The Dark History of Eugenics

Abstract

A large part of the reason why the subject of nature and nurture is so laden with emotion for so many people is that the new science of behavioral genetics has intellectual roots in the old ideas of eugenics. Eugenics is that field of study dealing with improving the inborn qualities of the human race, particularly through the control of hereditary factors. The emotional resonance of the nature versus nurture controversy cannot be fully appreciated without an understanding of the dark history of eugenics. No one should forget that the ideas touched on here are explosive; problems in human biology are fascinating, but they are also emotionally charged. It is simply impossible to study our own species as dispassionately as we would study an insect or a bird. Social values are inherent, or potentially so, in any scientific finding about humans, and the scientist who is unaware of this is naive and open to exploitation.