午夜剧场

I apologize for the spoiler right from the start, but the answer to this title is neither "it can beat it" nor "it cannot." To begin with, the publisher's request was to introduce behavioral genetics to parents in an easy-to-understand way, so I did not have a specific title in mind while writing. As the proofreading progressed and it came time to decide on a title, I told them I would leave it to them, and this is the title they chose.

It might seem irresponsible. For the new books I had published in succession this year—"How is Ability Inherited?" (Kodansha Blue Backs) and my dialogue with Akira Tachibana, "Luck is Inherited" (NHK Shinsho)—the titles were all left to the publishers. The themes handled by behavioral genetics are not simple enough to be summarized in a single title; those who read it will understand, while those who don't, won't. I am aware that once a book is out in the world, it takes on a life of its own, so there is no use fussing over it. I have decided to entrust it to the insight and strategy of the publishers.

I have been involved in behavioral genetics for over 40 years, from my graduate school days until my retirement this year. During that time, I have considered the relationship with education while introducing robust evidence showing that genetic influence cannot be ignored—from psychological aspects such as intelligence, academic ability, and personality to various aspects of the environment surrounding the individual. In recent years, in particular, it has become possible to predict an individual's intelligence and academic ability to some extent by examining DNA sequences. In short, by examining DNA at birth, it has become possible to say with a certain degree of probability whether one's child is likely to get into 午夜剧场 or not (this applies to Caucasians for whom data exists; fortunately or unfortunately, we do not know for Japanese people yet).

If you criticize such research as eugenics, then you are the one complicit in eugenic ideology. This is because as long as you pretend not to know this fact, the situation where genetically advantaged people benefit will never change.

So how can true equality be achieved? There is no simple solution. However, I hope to at least introduce the knowledge necessary to understand this situation and have people think about it broadly.

Juko Ando

Asahi Shinsho

256 pages, 935 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.