Thinking About Human Evolution and IQ

The amount of data, information, and understanding about human genetics has exploded in the past few years. The increase has been phenomenal.

First, Some Background

Genetics and the Human Genome

The human genome project was a huge effort to map the genetic makeup of modern man (Homo sapiens). Modern has been defined as originating perhaps from as long ago as 200,000 BC and developing with modern characteristics such as language, music , etc. achieved by approximately 40,000 – 50,000 years ago.

An introduction to the Human Genome Project is given here.

Completed in 2003, the Human Genome Project (HGP) was a 13-year project coordinated by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health. During the early years of the HGP, the Wellcome Trust (U.K.) became a major partner; additional contributions came from Japan, France, Germany, China, and others. See our history page for more information.

Project goals were to
• identify all the approximately 20,000-25,000 genes in human DNA,
• determine the sequences of the 3 billion chemical base pairs that make up human DNA,
• store this information in databases,
• improve tools for data analysis,
• transfer related technologies to the private sector, and
• address the ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) that may arise from the project.

Though the HGP is finished, analyses of the data will continue for many years. Follow this ongoing research on our Milestones page. An important feature of the HGP project was the federal government's long-standing dedication to the transfer of technology to the private sector. By licensing technologies to private companies and awarding grants for innovative research, the project catalyzed the multibillion-dollar U.S. biotechnology industry and fostered the development of new medical applications.

IQ (Intelligence Quotient)

A brief discussion of IQ and its normal distribution standardized about an average score of 100 is presented here.

What constitutes a person's IQ?
by Marshall Brain from: http://www.howstuffworks.com/question455.htm

The term IQ, or Intelligence Quotient, generally describes a score on a test that rates the subject's cognitive ability as compared to the general population. IQ tests use a standardized scale with 100 as the median score. On most tests, a score between 90 and 110, or the median plus or minus 10, indicates average intelligence. A score above 130 indicates exceptional intelligence and a score below 70 may indicate mental retardation. Like their predecessors, modern tests do take in to account the age of a child when determining an IQ score. Children are graded relative to the population at their developmental level.

What is this cognitive ability being measured? Simply put, IQ tests (of varying reliability) are designed to measure your general ability to solve problems and understand concepts. This includes reasoning ability, problem-solving ability, ability to perceive relationships between things and ability to store and retrieve information. IQ tests measure this general intellectual ability in a number of different ways. They may test:
• spatial ability: the ability to visualize manipulation of shapes
• mathematical ability: the ability to solve problems and use logic
• language ability: This could include the ability to complete sentences or recognize words when letters have been rearranged or removed.
• memory ability: the ability to recall things presented either visually or aurally

Questions in each of these categories test for a specific cognitive ability, but many psychologists hold that they also indicate general intellectual ability. Most people perform better on one type of question than on others, but experts have determined that for the most part people who excel in one category do similarly well in the other categories, and if someone does poorly in any one category, he also does poorly in the others. Based on this, these experts theorize there is one general element of intellectual ability that determines other specific cognitive abilities. Ideally, an IQ test measures this general factor of intelligence, abbreviated as g. The best tests, therefore, feature questions from many categories of intellectual ability so that the test isn't weighted toward one specific skill.

Because IQ tests measure your ability to understand ideas and not the quantity of your knowledge, learning new information does not automatically increase your IQ. Learning may exercise your mind, however, which could help you to develop greater cognitive skills, but scientists do not fully understand this relationship. The connection between learning and mental ability is still largely unknown, as are the workings of the brain and the nature of intellectual ability. Intellectual ability does seem to depend more on genetic factors than on environmental factors, but most experts agree that environment plays some significant role in its development.

The Usual Split in Interpretation: Political Correctness on One Side – Facts on the Other

The politically correct notion is three fold

First, the PC left follows the dogma that modern humans have remained essentially unchanged since 40,000 to 50,000 years ago and the differences we see between different races of people are therefore only skin deep. Otherwise all races are equal.

Second, because humans haven’t changed in the last 50,000 years, IQ must be culturally determined.

Third, because IQ tests vary by race, they are not reliable, they are biased, and they shouldn’t be used.

The Modern Scientific View is Demonstrating More and More Genetic Influence on IQ

An interesting source for this view is a new book outlined and sold here, and reviewed here.

An example of genetic changes in the last ~10,000 years is the development of blue eyes in northern Europe. An example of genetic changes increasing IQ in the last several hundred years is

Ashkenazi Jews have been terrifically overrepresented in cultural and scientific achievements over the past hundred years. They have the highest average IQ of any ethnic group, and an odd set of genetic diseases. We believe that there is a simple explanation for all these surprising facts - natural selection for being better white-collar workers in the Middle Ages. source.

Some Comparisons, Thoughts, and Speculations

The controversy over IQ: genetic or cultural, useful or not, etc. appears very similar to the Global Warming controversy. Those on one side believe that Global Warming is human caused (mainly by CO2 production from fossil fuel burning) and they will use any and all tactics to force others to accept their beliefs. Those that question the human-CO2-global warming link or think that global warming is nothing more than natural variations in climate are continually looking for more data and scientific methods to determine what causes changes in climate. The former is more like a religion, and a mean spirited one at that, and the latter is science as it is normally conducted.

It is inconceivable to me that as their environment and population changed, modern humans would not have changed genetically in 50,000 years. A new type (race) of dog can be produced in a few generations of selective breeding and sheep can be cloned. New varieties of high yield grains were developed a few decades ago (the Green Revolution), and red seedless grapes did not exist until recently. To my knowledge what we humans call culture (i.e. language, art, etc.) does not exist in grain or grapes; yet grains and grapes have changed drastically in our lifetimes. Why? Because we have made genetic changes occur in them. How can we then say, without any scientific support or logic, that modern humans have stayed unchanged for 50,000 years? It appears that the data and logic are on the side of genetic changes.

Human population increases accelerate genetic changes via several ways. First, the more people there are the more chances for rare mutations to occur and be retained in the population. Second, the more people there are the more chances there are for drastic environmental changes (social changes, wars, diseases) to occur which may accelerate the rate of mutations and their spread. Third, with larger populations there is more trade, wars, travel, and other ways of genetic mixing and genetic change.

It seems logical that if population is increasing geometrically, that the rate of genetic changes would follow an accelerating rate as well.

Final Thoughts

I speculate that there may be a genetic, or partially genetic, basis for the different thought patterns and behavior of liberals and conservatives. Perhaps, others more educated and wiser than I will one day formulate testable hypotheses related to this speculation.

We have the human genome now. Who can foresee the incredible genetic changes Homo sapiens may make to Homo sapiens. Will it go so far as to create something beyond Homo sapiens?

I see no inconsistency between faith in God and the science of genetics in plants, animals, and man. God created the universe and everything in it, including the genetics of man and their ability to change with time.