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Jay Joseph

@jayjoseph22.bsky.social
1K followers 273 following 296 posts

Psychologist/author deconstructing behavioral/psychiatric genetic research and theories. Author of "Schizophrenia and Genetics: The End of An Illusion" (2023). jayjoseph22.substack.com

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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This was an interesting 2001 article co-authored by James Flynn, but there was no "IQ paradox" to solve. The "high heritability of IQ" was a myth then and is even more mythical now, in light of failures to identify causal genes. jayjoseph22.substack.com/p/the-iq-her...
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
A 1995 article by Ned Block clearly explains some reasons why IQ hereditarians' "racial differences in IQ" arguments fail. www.bostonreview.net/articles/ned...
bostonreview.net
Race, Genes, and IQ
Critics of The Bell Curve have attacked every point in the book—except the most important one.
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RealClearScience @rcscience.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
On Nathan Cofnas' race realism: "Countering Cofnas’s ideological statements and criticising his sloppy arguments cannot be seen as attempts to censor scientific research." www.realclearscience.com/2026/09/26/w...
realclearscience.com
Why Nathan Cofnas' Race Realism Is Pseudoscientific
Nathan Cofnas, the self-professed “race realist” who made international headlines when he accused Cambridge academic Jason Arday of plagiarism, has defended his “hereditarianism&rdqu
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
New Post: "Nathan Cofnas’s 'Hereditarian Revolution' Is a Dud" In 2024, Cofnas dreamed of a political counter-revolution that would erase hard-won gains of the oppressed. A far-right agenda based on junk science, and a call for "barriers between races." jayjoseph22.substack.com/p/nathan-cof...
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El Pensador Sereno @elpensadorsereno.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
"El problema no es que Cofnas mezcle política con ciencia, puesto que la política inevitablemente permea las ciencias conductuales. El verdadero problema es que, cuando sí cita investigación, difunde ciencia basura en apoyo a temibles políticas de extrema derecha."
jayjoseph22.substack.com
Nathan Cofnas’s “Hereditarian Revolution” Is a Dud
Not a Scientific Revolution but a Political Counter-Revolution
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Jon Phillips @jowiph.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Worth nothing that Cattell was more than just friends with neo-Nazis. (Obligatory share of my SPLC profile of him)
splcenter.org
Raymond Cattell
Raymond B. Cattell was by any measure one of the most prolific and influential psychologists of the 20th century. Cattell was a pioneer in the study of personality and the development of psychometric ...
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Passage from N Cofnas's 2024 "Hereditarian Revolution" post. It could be interpreted as a carefully crafted statement supporting something like an apartheid- or Jim Crow-type arrangement. The wording provided the author with plausible deniability. My review: jayjoseph22.substack.com/p/nathan-cof...
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
This interview confirms my conclusion in my recent post on Cofnas's "Hereditarian Revolution." Far-right "race realist" politics based on how he sees the world, and the "races" that inhabit it. Minimal claims that scientific evidence supports his views. jayjoseph22.substack.com/p/nathan-cof...
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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Gave my first public lecture on the return of eugenics and race science this week at the British Science Festival. Reassuring to see how much interest, and concern, there was in the room
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Joshua Seigal - 'YAPPING AWAY' out now! @joshuaseigal.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
This article is excellent. If you've been following the Cofnas/Arday affair, I recommend reading it. Basically, Nathan Cofnas is a vile racist, and those who think he is a mere 'whistleblower' are being gullible www.skeptic.org.uk/2026/09/skep...
skeptic.org.uk
Skeptics should not be so gullible as to believe Nathan Cofnas' academic freedom is being stifled - The Skeptic
Nathan Cofnas is selling the story that his suspension is a retaliation for his whistleblowing - sadly, some skeptics are buying it
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
A good example of how IQ hereditarians twist facts. Every psychology textbook states (wrongly) that IQ heritability is in the 50%-70% range. The only people getting "canceled" are those who say that some ethnic groups are genetically dumber than other ethnic groups.
