Although we
are not disposed to minimize the importance of the biological part, we
think it desirable that the means of applying the biological principles
should be more carefully studied. The reader of this book will,
consequently, find only a summary explanation of the mechanism of
inheritance. Emphasis has rather been laid on the practical means by
which society may encourage the reproduction of superior persons and
discourage that of inferiors.
We assume that in general, a eugenically superior or desirable person
has, to a greater degree than the average, the germinal basis for the
following characteristics: to live past maturity, to reproduce
adequately, to live happily and to make contributions to the
productivity, happiness, and progress of society. It is desirable to
discriminate as much as possible between the possession of the germinal
basis and the observed achievement, since the latter consists of the
former plus or minus environmental influence. But where the amount of
modification is too obscure to be detected, it is advantageous to take
the demonstrated achievement as a tentative measure of the germinal
basis. The problem of eugenics is to make such legal, social and
economic adjustments that (1) a larger proportion of superior persons
will have children than at present, (2) that the average number of
offspring of each superior person will be greater than at present, (3)
that the most inferior persons will have no children, and finally that
(4) other inferior persons will have fewer children than now.
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