Lysenkoism and the population control movement.

ABSTRACT

PIP: The history of the population control movement in the US resembles the Lysenkoism which destroyed agriculture and the study of genetics in the Soviet Union for 25 years, starting in the 1930s under Stalin's rule. Both movements developed out of only theoretical ideas, with no scientific evidence. Lysenko and Prezent rejected the classical theory by assuming that heredity is a general internal property of living matter. They rejected the gene theory on a priori abstract considerations, ignoring the factual basis of genetics. Likewise, population control advocates adhere to the abstract notion that some unit of discourse is finite, therefore inevitably limiting growth in population and consumption. However, the available evidence does not support the argument that population growth and density are associated with poorer economic results. The case of Lysenkoism in the Soviet Union helps one to understand how people's wrong beliefs can be influenced by what outside information they receive, especially when there is considerable media coverage and no information to the contrary.