Dysgenics (also known as cacogenics) is the decrease in prevalence of traits deemed to be either socially desirable or well adapted to their environment due to selective pressure disfavoring the reproduction of those traits.[1]
The adjective "dysgenic" is the antonym of "eugenic". In 1915 the term was used by David Starr Jordan to describe the supposed deleterious effects of modern warfare on group-level genetic fitness because of its tendency to kill physically healthy men while preserving the disabled at home.[2][3] Similar concerns had been raised by early eugenicists and social Darwinists during the 19th century, and continued to play a role in scientific and public policy debates throughout the 20th century.[4] More recent concerns about supposed dysgenic effects in human populations have been advanced by the controversial psychologist Richard Lynn, notably in his 1996 book Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations, which argued that a reduction in selection pressures and decreased infant mortality since the Industrial Revolution have resulted in an increased propagation of deleterious traits and genetic disorders.[5][6]
Despite these concerns, genetic studies have shown no evidence for dysgenic effects in human populations.[5][7][8][9]
^Rédei, George P. (2008). Encyclopedia of Genetics, Genomics, Proteomics, and Informatics, Volume 1. Springer. p. 572. ISBN 978-1-4020-6755-6.
^Jordan, David Starr (2003). War and the Breed: The Relation of War to the Downfall of Nations (Reprint ed.). Honolulu: University Press of the Pacific. ISBN 978-1-4102-0900-9.
^Carlson, Elof Axel (2001). The Unfit: A History of a Bad Idea. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. pp. 189–193. ISBN 9780879695873.
^Carlson, Elof Axel (2001). The Unfit: A History of a Bad Idea. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. ISBN 9780879695873.
^ abFischbach, Karl-Friedrich; Niggeschmidt, Martin (2022). "Do the Dumb Get Dumber and the Smart Get Smarter?". Heritability of Intelligence. Springer. pp. 37–39. doi:10.1007/978-3-658-35321-6_9. ISBN 978-3-658-35321-6. S2CID 244640696. Since the nineteenth century, a 'race deterioration' has been repeatedly predicted as a result of the excessive multiplication of less gifted people (Galton 1869; see also Fig. 9.1). Nevertheless, the educational and qualification level of people in the industrialized countries has risen strongly. The fact that the 'test intelligence' has also significantly increased (Flynn 2013), is difficult to explain for supporters of the dysgenic thesis: they suspect that the 'phenotypic intelligence' has increased for environmental reasons, while the 'genotypic quality' secretly decreases (Lynn 1996, p. 111). There is neither evidence nor proof for this theory.
^Richard Lynn: Dysgenics: genetic deterioration in modern populations Westport, Connecticut. : Praeger, 1996., ISBN 978-0-275-94917-4.
^Conley, Dalton; Laidley, Thomas; Belsky, Daniel W.; Fletcher, Jason M.; Boardman, Jason D.; Domingue, Benjamin W. (14 June 2016). "Assortative mating and differential fertility by phenotype and genotype across the 20th century". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 113 (24): 6647–6652. Bibcode:2016PNAS..113.6647C. doi:10.1073/pnas.1523592113. PMC 4914190. PMID 27247411.
^Bratsberg, Bernt; Rogeberg, Ole (26 June 2018). "Flynn effect and its reversal are both environmentally caused". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 115 (26): 6674–6678. Bibcode:2018PNAS..115.6674B. doi:10.1073/pnas.1718793115. PMC 6042097. PMID 29891660.
^Neisser, Ulric (1998). The Rising Curve: Long-Term Gains in IQ and Related Measures. American Psychological Association. pp. xiii–xiv. ISBN 978-1557985033. There is no convincing evidence that any dysgenic trend exists. . . . It turns out, counterintuitively, that differential birth rates (for groups scoring high and low on a trait) do not necessarily produces changes in the population mean.
supposed dysgenic effects in human populations have been advanced by the controversial psychologist Richard Lynn, notably in his 1996 book Dysgenics: Genetic...
Richard Lynn. In Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations (1996), Lynn reviewed the history of eugenics and dysgenics, from the early writings...
of Productivity in Research Laboratories", Shockley 1957 On heredity, dysgenics and social issues: Shockley 1965, "Is Quality of US Population Declining...
on issues including anti-intellectualism, commercialism, consumerism, dysgenics, voluntary childlessness, and overpopulation. 20th Century Fox was hesitant...
been argued to be evidence against dysgenic arguments. Geneticist Steve Connor wrote that Lynn, writing in Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations...
tasks in the job market in contrast to the 20th century, and possibly dysgenic fertility. A 2015 study found that the frequency of nearsightedness has...
Calhoun's final cohort. Proxemics Decadence Population decline Overpopulation Dysgenics Welfare state Hikikomori Incel Tang ping Rat Park Mrs. Frisby and the...
on social pathologies that may develop prior to population collapse. Dysgenics as for the qualitative counterpart to Malthus' primarily quantitative...
This can result in a cicatrix of the distal penis and its entrapment. Dysgenic dartos is a condition characterized by a lack of dorsal support together...
Landsberg Prison. Hitler believed the nation had become weak, corrupted by dysgenics, the infusion of degenerate elements into its bloodstream. The racialism...
Foundation for Research and Education on Eugenics and Dysgenics (FREED) was a non-profit organization founded in March 1970 in the United States formed...
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March 30, 2000. The album was accompanied by a music video for the song "Dysgenics". Greg Platt for Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles spoke highly of the album...
unintentionally achieved by eroding language and education coupled with dysgenics, where people of lower intelligence reproduced faster than the people...
decided whether Germans would be sterilized. After observing several dysgenics trials at the court, Stoddard asserted that the eugenics legislation was...
human genome Amity–enmity complex Archaeogenetics Dual inheritance theory Dysgenics Evolution of human intelligence Evolution of morality Evolutionary medicine...
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nationalism, yet also worried that modern wars among European nations might have dysgenic effect by sacrificing too many strong, brave individuals. These many conflicting...
study of doses. Dynamics – study of forces and their effects on motion. Dysgenics – study of racial degeneration. Ecclesiology – study of church affairs...
political groups invoking them as examples of inherited immorality." Dysgenics Educational attainment in the United States Environment and intelligence...
dominance. The last five chapters (8-12) include Fisher's concern about dysgenics and proposals for eugenics. Fisher attributed the fall of civilizations...
begins to employ the relatively recent term "eugenics" and its opposite "dysgenics". In 1928 Jordan served on the initial board of trustees of the Human...
Drosophila strains caused by the transposition of P elements The study of dysgenics, a theory that deterioration of hereditary qualities can occur in offspring...
Darwinists argued society itself would naturally "check" the problem of "dysgenics" if no welfare policies were in place (for example, the poor might reproduce...
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