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Genetic transmission of reading ability (sciencedirect.com)
7 points by luxoria 3948 days ago
1 comments

> " We conclude that parents and offspring tend to resemble each other for genetic reasons, and not due to cultural transmission."

Interesting, but not earth-shattering. Reminded me of studies such as those referenced here (http://freakonomics.com/2011/04/11/economics-and-genetics-of...), finding that "with a few exceptions, adoption and twin researchers find that nature overpowers nurture, especially in the long-run."

Assuming that the "nurture" is roughly comparable. It's a weird paradox that societies put great effort into countering environmental factors make genetics more important.

For an extreme example, if I "nurture" a random selection of people by killing them, then their genetic gifts will not make that much difference to their IQ, GPA or salary, because they will be dead. In a society where they all get to experience 12 years of education and socialized medicine, those random environmental factors will be dampened and genetic factors boosted.

http://match.ctglab.nl/ is quite useful.