The Ethics of Intelligence Can we make ourselves smarter?

Outline The old Nature vs. Nurture Nurture –School –Enrichment programs Nature –fMRI –Drugs –Genetics

Nurture Different programs for increasing intelligence –Private (better baby institute) –Public (school age programs) –¼ of U.S. enrolled in school (Jamieson et. al., 1999) What ethical issues do these raise? –Fairness (who gets more attention) –Not giving child a choice –Socioeconomic privilege

Nurture What if we could give everyone the same potential? –Raise the standards while making people equal

Nature – fMRI Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging –Uses increase in blood flow during neural process to map areas of brain used for different cognitive functions (The Future Role of functional MRI in Medical Applications, 2005) –Same moral questions as intelligence testing –Advances in this area may allow us to ‘see’ what a person is thinking Privacy issues Preemptive punishment? Imagine the telescreens of 1984

Nature - Drugs “I don’t need no drugs to calm me” (pink floyd) Drugs exists to ‘cure’ mental disorders like depression and ADD tacrine and donepezil reduce the effects of Alzheimer's (capone, 1998) Cheaper and less invasive than genetic manipulation Steroids for the mind Many issues surround production and research in commercial pharmaceutical environment –Profit motive –rush development, keep research secret, and inhibit recall

Nature - genetics Genetic Manipulation Study of identical twins reared separately show a.72 correlation in their intelligence scores (Grey & Thompson, 2004) Heritibility increases from 50% to 80% as one gets older (Finkel et. al., as cited in Plomin & Spinath, 2004) There is no one gene for specific cognitive area (Plomin & Spinath, 2004) –Gene therapy would likely raise general intelligence (g) Could use genetics to remove mental disorders/defects

Nature - genetics Problems with genetics ‘playing god’ Unforeseen consequences of tampering –Homogenization reduces biodiversity Is it really better to be ‘normal’ ? –Many of the most intelligent people could also be considered ‘crazy’ or have a mental handicap

References Capone, George T. (1998). Drugs That Increase Intelligence?: Application for Childhood Cognitive Impairment. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews. 4, 1, Retrieved April 11, 2006 from PsycINFO Gray, Jeremy R., Thompson, Paul M. (2004). Neurobiology of Intelligence: Science and Ethics. Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 5, 6, Retrieved April 11, 2006 from Academic Search Premier. Plomin, Robert and Spinath, Frank M. (2004). Intelligence: Genetics, Genes, and Genomics. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 86, 1, Retrieved April 11, 2006 from PsycINFO Jamieson, Amie, Curry, Andrea & Martinez, Gladys (1999). School Enrollment in the United States – Social and Economic Characteristics of Students. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved April 16, 2006 from The Future Role of Functional MRI in Medical Applications (2005). Columbia University Functional Research Imaging Center. Retrieved from