Dr. Yair Ben DavidResearch shows that genetics predict 60% and more of our intelligence, and the remaining 40% also do not depend entirely on us. Still, there is comfort in these findings – our happiness is definitely not subject to them but Success.
We all want to be more successful, even if it doesn’t always serve our happiness and the happiness of those around us. We all want more achievements and more success, the kind that can ultimately manifest in both recognition and cash. But what if our intelligence and predictors of life’s success were determined by genetics? What if the genetic sequence we inherited from our parents and previous generations has already determined most of our success?
Research shows that genetics can predict 60% and more of our intelligence in our adult lives; and intelligence, as you know (as studies show) is the main predictor of success. That is, our parents are the ones who determine the main factors of our success. Not the school they send us to, not the amount of money or apartments they left us, but rather the initial inheritance that does not appear in any will. The inheritance of who we are.
Moreover, the effect on the remaining 40% is not directly related to us. It is influenced by environmental factors such as our education, our social environment, the financial support we receive and more. Of course, we do have some influence on the measure of our success, but it turns out that we should not be too optimistic – this influence is limited, and even more so because it, too, is affected by our parents. That is to say, even the small influence left to us is affected by that damned genetics.
So, where is the social equality we were promised? Doesn’t genetics ultimately create more successful and less successful caste? Do the “higher” genetic castes simply maintain their success through the generations by heredity? On such an inheritance, unlike material inheritance, even progressive tax cannot be imposed…
First, keep in mind that the equality we all strive for (or at least try to pretend to strive for, in liberal democracy) is equal opportunity, not equality of achievement or success. Second, there are researchers who argue that it is precisely the dominance of genetics in our success in life that reduces the gaps in equal opportunity. Their logic is simple but wise: If success was primarily determined by the institution where you were educated or the depth of your family’s pockets, then parents would be the ones to sentence their children’s lives to success or failure. But, if success is mainly predetermined by genetics, all of these gaps matter less, or very little. Therefore, the power and influence of social injustice is significantly diminished.
So, what did we actually inherit?
Can anything be done about genetic inequality? After all, it is not opportunity inequality, but rather more initial inequality, at the opening point. So, first of all – no; but it is certainly possible, and the researchers I quoted above suggest this, to change our desire for success. According to them, the desire for success is not necessarily the recipe for happiness; sometimes even the opposite. Adopting the notion that the measure of success in our world is usually determined by a high genetic caste will allow us to strive for the “success” that is customary in our caste. If we succeed, we will be much happier than if we continue to try to beat genetics.
For further reading:
Genetics and intelligence differences: five special findings
Intelligence
Is intelligence determined by genetics?
Dr. Yair Ben David | Mida Tova
How do people make moral decisions? Do men and women have different moral systems? Why is it that, in many cases, our actions are different from our moral stand, and why do we expect others to behave differently from the way we expect ourselves to behave? And when will we rely on computers and robots to make moral decisions for us?
Psychological research tries to provide answers to these questions. In my blog, I will share research in the field and try to tell, at least in part, the story of moral psychology in recent years.
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Yair Ben David is a researcher in the fields of developmental and moral psychology at Tel Aviv University.
