Reading Group Guide
1. Do you agree with Wade’s theories about race and social behavior? What aspects of his arguments did you find the most convincing? Most troubling?
2. Despite the fact that it bears his name, Charles Darwin did not believe in Social Darwinism, the theory that in human societies “just as in nature the fittest survived and the weak are pushed to the wall” (p. 24). He instead believed that “the aid we feel impelled to give to the helpless is part of our social instincts” (p. 25). Why then does the idea of Social Darwinism still hold so much traction today?
3. During the first half of the twentieth century, the eugenics movement gained strength in both America and Europe. If Hitler had not decided to replace “sterilization with mass murder” (p. 37) do you think some societies would have continued with the enforced sterilization of those it deemed unfit to reproduce?
4. Studies have shown that oxytocin administered to men “dampens down the distrust usually felt toward strangers and promotes feelings of solidarity. . . . (The same is doubtless true of women too but most such experiments are performed only in men because of the risk that oxytocin might make a woman miscarry if she were unknowingly pregnant)” (p. 51). Based on Wade’s arguments, why might a surge of oxytocin be socially disadvantageous for women, but not for men? Why or why not?
5. Economic historian Gregory Clark “documented four behaviors that steadily changed in the English population between 1200 and 1800. . . . Interpersonal violence, literacy, the propensity to save, and the propensity to work” (p. 156). Do you agree with Wade that these are accurate signifiers of a genetic shift in the population?
6. Wade writes, “Intelligence is almost certainly under genetic influence but none of the responsible alleles has yet been identified with any certainty, probably because each makes too minute a contribution to show up with present methods” (p. 190). Do you think further research should be done to uncover the genetic roots of intelligence?
7. “Africa and much of the Middle East remain largely tribal societies” (p. 173). Does one region appear to have a greater chance than the other of escaping tribalism’s grip? If so, which one, and why?
8. “If inclusive institutions are the only thing that matters in achieving prosperity, it follows that foreign aid is useless unless it begins with institutional reform” (p. 195). Discuss an instance in which the truth of this statement is borne out.
9. In his chapter “Jewish Adaptations,” Wade points out, “Jews constitute 0.2% of the world’s population, but won 14% of Nobel Prizes in the first half of the 20th century, despite social discrimination and the Holocaust, and 29% in the second. As of 2007, Jews had won an amazing 32% of Nobel Prizes awarded in the 21st century” (p. 198). Aside from Wade’s thesis, how else might the Jewish peoples’ disproportionate success be explained?
10. How might the increased rates of birth control and abortion in developed countries eventually affect the social behavior of those countries’ citizens?
11. Have you read Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel? If so, compare Diamond’s ideas with Wade’s interpretation of how western European nations rose to become the world’s socioeconomic powerhouses. Were you aware of the flaws in Diamond’s arguments when you first read his book?
12. Are there cultural traits that Wade does not discuss that you suspect might have a genetic basis? Which ones, and why?
