Do children from more affluent backgrounds do better in school because they have more resources, or because they’re genetically superior? “Genes do depend on a person’s environment: you may have the gene for height but, if born in a famine, that won’t express itself,” he says. “We know that IQ can rise or fall due to sleep and diet, by about five points. She returned to education through An Cosán, a community education project founded by Katherine Zappone (now Minister for Children) and her late wife, Ann-Louise Gilligan. “Intelligence is very reliant on environment, and to say it is all down to genetics ignores your family and professional background.

Source: The Irish Times November 19, 2019 00:00 UTC