. >> >>REVERSE- PARA- META- PSEUDO-RACIST BRAIN THEORY >> >>Copyright 2000 The Telegraph Group Limited >> >>SUNDAY TELEGRAPH(LONDON) >> >>November 19, 2000, Sunday >> >> >>THE DIFFERENCE, a three-part series on genetics, begins on Channel 4 >> >>tonight at 8pm. >> >> >>He's got a better memory than us. New research suggests that one part of >> >>an aborigine's brain is 25 per cent bigger than a European's - but the >> >>academic community refuses to take it seriously, for fear of being >> >>branded 'racist'. ALASDAIR PALMER reports. >> >> >>Sherilee is an eight year old who lives in Australia. She seems just >> >>like any other ordinary schoolgirl of her age, but she could help to >> >>resolve one of the most controversial topics in science: the >> >>relationship between genes and intelligence. >> >> >>The question of how much of our brain power is fixed by what we inherit >> >>from our parents, and how much is a product of upbringing and education, >> >> >>is one that appears to fascinate and frighten everyone - scientists >> >>included. >> >> >> It is not just the American Constitution that is framed around the >> >>conviction that we are all created equal. Practically the whole of >> >>contemporary politics is based on the idea that the differences between >> >>individuals are not fixed at birth. >> >> >> The suggestion that there are inherent differences, not just between >> >>individuals, but between races, is even less acceptable. There is now >> >>evidence, however, that one group of people may indeed have a superior >> >>mental capacity, in at least one respect, to everyone else - and some of >> >> >>it comes from the eight-year-old Sherilee. >> >> >> Sherilee has an astonishingly accurate visual memory. She scores 100 >> >>per cent on tests designed to measure how much individuals can remember >> >>of what they see. The only clue to the cause of her remarkable ability >> >>is her race: she is an aborigine, and aborigines have a proven ability >> >>to remember the exact location of objects that far exceeds that of other >> >> >>ethnic groups. They can find their way across deserts, locate water >> >>holes and identify animal lairs with an uncanny accuracy. They also >> >>perform about 50 per cent better on visual memory >> >>tests than, for instance, Caucasians. >> >> >> What is the aborigines' secret? To some evolutionary psychologists, >> >>the answer is relatively straightforward. The aborigines were, for about >> >> >>4,000 generations, or 80,000 years, hunter-gatherers in the deserts of >> >>Australia. >> >> >> That is enough time for natural selection to have worked on >> >>increasing the accuracy of aborigines' memory, because if you could not >> >>find your way through the desert, or to the waterhole, you would starve, >> >> >>and so would your children. In the competition to stay alive, an >> >>accurate memory would - to put it mildly - have been an advantage. >> >> >> Are today's aborigine children the inheritors of that process? It has >> >> >>certainly been speculated that their extraordinary visual memories are >> >>the result of genes selected over thousands of years by evolution. >> >> >> But Clive Harper, a professor of pathology in Sydney, may have >> >>discovered evidence that it is more than just a theoretical possibility. >> >> >>He found that the visual cortex - the part of the brain used in >> >>processing and interpreting visual information - was about 25 per cent >> >>larger in aborigines than in Caucasians. He also found that they had >> >>many more nerve cells. That pronounced physical difference was almost >> >>certainly the result of different evolutionary >> >>pressures. >> >> >>It is, as Prof Harper says, "difficult to prove that the greater number >> >>of nerve cells in the visual cortex is the secret of the aboriginals' >> >>phenomenal memories, especially when we know almost nothing about how >> >>the mechanism of memory works - other than that it involves the >> >>activation of nerve cells. Still, it is suggestive". It is "suggestive" >> >>enough to mean that Prof Harper could not get his findings published in >> >>any academic journal. His work, which he >> >>completed five years ago, was turned down because it was thought to be >> >>"racist". >> >> >> Science journal editors "were anxious", Prof Harper explains, "that >> >>this was going to be seen as some form of discrimination - which I was >> >>very disappointed about". Prof Harper was even refused permission to >> >>outline his findings at a conference in the United States. Even the >> >>original research that demonstrated the aborigine's superior memory >> >>skills has been buried. >> >> >> The cause of the anxiety was - and is - simple: the fear that the >> >>detection of any physical difference in the brains of different racial >> >>groups leads straight to Auschwitz. The idea that there are inherent, >> >>genetic