Post by tanya on Sept 30, 2017 1:56:54 GMT
Galton's observations as evidence of heredity do not prove that intelligence is an inherited (native) ability because his reasoning for this belief was strongly based purely on his support of societal conditions that were to his benefit. It were only the upper-class people of England that had the freedom and wealth to pursue knowledge, and these were the very type of people Galton was biologically related to and socially acquainted with the most. He did not question the fact if he would still be able to read,write,invent and comprehend situations and ideas if he were not born into a wealthy family and instead into a lower-class or middle-class family.
There also was no observance or measurement of the intelligence of the poor people of England that was used for comparison against the intelligence of the "gentlemen scholars" he adored. Although it is to be noted that even if Galton conducted this type of study, the results would still unfairly be in Galton's favour as the poor individuals would obviously not be able to perform as well as the educated and rich men, who would have grown up with privileges arising from their upper-class status such as not having to work, and thus having much more time to tend to their studies, for example. This was one of the luxuries the poor individuals could not afford. In order to truly provide evidence of heredity, Galton would have had to measure the intelligence of two separate groups: one with poor people, who would have received education without the need to work, do chores or make their own food, and have apt time for themselves like the upper-class would, for the sake of the study, and the other group with rich people, who would continue to have the same lifestyle but not receive education. Evidence of heredity would be proved possible if the "poor" group had a lower rate of intelligence than the "rich group", which would have not been allowed to pursue knowledge at all.This would support the assertion that "the most eminent people" would be the ones with native ability of intelligence passed down from their relatives. This type of study would have been difficult to conduct for Galton, as he would have a hard time finding people who could fit into these separate groups. Ultimately, due to the inclusion of only upper-class people for his observance, and the exclusion of being critical of his social influences and bias, Galton's evidence for heredity is insufficient.