00100	Dear Professor Shockley:
00200	
00300		Thanks for the material you sent me.  I have read it,  and  I
00400	have the following comments:
00500	
00600		1.  I presume that the newspaper reports that you are opposed
00700	to equal opportunity are a misunderstanding of your position.  Anyway
00800	my  own  view  is  that  equality  of opportunity to compete is right
00900	regardless of whether one group may have lower averages than another,
01000	but  it  is  wrong  to  demand  equality  of result and interpret any
01100	inequality of result as a consequence of unfair discrimination.  Such
01200	an interpretation requires that the extreme environmentalist position
01300	be regarded as proved - not merely that the hereditarian position  be
01400	regarded as unproved.
01500	
01600		In  my  opinion,  the potential for harm is great in that the
01700	equalitarian  administrative  trends  may  blunt   the   desire   for
01800	excellence in every area of human activity.
01900	
02000		It seems to me that if you agree with these points, you might
02100	make them  explicitly  enough  to  reduce  the  probability  of  such
02200	misinterpretations.
02300	
02400		2.  I  was  quite impressed with Urbach's article, especially
02500	with the criteria for determining whether a  scientific  activity  is
02600	degenerating  into  a  mere  search  for  possibilities  that admit a
02700	preconceived  interpretation.  Some  amount  of   search   for   such
02800	possibilities   seems   legitimate,  because  often  our  theoretical
02900	intuitions are stronger than our experimental data,  but  Urbach  has
03000	confirmed  my  belief that the environmentalists have gone far beyond
03100	what is reasonable.
03200	
03300		3. It would be quite difficult  for  me  to  follow  all  the
03400	details  of  the  controversies  over statistical methods, and I have
03500	been   reduced   to   noticing   that   the   hypotheses   that   the
03600	environmentalists advance seem ad hoc.  It occurred to me to consider
03700	what the most extreme and experimentally irrefutable environmentalist
03800	hypothesis  might  be,  and  the  best  I  could  come up with is the
03900	following: "The  mere  knowledge  that  one  of  one's  most  obvious
04000	characteristics  (i.e. skin color) is regarded as associated with low
04100	intelligence by even a few people is  sufficient  to  produce  a  15%
04200	reduction  in I.Q.". Note that this hypothesis has the virtue that it
04300	justifies the actual suppression of hereditarian views.
04400	
04500		4. I agree substantially with the ethical arguments  in  your
04600	paper,  but  I  would  like  to  make  a  quibble  about  the idea of
04700	optimizing one's self-satisfaction in the last five minutes of  one's
04800	rational  life.  It  seems  that  ∨ne should regard highly people who
04900	behave in that way, but it seems doubtful that  one  should  identify
05000	other  people's  welfare  with that criterion. Doing so might suggest
05100	coercing other people excessively  for  their  own  moral  good.  One
05200	should  have  a  certain  respect  for  what  other  people  actually
05300	optimize. I  became  sensitive  to  this  issue  on  reading  Rawls's
05400	%2Theory  of  Justice%1  in which he unjustifiably identifies justice
05500	with making the  worst  off  as  well  off  as  possible,  but  never
05600	discusses the justice of coercing people to behave justly.
05700	
05800		5.  I agree that the example of brain stimulation trivializes
05900	some concepts of maximizing happiness,  but  I  am  not  prepared  to
06000	conclude  that no posi←ive concept of social welfare is possible.  My
06100	inclination is to give people good opportunities to strive  for  what
06200	they  want without demanding that this meet my criterion of what they
06300	ought to want.
06400	
06500		6. Your criterion for limiting the group  to  which  one  has
06600	ethical  obligation  seems reasonable, but new cases such as actually
06700	meeting non-hWman intelligences might require new thinking.  I  don't
06800	think it is reasonable to try for a universal and perpetual rule. The
06900	Polish science fiction writer  Lem,  in  %2The  Cyberiad%1,  which  I
07000	heartily  recommend,  has  Klapaucius  berate  Trurl  for  creating a
07100	miniature  electronic  world  in  whose  simulated  inhabitants   are
07200	subjected  to  mistreatment by the human king for whom Trurl made the
07300	world as a toy.
07400	
07500		7. There is another factor that  might  limit  the  range  of
07600	moral  obligation  -  namely  sovereignty.   In  so  far  as  a group
07700	separates itself from another and  assumes  the  separate  and  equal
07800	station,  etc.,  it  takes  the  responsibility  for its own welfare.
