will think that they’re cleverer; I mean, it’s fairly hard to not think that you are if you’re told you’re clever all the time.“
“The danger is that the clever, who are not clever, they’re greedy, get concentrated together, and then have a groupthink about how society should be,. You know - we’ll have the right policies, but whatever you do, don’t tell THEM what we’re going to do - which is for their good, because they are not as clever as us…”
“We all have tendencies to go one way or another. But if you’re fortunate, and greedy, you’re born in a more equal society."
Speaking on the panel with Professor Dorling, and included in this recording (audio levels vary) were:
James Arroyo, Director of the Ditchley Foundation, and former Director for Data, Deputy Director for Cyber, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, UK
Jane Falkingham, Director of the ESRC Centre for Population Change and Connecting Generations, Prof. Demography and International Social Policy and Vice President (International & Global Engagement), University of Southampton.
Read more about the Demographic Science Summit:
www.demography...
Read more about Danny Dorling's research, books and forthcoming events:
www.dannydorling.org