"Can Education Beat Genetics?"

2023/12/19

I apologize for the spoiler right from the start, but the answer to this title is neither "it can" nor "it cannot." Originally, the publisher asked me to introduce behavioral genetics to parents in an easy-to-understand way, so I didn't have a specific title in mind while writing. As the proofreading progressed and it came time to decide on a title, I told them I would leave it to them, and this is what it became.

This might seem irresponsible. For the paperbacks I published in succession this year—both "How is Ability Inherited?" (Kodansha Blue Backs) and my dialogue with Akira Tachibana, "Luck is Inherited" (NHK Shinsho)—the titles were entirely left to the publishers. To begin with, the themes handled by behavioral genetics are not simple enough to be summarized in a single title. I know that those who read it will either get it or they won't, and that once a book is out in the world, it takes on a life of its own. Since there's no use fussing over it, I've decided to leave it to the publishers' insight and strategy.

I have been involved in behavioral genetics for over 40 years, from my graduate school days until my retirement this year. During that time, I have considered the relationship with education while introducing robust evidence showing that genetic influence cannot be ignored, from psychological aspects such as intelligence, academic ability, and personality to various aspects of the environment surrounding individuals. In recent years, in particular, it has become possible to predict an individual's intelligence and academic ability to some extent by examining their DNA sequence. In short, by examining DNA at birth, it has become possible to say with a certain degree of probability whether one's child is likely to get into Keio or not (this applies to Caucasians for whom data exists; for Japanese people, fortunately or unfortunately, we do not know yet).

If you criticize such research as eugenics, then you yourself are complicit in eugenic ideology. This is because as long as you pretend not to know this fact, the situation where genetically advantaged people benefit will never change.

So how can true equality be achieved? There is no simple solution. However, I hope to at least introduce the knowledge necessary to understand this situation and have people think about it broadly.

"Can Education Beat Genetics?"

Juko Ando

Asahi Shinsho

256 pages, 935 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.