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
"There is not one— zero— known genetic variant that makes anyone smarter."
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
All you really need to know about "The Bell Curve" and genetic studies of IQ/intelligence. osf.io/preprints/ps... jayjoseph22.substack.com/p/the-iq-her...
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
New Post: "A Heritability Estimate Does Not Indicate the 'Strength' or 'Magnitude' of Genetic Influences: An Example." Heritability could simultaneously be 0% in one country and 100% in another, depending on the conditions. jayjoseph22.substack.com/p/a-heritabi...
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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Very good article, on how controlling the narrative is such a successful strategy: “The question now is whether we can recognise the hunt for power when it disguises itself as free speech, academic freedom, or scientific concern — and refuse our assigned role in the killing of our democracies”
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
A good example of how IQ hereditarians twist facts. Every psychology textbook states (wrongly) that IQ heritability is in the 50%-70% range. The only people getting "canceled" are those who say that some ethnic groups are genetically dumber than other ethnic groups.
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
According to a 1917 publication by U.S. psychologist Henry Goddard, a leader of the eugenics movement, 63%-82% of Eastern and Southern European immigrants were "morons." Junk science then, junk science now.
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
1920s-era U.S. eugenic/immigration-control ranking of group intelligence. U.S. "Negro Officers" were ranked as smarter than all the Europeans, including those from the Nordic countries. Junk science then; junk science now.
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
This IQ hereditarian blocked me on Twitter in 2021. That didn't stop him from discussing my ideas, knowing I can't respond because he blocked me. Cofnas and Lasker block me too. IQ hereditarian scholarship in all its glory.
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Nathan Cofnas is proud to report that a fascist saluter is helping him make the "Hereditarian Revolution" happen. As if the Jewish people will be spared in the "revolution" the saluter has in mind. Please see the comment by "Dave."
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
I documented the environmental similarity and lack of separation in the only three "identical twins reared apart" IQ studies whose authors provided case history data. They are not valid studies of "reared-apart" twins, as IQ hereditarians claim. Not even close. www.madinamerica.com/2020/02/expl...
madinamerica.com
Exploding the “Separated-at-Birth” Twin Study Myth
In twin studies, pairs were often not “separated at birth." They were raised nearby, often by family members, and interacted frequently.
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
In his 2020 "free inquiry" article, Nathan Cofnas wrote that "the heritability of a trait...can be determined by adoption and twin studies." He said that this conclusion is based on two "testable assumptions." Both assumptions are false. Back to the "hereditarian revolution" drawing board.
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
NEW POST: “The IQ Hereditarian Ship Is Sinking (Along with the Race Science Ship)” IQ hereditarianism and “race science” are in the news these days. I took a close look at the body of IQ heritability research. What I found will surprise most people. jayjoseph22.substack.com/p/the-iq-her...
jayjoseph22.substack.com
The IQ Hereditarian Ship Is Sinking
(Along with the Race Science Ship)
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Adam Rutherford @adamrutherford.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Pahahahahah Cofnas
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Psychologist Arthur Jensen, in his original 1969/1970 and later writings, inspired today's IQ hereditarians, including Cofnas. Jensen's arguments were based largely on four studies of "identical twins reared apart." Two more studies appeared later. All have been debunked. Back to the drawing board.
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Two things to know about "IQ curves." (1) They don't look like that. Psychometricians create tests to get the curves they want. (2) The implicit assumption is always that the curves have a strong genetic component. Otherwise, they provide evidence that environments should be greatly improved.
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
I posted this four months ago.
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
I see that Google AI found my recently published description of the views of German "racial hygienist" H. W. Siemens. Siemens invented the "classical twin method" in 1924, which compares the behavioral resemblance of identical (MZ) vs. fraternal (DZ) twin pairs. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Relevant to N. Cofnas' weak Wall Street Journal article that came out today. No paywall, which is unusual for the WSJ. Undoubtedly, Cofnas and his crew would not have said a peep about the late IQ hereditarian H.J. Eysenck.
