Intelligence: Born Smart, Born Equal, Born Different

BBC Radio 4•www.bbc.co.uk

Technology

Adam Rutherford charts the rise, fall and rise of the genetics of intelligence over the last hundred years

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Episodes

Born Different

Adam Rutherford asks what, in the future, the genetics of intelligence could mean for educational policy. Are we right to fear streaming at birth? Or could an understanding of the genetics of intelligence be used to promote the kind of society we wish to live in.

May 13, 2014•28 min

Born Equal

In this the second part of his investigation of the rise, fall and rise of the genetics of intelligence, Adam Rutherford explores an era post World War Two when behavioural genetics fell far from grace. The social not biological sciences reigned supreme in the the study of intelligence and differences between children were attributed to nurture not nature. Adoption studies were conducted to demonstrate the power of different home or school environments to transform lives. More recent studies, ho...

May 06, 2014•28 min

Born Smart

To say one's child might be brighter than the norm is obnoxious. To suggest it's genetic, just adds insult to injury. To publish scientific findings confirming that the reason some children do better than others at school is due to differences in their DNA, is controversial. Share these findings with Michael Gove's education advisor and, it seems, you're asking for trouble. When, at the end of last year, scientists did just that, there was a furore: what if it leads to streaming at birth, gross ...

Apr 29, 2014•28 min

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