Is race genetically determined?

Race is a real concept that we use as social beings. As for whether race can be found in our genes, the answer is no. Biological ancestry, however (which is distinct from race), is real. Where our forebears came from can be seen in our DNA (to a certain degree), but ancestry does not map onto race, not even close.

Is race important in biology?

Variation among geographic populations is real, and study of its origins can yield important biological insights. But there are no categories of race that segment human populations, and there are no mysterious qualities “in the blood” that justify the belief in racial superiority.

Can intelligence be changed?

Intelligence can be changed.” And here’s the footnote, from page 145: “This is not to say that students don’t have learning disabilities. Some do. My conclusions in this chapter do not apply to these students.”

Is race not a useful tool for classifying humans?

And by suggesting that race is not a useful tool for classifying humans, we do not mean to say that somehow race is not real. Race is, of course, real. We live in a country and a world where skin color has long been used as a way to systematize discrimination and brutality. But that is not what we are arguing in this paper.

Does science need to move beyond race?

In the wake of the U.S. Human Genome Project, the answer seemed to be a pretty resounding “no.” In 2004, for example, Francis Collins, then head of the National Human Genome Research Institute and now director of the National Institutes of Health, called race a “flawed” and “weak” concept and argued that science needed to move beyond race.

Is intelligence determined by genetics or the environment?

Dr. Willingham spends the first half of the chapter explaining why scientists who once thought that intelligence was largely determined by genetics now think that intelligence is largely shaped by one’s environment. He goes over the evidence supporting this dramatic switch and it’s both fascinating and convincing.