Evening star., 1939-02-18
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Field, Laboratory
And Study
BIZ Thomas r. Henry.

s~s'~
By Thomas r. Henry.
Reproductive elimination" Of all per-
sons with intelligence quotients below IS
is urged in report just made to the
American Genetic Society by DR.. j. j.
Spengler, economics professor at Duke
University.
DR.. Spengler became alarmed at sta
tistics on changing trends in the Ameri-
can population recently gathered by the
National Resources Committee and be-
lieves If something is not done about 1t
the country is on the way to "biolog-
ical and cultural dark ages"
In this report, made public in the
Journal of Heredity, official organ of
the association, he cites statistics to show
that in the United States the relative
proportion OF persons with I. Q.s Of l2O
or over is slipping about 10 per cent per
generation while the relative number
rating 80 or below gains nearly per
cent. 1t is even worse in England, where
the brilliant intellects are declining, &C
cording to the figures he cites, at a rate
of II per cent a generation and the
stupid are increasing at rate of % per
cent.
1t will not be many years at this pace,
he feels, until genius and initiative
which have built up the United States are
entirely submerged in an ocean of
moronity.
"Procreators Of children with l. Q.s of
less than IS" he declares, must be recog.
nized as danger to our form of govern
ment of serious proportions. They must
be recognized as a menace to democracy
whose reproductive activities must be
drastically curtailed, by voluntary means
If possible. To do this effectively in
telligence testing of all young children
would be necessary if we are to prevent
large progenies of mental problem chill
dren arising to plague US too late to take
any effective action.
All persons themselves having an !. O.
under IS would, of course, come in the
same category. Measures must be taken
to minimize their tendency to become
social parasites and they should, Of
course, be reproductively eliminated by
humane measures consistent with pres
ent mores. If measures of the type sug-
gested are not effected we must face the
fact unpalatahle as it will be. that the
coming of the biological and cultural
dark age can be prevented only through
the ascent into positions of power, by
whatever means necessary, of an elite
determined to effect the necessary re-
FORMS
DR.. Spengler sees the following chain
OF consequences Of this declining intelL-
gence:
/. Biological decay may check and even
reverse the seemingly inherent tendency
of culture and knowledge to cumulate in
the community and improve mans phys
lcal and spiritual lot. A continual de-
cline in the number of persons with !. Q S
of 100 or better will inevitably result in
an insufficiency of persons to perform
tasks requiring high intelligence and in
a deficiency of the inventive minds
whereon the augmentation of per capita
wealth chiefly depends.
2. The average cost per child of i'm
parting given amount of education will
be increased considerably and the con-
tent of that education will be reduced,
for inferior intelligences are slower to
learn that which they can learn.
3. The fabric of folkWays, customs and
mores, hitherto somewhat dynamic and
somewhat marked by tendency to
greater complexity and variability, will
tend to become simplified and to crustify,
Tor dynamism is positively correlated with
intelligence.
4. Crlmlnality and discomfort will tend
to increase, other things being equal, for
inferior inteltgences find it harder to win
happiness in competition or to discover
1t within.
5. Bread and circuses will tend to be
accorded increasing weight in the Ma
tons recreational and cultural diet for
inferior intelligences require such to be
amused
3. Both the moral and military capaci-
ties OF the population will deteriorate.
Tor these capacities require minimums of
intelligence.
7. The philosophical and cultural
foundations of democracy will tend to
dissolve as paucity OF intelligence
equipped leaders develops.
The stupid, DR.. Spengler says, are par
tlcularly prone to become victims of
harangues of rabble rousers, who offer
them easy livings, with the result that
enterprise is discouraged and their own
lot made far worse in the long run.
1t is essential, he maintains that the
state itself finance the education of
healthy children with l. Q.s around the
12o mark. The cost, he says would be
more than met by the savings effected in
the school systems by eliminating the
morons.