Question

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it’ll spend its whole life believing that it’s stupid”- Albert Einstein

Relate this quote to eugenics.

How does this perspective impact us every day?

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) Eugenics is when natural selection is manipulated in order to create a “mega race” of individuals. For instance, short people are neutered and tall people are made to procreate in order to bring about a future generation of only taller individuals.

This is highly immoral and unethical. Einstein’s quote helps dissolve eugenics by simply stating that the contribution of an individual is judged by the utility of the contribution and not by its uniformity.

For instance, let us assume a hypothetical situation where one might expect only tall people to be the better humans. However, if one might require saving from a burning building, it would be the short person who might be able to crawl through the vents in order to get to the manual sprinkler switch.

Therefore, in a world of heterogeneous individuals, it would be frivolous to expect only a single type of outcome to have its uses. That is why the fish is a genius because it may not be able to climb a tree as well as a monkey but, it can swim better than others.

In our everyday lives, we have all mostly experienced being marginalised at some time or the other. At such times, it is essential to comprehend the value of this quote and placate oneself in order to value one’s abilities and contributions.