Did Eugenics Contribute Anything Worthwhile to Society? IDS 2023 Foundations of Life Science Cortni Taylor It is a difficult task to properly consider every aspect of eugenics; the ethical, social, and historical ramifications it has on millions of people around the world. This movement was first proposed in 1883 by Sir Francis Galton as a means to bring about the betterment of society through the “improvement” of an individual’s genes (Rielly, 2015). He proposed this “improvement” through passing along “desirable” traits through those thought superior (i.e., positive eugenics). This eventually evolved into negative eugenics, or the prevention of allowing individuals thought to be unfit or “degenerate” from passing along their genes. Eugenicists …show more content…
The entire movement was flawed from the beginning. Heredity was not properly understood when Galton suggested eugenics. Many of the traits they believed were preventable were, in fact, not. Eugenicists based their science on something called the Mendalin inheritance factor, or alleles (McKinnon, 2021). But the way in which traits were passed from parent to offspring according to this factor was proven to be false by the Hardy-Weinberg principle, which basically says that a trait that causes mental defects is hidden in perceptively “normal” carriers, thus making it impossible for eugenicists to effectively block the spread of that trait (Paul & Spencer, 1995). Additionally, according to Fred D. Ledley (1994), every individual carries dozens of potentially lethal mutations and hundreds of genes that could result in genetic deficiencies, and those who do suffer from genetic diseases do not necessarily have more of those genes. This alone completely destroys the fabric of the eugenics movement, but of course, even knowing their science was faulty, many did not denounce the movement, still purporting to be the idea that ‘feebleminded’ individuals should be prevented from procreation. Galton did not call for negative