differences between the different racial groups' mental >> >>abilities has about as bad a pedigree as it is possible to imagine. >> >>Hitler and the Nazis were obsessed by the idea, leading them to >> >>exterminate millions of Jews, gipsies and Russians on the grounds that >> >>they were "racially inferior". >> >> >> That fear is understandable in the light of the history of the 20th >> >>century, but it is chronically exaggerated. As scientists such as Prof >> >>Harper point out, an awareness that some groups have different >> >>capacities to others does not have to lead to a latter-day version of >> >>the extermination camps. It could, and should, produce education methods >> >> >>that are better targeted at exploiting and developing the different >> >>abilities of different racial groups, helping >> >>to erode - rather than reinforce - their differing results within the >> >>education system. >> >> >> The anxiety that the mere mention of racial differences in capacities >> >> >>is a first step that can lead only to the death camps has meant that >> >>many scientists prefer to turn away from evidence that mental abilities >> >>have been shaped by evolution rather than investigate it. >> >> >> One result has been that the field has been left to writers whose >> >>work has created a furore, leading to accusations that prejudice, not >> >>only science, played a role in determining their conclusions. >> >> >> Nearly eight years ago, Charles Murray and Richard Herrnstein >> >>published The Bell Curve. The book pointed out that Jews and Asians do >> >>significantly better on IQ tests than Caucasians. It highlighted the >> >>10-15 point gap between the average score that whites achieve on IQ >> >>tests and that achieved by blacks. The authors insisted that much of >> >>that gap was genetic: white people were generally inherently more >> >>intelligent than blacks. >> >> >> The Bell Curve generated a barrage of criticism, the most effective >> >>of which targeted the reliability of statistical methods that its >> >>authors used to reach their conclusions. >> >> >> Still, The Bell Curve is mild in comparison with Race, Evolution and >> >>Behaviour. That book, published by J. Philippe Rushton, professor of >> >>psychology at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, argues, among >> >> >>other things, that it required greater intelligence to survive in the >> >>cold climates of Europe and Asia than in the tropical cornucopia of >> >>Africa, and also that there is an inverse correlation between penis size >> >> >>and brain power. >> >> >> Prof Rushton cites what he claims is a battery of statistics to prove >> >> >>that blacks have larger genitals and smaller brains than whites or >> >>Asians, and has summed up his thesis thus: "It's a trade-off. More brain >> >> >>or more penis. You can't have both." >> >> >> Against that background, it may not be surprising that most >> >>geneticists would rather work on something less controversial than the >> >>genetics of intelligence. But the work is, nevertheless, going on. >> >>Robert Plomin and Peter McGuffin, of the Institute of Psychiatry in >> >>London, are two scientists who are trying to locate the genes for >> >>intelligence. >> >> >> Their investigation is not an easy task. About half of the 100,000 >> >>genes in the human body affect the brain, and scores, possibly hundreds, >> >> >>are involved in intelligence. Despite this, the researchers believe they >> >> >>are making progress. "We have one very serious candidate for one of the >> >>genes involved in intelligence," says Dr McGuffin. "It's on chromosome >> >>six, and its called IGF 2R." >> >> >> Plomin and McGuffin, however, are not interested in the question of >> >>racial differences. Prof Plomin has said. "We have to look at the >> >>differences between individuals in intelligence to isolate genes for it, >> >> >>not between groups." Even if they are right about IGF 2R, it will, >> >>according to Dr McGuffin, "probably be responsible for only about two >> >>per cent of the variations between individuals in intelligence. Our work >> >> >>is, for the forseeable future, >> >>more of theoretical than practical interest," he said. "I don't see it >> >>as having any practical consequences." >> >> >> The hope that everyone is created equal is safe - for the moment. >> >>Protecting that hope appears to have become one of the central goals of >> >>scientific inquiry. The extraordinary abilities of Sherilee and other >> >>aborigines will remain tantalisingly "suggestive", but there are no >> >>plans to investigate further her, or anyone else's, unusual visual >> >>memory skills. >> >> >> "In terms of pursuing the studies of aborigines' brains," says Prof >> >>Harper, "I think that it is very unlikely that any work will be done in >> >>the future." > _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com
