#Control is my new book, out today. It’s the story of an eternal human desire, to rule over unruly biology, to control reproduction, and craft people and populations to be fitter, happier, more productive. smarturl.it/RutherfordCont…
#Control is the story of eugenics, and how a pseudoscientific idea was wedded to a political ideology, a fear by the powerful of losing their ill-gotten gains, who latched onto a neonate science, genetics, and bastardised, misrepresented and cheated it to justify their beliefs.
Just like with the invention of race, eugenics was a science in service of politics. An esoteric idea born in the salons and universities of London, Berlin and the USA, but in just a few decades grew to become one of the defining ideas of the 20th Century.
The pathway of eugenics always led to the gates of Auschwitz. And yet, it’s legacies are with us today, in our language - moron, imbecile, idiot - our culture - The Great Gatsby, the Time Machine - and in our politics.
With new understanding of human genetics, and new techniques in prenatal diagnoses and genetic engineering, the same conversations are back, about IQ, about eradicating disease, and race. #Control unpicks each one of these.
btw I think it's my best work. Eugenics has been part of my sphere since I was an idiotic 18 year old in the Galton lab at UCL. I've studied and taught this subject for decades, and this is the result. I'd love to know what you think.
Addendum: lots of people helped a lot, so here is the Acknowledgements page, for those who peer-reviewed, corrected, edited, helped, inspired or made even the slightest contribution to #Control. Acknowledgements to Control

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More from @AdamRutherford

Jan 26
Oh man, I know I bang on about him, but this is just so moronic it's fruity batshit. Peterson has no idea what he's saying. His brain is blancmange. Not the slightest clue about what he's preaching about.
A million climate scientists cry out in despair.

Have I got this all wrong? I'm doubting my sanity here. This is bizarro world stuff. . He speaks and it's just jibber jabber, words have no meaning anymore. AND PEOPLE LISTEN.
Unchallenged too. Not even a whisper of ‘are you totally sure about this? Models are based on real world data, absolutely metric shittonnes of it, processed through billions of permutations, and they make predictions that match real world observations. That’s just all wrong?’
Read 4 tweets
Jan 23
Absolute balls. This is god-level cockwaffle, typical of the manballs beloved of these ignorant dorks.
I can save thoughts and replay them in my head already. That is the definition of memory. Whatever this science fiction purports to be is nothing more than a fantasist’s nighttime emission.
You can make the valid argument that the ultra-rich philanthro-technojisms could spent their money fixing real problems instead of low orbit phalussing or this jibber jabber. But also these projects suck attention and funding from real progress.
Read 11 tweets
Jan 22
I have signed this short essay written by evolutionary biologist Armand Leroi criticising Imperial College London’s decision to remove Thomas Huxley from their campuses. Long version republished here; A short 🧵

bit.ly/3AooFFf
The content of the letter adequately explains why, and I need not supply further details here. However, here is some broader personal context. I support the removal of Galton and Pearson from UCL’s campus, and indeed was involved in the decision to remove RA Fisher.
I’ve written about this and other historical reassessments of our intellectual forebears in an academic paper, in the mainstream press, and in my new book (link in bio)
bit.ly/3pQWacz
Read 9 tweets
Jan 1
My god, Denzel as Macbeth is an absolute towering triumph. Stunning, brutal horror, Magnificent. Filthy air.

I’ve seen the best film of the year already, and it’s the 1st of January.
Go see it on the big screen. Every shot is a painting, expressionist angles and ultra-noir lighting.

@CatfordMews is a great cinema!
Standout performances by Corey Hawkins as Macduff, and Kathryn Hunter as the witches.
Read 4 tweets
Dec 21, 2021
Introduced the teen F1s to the Alien trilogy and here are the results:
Alien not as good as I remembered, Aliens as good as I remember it, Alien3 much better than I remember it.

Aliens wins. Better characters, pacing, structure, shocks, action. It’s a perfect organism. 10/10
Alien is amazing but shows signs of Scottitis, that is atmosphere and design over structure or script. Alien3 shows signs of Fincherism, which is a compliment, and I’d like to see him make this today. Innovative camerawork, punchy dialogue, same music as Se7en.
Sidebar: Daughter very upset that both Hick and Newt were unceremoniously dispatched in the first 3 minutes of A3.
Read 4 tweets
Dec 13, 2021
‘Viruses mutate to become less deadly over time.’ 🤪

Was this written by a virus? Nope, just an ignorant lazy crank with a vague understanding of basic biology and the confidence of a preacher. 🧐
I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised that JP has nurdled down this particular rabbit hole. His understanding of evolution and biology is reliably poor, and teaming up with Weinstein, Shermer and other science larping grifters was inevitable. 🥩 🦞 💰
FYI fact-check: 2016, a new strain of Ebola was discovered, more virulent and more infectious than previous versions
1999: West Nile virus mutates to become more virulent.
2021: subsequent waves of Spanish flu in 1918 were found to be more infectious than earlier waves.
Read 8 tweets

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