07900	Others must treat it fairly - in a sense that  I  cannot  now  define
08000	precisely  - but are not responsible for its ultimate welfare or even
08100	survival.  At present berserk humanitarian Americans  are  trying  to
08200	assume  on behalf of all of us obligations to the population of India
08300	and Bangladesh that the rest of us will never pay off  on.  This  has
08400	the  negative  effect  that  politicians  in  those countries find it
08500	easier to demonstrate their activity in demanding more  aid  than  to
08600	tackle  their  country's  problems  directly.   In  this respect, the
08700	current Indian hostility to the  U.S.  may  make  them  do  more  for
08800	themselves than they would if  they  loved  us.  An  example  is  the
08900	current  proposal  in  Punjab  for compulsory sterilization of people
09000	with more than %2n%1 children where %2n%1 is not yet stated,  but  is
09100	either  2 or 3.  This is more drastic than any well-meaning foreigner
09200	would dare advocate.
09300	
09400		8.  This  has  some  application  to the position of American
09500	blacks.  Suppose one of them believes  your  arguments.  He  has  two
09600	choices:  1)  He  can  regard  himself as an individual American with
09700	abilities in the general range and regard the fact that he is a black
09800	as  no  more  significant  than  the  fact  that  he is a graduate of
09900	Stanford.  2) He can regard himself  as  a  Black  and  obligated  to
10000	advance  the  welfare  of  that  group.   To the extent that he takes
10100	dysgenics seriously, he might try to get Blacks to go for  a  program
10200	of genetic self improvement.
10300	
10400		Which  he  would  choose  depends  on  the extent to which he
10500	regards himself as %2primarily%1 belonging to one group or the other.
10600	On  the  one  hand,  the  red-haired are unlikely to form a group and
10700	strive for self-improvement. On the other hand, if humanity  were  to
10800	enunter  another  race  with  a  mean  I.Q.  of  150 and incapable or
10900	unwilling to  interbreed  with  us,  we  would  almost  certainly  be
11000	motivated  to  positive  eugenics.   If the I.Q. were 400, if that be
11100	meaningful, our reaction is far from obvious.
11200	
11300		9. Finally, I regard the lack of  reproduction  by  the  very
11400	intelligent  as  a  much  more  serious  problem  than  the excess of
11500	reproduction by the stupid.  It seems to me that there is an absolute
11600	shortage  of  intelligent  people.  Too  few of the important jobs in
11700	business, government, and the academic world are occupied  by  people
11800	competent to do them adequately.
11900	
12000		Therefore, I would recommend propaganda for people who regard
12100	themselves as very intelligent to have as many children as  possible.
12200	Just  this propaganda will be important, because too many intelligent
12300	people believe that it is virtuous not to have children.  It is not a
12400	question  of  outbreeding  the  stupid, but just that their should be
12500	enough smart people to man  the  jobs.  I  would  also  welcome  your
12600	support  of my earlier proposal to subsidize women of high attainment
12700	to have children. Let me point out that something of  interest  could
12800	be accomplished by a foundation of rather small resources.
12900	
13000		10.  I  shall conclude with a question.  I get the impression
13100	that average I.Q. has appeared not to  decrease  as  rapidly  as  the
13200	hereditarian view would predict given the correlations between social
13300	class and intelligence and the correlations between social class  and
13400	reproduction.  Might  not  one  explanation  be that within the lower
13500	class, having a very  large  family  is  positively  correlated  with
13600	ability,  because  it  is  difficult  to bring up a large family?  Of
13700	course, the effect would disappear if humanitarianism  made  it  very
13800	easy to bring up a large family.
13900	
14000		I  have written this detailed response to your ideas, because
14100	I felt some obligation to encourage you in what must be an  extremely
14200	lonely  struggle  to  force  the scientific community to behave in an
14300	intellectually honest way. Incidentally, environmentalism is not  the
14400	only  form  of  scientific  Lysenkoism  now prevalent.  Less virulent
14500	perhaps, but still dangerous is the idea that any form of energy that
14600	appeals  to  us  esthetically  can  be made practical by a sufficient
14700	injection of money.  It is Lysenkoism in the sense of a  belief  that
14800	politics   can   determine  the  facts  of  science  and  technology.
14900	Incidentally again, I found Karp's attempt to curry  favor  with  the
15000	humanists  by separating science (good) from technology (evil) rather
15100	depressing.
15200	
15300		I would not like this letter reprinted, because I would  want
15400	to  strengthen  its  formulations  before  braving the criticism that
15500	might come.  However, you may show it to people if it is of any  use,
15600	and  I  plan eventually to publish something containing its content -
15700	perhaps  in  my book on technology and the quality of life. I am also
15800	open to other suggestions.
15900	
16000		What is your present situation with regard to having a  forum
16100	for your ideas at Stanford?  In my opinion, the graduate special that
16200	Moses denied was the correct forum, and at the  time  I  cancelled  a
16300	class  in protest at his decision.  I am willing to stick my neck out
16400	some to help you in this if you want it.
16500	
16600					Sincerely yours,