Why Is Genetics Fine to Discuss for Physical Ability but Taboo for Intelligence?

Recently, I came across a study of twins that examined the relationship between musical talent and practice.

The study suggested that differences in talent could not be explained by the amount of practice alone and that genetic influence was substantial.

Whenever I see research like this, I think about the same thing.

Human ability is not determined by effort alone.

In sports, everyone knows this.

No matter how hard people train, not everyone can become an Olympic athlete. Height, body structure, and muscle characteristics all affect the level someone can reach.

The same is true in music. People differ in their natural sense of pitch and rhythm.

But the moment the subject becomes intelligence, the atmosphere changes.

Why is intelligence the one ability for which we are not supposed to discuss genetics?

Is the Brain the Only Part of the Body Unaffected by Genetics?

Height, body structure, and muscles are all influenced by genetics.

Is the brain somehow the only exception?

Of course not.

Research in behavioral genetics has shown that genetic factors have a substantial influence on intelligence.

This is not some bizarre theory.

And yet, simply saying that people are born with differences in intelligence makes society strangely uneasy.

We readily accept that some people run quickly and others slowly.

We also accept that some people sing beautifully while others cannot carry a tune.

But when it comes to intelligence, we apparently prefer to imagine that everyone begins from exactly the same starting line.

The body is shaped by genetics, but the brain is apparently distributed equally to everyone. What wonderfully convenient biology.

Genetics Does Not Mean Copying Your Parents

Saying that intelligence is influenced by genetics does not mean that a genius parent will necessarily have a genius child.

Many genes are involved in intelligence, and every child inherits a different combination.

Even siblings born to the same parents can differ greatly in their abilities.

Genetics is not a system that copies a parent’s abilities exactly.

That is why highly intelligent parents can have a child who is less so, and the reverse can also happen.

Talent is inherited, but outcomes are probabilistic.

Why is it so difficult to acknowledge something this basic?

We Discuss Physical Ability in Connection with Race

When watching a marathon, I am often astonished by the overwhelming running ability of athletes from Africa.

In sports, differences in physical ability are often discussed in connection with race or region of origin.

We hear statements such as “athletes of African descent are fast” or “a particular region produces excellent long-distance runners,” even during sports broadcasts.

Whether those explanations are scientifically accurate is a separate question. At the very least, discussing possible genetic characteristics of different groups is not unusual when the subject is physical ability.

But when the subject becomes intelligence, everything changes.

Are there inherited differences in intellectual ability among racial or population groups?

Simply asking the question creates an atmosphere in which the discussion itself is treated as dangerous.

“Africans are fast” is accepted, but saying “Europeans are intelligent” is treated as discrimination.

Both statements crudely generalize about a group. Yet the first passes as casual sports talk, while the second is condemned as racism.

Why is there such a difference?

Does Being Intelligent Make Someone Superior?

When people discuss the inheritance of intelligence, critics warn that it could lead to discrimination or eugenics.

But I question the premise behind that concern.

Is the belief that “more intelligent means more worthy” not itself the real problem?

A fast runner is not a better human being than a slow runner.

A talented singer is not more valuable as a person than someone who cannot carry a tune.

Why, then, is intelligence used as an overall measure of human worth?

Intelligent people are treated as superior, while people who are less intelligent are treated as inferior.

Perhaps acknowledging differences in intelligence becomes a discrimination issue precisely because this value system already exists.

Intelligence is only one of the many abilities a person can possess.

Some intelligent people are ineffective at work. Some people with little formal education are widely respected and highly successful in society.

High intelligence and human worth are two different things.

If intelligence alone determined who was superior, AI would already outrank every human being.

Should we all spend our lives bowing to AI, then?

Of course not.

Intelligence is an ability, not a scale for measuring a person’s value.

In fact, a society that cannot acknowledge differences in intelligence seems to place even more special importance on intelligence.

We cannot discuss differences in intelligence because we connect intelligence with human worth.

When you think about it, that is deeply ironic.

And it is rather interesting that people who place so much importance on intelligence fail to notice this simple contradiction.