Post by Dunwik on Aug 4, 2021 22:41:19 GMT
Isaac Arthur put down his book The Descent Of Man, and then took a deep breath in as he looked at Maxwell Haig. Haig looked back at Arthur, and the two men shared a moment of silence, as Arthur tapped the table.
"We know, Minister Haig, that intelligence - at least a substantial portion - is dictated by one's descent. It follows that criminals breed criminals, and geniuses breed geniuses," he began, looking at the book "The concept of descent with modification, otherwise known as natural selection, is one that is second nature to a Dunwikki, such as you or I. Our corporations either succeed in their environment, or they change to succeed, or they die."
Haig held up a hand. "And your proposal, Minister Arthur? I'm a busy man and have little time for lectures. Get to the point, or I will tell the Grand Chairman you've been wasting time. Remember that fiasco with Wright? How enthusiastic you were over that? A few more wastes like that and you'll go to the mines for sure."
Arthur pushed back the thoughts from his mind, and then wrung his hands together. "The point, Minister Haig, is that the Perfection Of Man is something attainable via human means, and not through steam and steel. It can be done, by applying the principles of Darwin to the populace.'
"So, you intend to select for intelligence among our people? An interesting proposal, Minister Arthur," Haig seemed on board with it, "but how does one define intelligence exactly?"
Arthur paused. "In recent days, I commissioned - with my own money - a group of psychologists and statisticians to construct something, called the g test. This test has been administer to multiple criminals and CEOs, as well as numerous other members of society. The results are quite striking - the g test, while completely abstract, shows lower scores for the chaff, and higher scores for the wheat, as it were."
Haig's eyes widened for a moment, "so, this g can quantify intelligence? Or is it mere coincidence? I wish to see the papers, but I... must admit this is a most interesting proposal, Minister Arthur. We have no worry of migrants soiling our curation, we have little risk of rebellion against this - our control is quite ironclad. The only question is how do we, in Darwinian terms, select?"
Minister Arthur smiled and handed Minister Haig a small booklet.
"We know, Minister Haig, that intelligence - at least a substantial portion - is dictated by one's descent. It follows that criminals breed criminals, and geniuses breed geniuses," he began, looking at the book "The concept of descent with modification, otherwise known as natural selection, is one that is second nature to a Dunwikki, such as you or I. Our corporations either succeed in their environment, or they change to succeed, or they die."
Haig held up a hand. "And your proposal, Minister Arthur? I'm a busy man and have little time for lectures. Get to the point, or I will tell the Grand Chairman you've been wasting time. Remember that fiasco with Wright? How enthusiastic you were over that? A few more wastes like that and you'll go to the mines for sure."
Arthur pushed back the thoughts from his mind, and then wrung his hands together. "The point, Minister Haig, is that the Perfection Of Man is something attainable via human means, and not through steam and steel. It can be done, by applying the principles of Darwin to the populace.'
"So, you intend to select for intelligence among our people? An interesting proposal, Minister Arthur," Haig seemed on board with it, "but how does one define intelligence exactly?"
Arthur paused. "In recent days, I commissioned - with my own money - a group of psychologists and statisticians to construct something, called the g test. This test has been administer to multiple criminals and CEOs, as well as numerous other members of society. The results are quite striking - the g test, while completely abstract, shows lower scores for the chaff, and higher scores for the wheat, as it were."
Haig's eyes widened for a moment, "so, this g can quantify intelligence? Or is it mere coincidence? I wish to see the papers, but I... must admit this is a most interesting proposal, Minister Arthur. We have no worry of migrants soiling our curation, we have little risk of rebellion against this - our control is quite ironclad. The only question is how do we, in Darwinian terms, select?"
Minister Arthur smiled and handed Minister Haig a small booklet.