is intelligence genetic?

[Molestron]

You can't intelligent without the genes for a functioning brain.
That being said, its up to the body owner to but that mind to work, and have the capital to enrich it.
Its a social-economic thing mostly.

I agree, you can't intelligent without genes.

[Catta]

Having a normal functional brain is wholly genes. Think about people with downs - they are below average intelligence and no matter how much you teach them they will never be as intelligent as normal people.

[Deleted]

50% genes, 50% enviroment.

[Varabently]

Everything is genetic, so yes.

Edit: to the nature vs nurture crowd, it may seem like that on the surface, but I think once you dig down you will see that nearly everything traces back to genes. When you say much intelligence is learned, what you're forgetting is that the capacity to learn is also genetic. Your parents giving you a nurturing environment is from their genes. They capacity to love you and wish to provide you with that experience is genetic.

Edit 2: I'd also like to point out that even if you look at someone who is born smart, but lacks the skills or desire to continue and their brain deteriorates as a result, that's STILL genetic. The "environmental" factors are again, genetic. There's also this problem of defining intelligence. Some people have tremendous emotional intelligence, which helps them do really well in life, but lack "book" smarts. Intelligence is a multidimensional property that a simple number cannot possibly capture.

[Deleted]

Maybe, my mother is dumb as a tree stump and so is my sister that looks just like her. I am a spitting image of my dad and he is a clever bastard, not saying I am a genius but I am no fool. My brother looks like a mix of both and he is very much in the middle.

[Varabently]

Yes. I don't believe that it's passed down from the parents, but I believe that it's part of that RNG that happens at conception which also decides if you will have have big ears.
Some people's neural "wiring" is just better than others'.

Please note that Intelligence doesn't necesarily refer to one being a nerd. A savant who won the Nobel prize for an invention could starve to death in a jungle as opposed to an average joe who would survive.

The RNG from your parents is the definition of genetic. If you mom had 5 green M&Ms and your dad put in 5 red M&Ms, you can't get blue M&Ms if you choose at random. RNG won't magically pull in other options. Noone's wiring is "just better" than others. Your whole body is dictated by your DNA, which is determined by your genes.

Edit: For the last paragraph, that's not to say there aren't lots of variations. If you choose 5 at random, there could be a huge difference between 5 reds vs 4 reds and 1 green.

[Tuor]

do u guys think intelligence is mostly genetic?

Yes... and no. Even if you have a good genetic base you still have to work your brain so that you can achiv best possible results. In other words, someone with not a good genetic base can be more intelligent then someother guy that has a good genetic base. A good example of this are rich people, since they can provide more education to their chieldren, they normally have better brain skil's then those that weren't able to provide education to their chieldren.

[Melt]

How about you start by giving us a definition of what intelligence is? The problem behind all of these studies is that nobody is able to give a proper universal definition for intelligence...

Personally, I have yet to see a person I would consider more or less intelligent than another one. Some people have a theoretical affinity, others have a practical affinity. Some people love numbers, others do not.


Fun fact: You can easily spot idiots by looking at how they speak about intelligence. If they use the word "IQ", chances are pretty high they are idiots.

[Ausr]

...I wish.

[SirRobin]

Genetics provides potential, possibles, likelihoods. However, so does the environment. You can have one without the other. But you need both to have the best chance at the desired result.

[Mrbleedinggums]

If you have a parent with Down Syndrome, there's a chance you won't be as intelligent (because you might have the disorder yourself). With that said, it's not what you have, it's what you make of it. Having intelligent parents only means that you'll have a better gene pool than mr. and mrs. herp and their son derp down the street.

[Deezlar]

I love the Nature Vs Nurture debate.. It will always fascinate me as there will never be a true scientific answer for it.

My belief is that Nature sets the boundaries for traits. And nurture sets the limit for that trait, within that boundary.
But that is not to say that (putting into simplistic terms) say your Dad has an intelligence setting of 50, and your Mum has 60, that your maximum potential is 60.. far from it.
You also inherit an accumulation of the range.

So put it this way.

Your Dad had a genetic potential of 50-70 for Intelligence.
Your Mum had a potential for 40-60.

Education, life experience, interests and cultural influence meant that your Dad reached a potential of 50, pretty low for his potential.
Your Mum reached 60. Very high for her potential.

The genetic impact of that on the child is a Venn diagram of chance... So your potential (potential) factoring the mixture of genes and exactly how the split of genetic material happens is 40-70, with the limits therin defined by chance (the limits post genetic mixing defined by Nurture).

So the kid could have a range of 40-70, or something within those bounds.
But of course, there are anomalies..

I can't pick many holes in this approach really.. it would account for the bell curve nature of familial IQ's but also account for the outliers.

[Pitkanen]

The genetic impact of intelligence is more taboo to study than how much pain torture causes.

[Granyala]

do u guys think intelligence is mostly genetic?

A way more interesting question is: Does the development of intelligence depend on the environment during growth?
And the answer would be: yes.

[Taiknee]

A way more interesting question is: Does the development of intelligence depend on the environment during growth?
And the answer would be: yes.

Haha!



Too good to pass up..

[Deezlar]

I disagree. they are completely different questions, both with their merits in terms of interest!

[Adam Jensen]

Yes and no.

A smart person won't pass on his intelligence to his descendents, intelligence is not encoded in the DNA. However, a person with the genes for a healthy brain that is good at cognition will pass on those genes, thus giving his descendents a higher chance of being more intelligent. But intelligence in the end depends on upbringing, educational opportunity, personality and a host of other factors. Genetics will only play a small roll that roll is only in that the architecture for the brain will be passed down from the parents.

A brain is merely a template. It can be a poorly formed template, impeding intelligent thought, or a very good template, encouraging intelligent thought, but the intelligence itself is mostly from the environment (barring natural instinct) and what one learns through the senses.

[MrHappy]

only things that lie outside the norm. ie extra connections in brain that allows for super human memory.

intelligence is like athletes you train/exercise and develop it

[Roia]

I think a lot of people here are misinterpreting intelligence as being knowledgeable. The definition of intelligence; the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. Acquiring a university degree does not make someone more intelligent than someone without a degree, but it does nonetheless make them more knowledgeable. Having more knowledge could give the perception that someone is more intelligent, but in actuality, they just have more skills to work with.

Using the definition above, I would say intelligence is mostly genetic and in some respect related to age which peaks at some point before adulthood. Upbringing and environment may have some affect on brain development and thus their intelligence, but I don't believe it to have a huge impact on it.

[Osmeric]

If intelligence did not have a heritable component, it could not have evolved.

Of course intelligence is a consequence of brain structures, which are controlled by genes during development, so of course genetics is going to affect how the brain works. It would remarkable if they did not.