"Most importantly, Galton and all other eugenicists prior to the 1970s made the fundamental error of believing that heredity is a means by which nature reproduces organisms. Today we know that fundamentally the truth of heredity is the exact opposite of this apparently obvious situation: organisms evolve to reproduce their DNA (the organic polymer that is the biochemical basis of heredity), not DNA to reproduce the organism. The consequence is that human males, for example, die more readily than females at all ages thanks mainly to the effects of testosterone: a sex hormone which reduces ‘fitness’ in the sense of shortening life expectancy by suppressing the immune system and increasing risky and aggressive behavior but which is also a key element in promoting true Darwinian fitness: the reproductive success of the individual’s genes. Males without testes live longer, but cannot reproduce, and so are of no use to evolution!" (
Christopher Badcock on eugenics
Christopher Badcock on eugenics
Christopher Badcock on eugenics
"Most importantly, Galton and all other eugenicists prior to the 1970s made the fundamental error of believing that heredity is a means by which nature reproduces organisms. Today we know that fundamentally the truth of heredity is the exact opposite of this apparently obvious situation: organisms evolve to reproduce their DNA (the organic polymer that is the biochemical basis of heredity), not DNA to reproduce the organism. The consequence is that human males, for example, die more readily than females at all ages thanks mainly to the effects of testosterone: a sex hormone which reduces ‘fitness’ in the sense of shortening life expectancy by suppressing the immune system and increasing risky and aggressive behavior but which is also a key element in promoting true Darwinian fitness: the reproductive success of the individual’s genes. Males without testes live longer, but cannot reproduce, and so are of no use to evolution!" (