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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
“Most scholars have relegated eugenics to the trash heap of science history. But much like its original incarnation, its current rise is tangled up in politics, ideology, and an insidious desire to divide people. And on the unfounded notion that biology is the be-all and end-all of a person’s worth”
nautil.us
The Return of a Discredited Pseudoscience
The Return of a Discredited Pseudoscience: Eugenics is rearing its ugly head again in today’s crucible of politics and culture
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Aylwyn Scally @aylwyn-scally.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
This is a thoughtful piece by @ent3c.bsky.social, articulating a view of hereditarianism that I think is shared by many in anthropology, psychology & elsewhere. It's also one that I, as a geneticist working on human evolution, fundamentally disagree with. ericturkheimer.substack.com/p/the-cofnas...
ericturkheimer.substack.com
The Cofnas Manifesto
The social consequences of hereditarianism
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
NEW POST: “The IQ Hereditarian Ship Is Sinking (Along with the Race Science Ship)” IQ hereditarianism and “race science” are in the news these days. I took a close look at the body of IQ heritability research. What I found will surprise most people. jayjoseph22.substack.com/p/the-iq-her...
jayjoseph22.substack.com
The IQ Hereditarian Ship Is Sinking
(Along with the Race Science Ship)
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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Ghent University members are asking for support, so its institution can investigate Cofnas as its regulations require, and because: "appeals to absolutist academic freedom as a guise for pursuing racist and pseudoscientific research threaten the integrity and credibility of research as a whole"
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Pieter T. L. Beck @ptrbck.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
We have written a statement in support of Ghent Uni's decision to suspend Nathan Cofnas. We resist attempts to frame this as a punishment for "whistleblowing" or censorship of "controversial research". We invite all academics who share our views to sign our letter. forms.gle/qwN8xzEM5C7Q...
forms.gle
Open letter on the suspension of Nathan Cofnas at Ghent University
We, colleagues of Nathan Cofnas - supported by many colleagues internationally - want to respond to the negative and incorrect framing of Ghent University’s decision to suspend Nathan Cofnas. With th...
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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Just updated my critique of Lynn's 'national IQ' data; a core plank of scientific racism for decades. Includes a response to recent defences of the datasets. Conclusion remains the same: ‘National IQ’ datasets do not provide accurate, unbiased or comparable measures of cognitive ability worldwide
Abstract of the critique:

In 2002, Lynn and Vanhanen produced a dataset which claimed to provide average ‘national IQs’ for nation-states worldwide. Despite extensive critique, this dataset, and subsequent updated versions, have been used in many empirical publications. Here I evaluate the latest version, produced in 2019 by Lynn and Becker, and show that this dataset is not fit for purpose. The primary data sources are inadequate for calculating ‘national IQs’. Most data originates from samples which are wholly unrepresentative of their national populations. Many are convenience samples with small sample sizes, collected over a wide date range (the oldest from the 1940s), often including only children and often including individuals selected because they had particular characteristics (i.e., were deliberately chosen to be unrepresentative). The transformation of cognitive test data from these sources into ‘national IQs’ involved a series of questionable assumptions and arbitrary adjustments. Some of these assumptions were based on Lynn and Becker’s prior beliefs about intelligence, including that regional and racial differences in IQ exist. These methods will result not just in error in the dataset but systematic bias. Even if representative data and appropriate methods were available for constructing ‘national IQs’, it is impossible to generate comparable measures of cognitive ability from culturally diverse populations across the globe. ‘National IQ’ datasets therefore do not provide comparable, accurate and unbiased measures of cognitive ability worldwide, and should not be used to draw inferences about global variation in intelligence.
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Kevin Bird @stairwaytokevin.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
I tried to write an approachable, longer-form version of the argument here, which includes the full citations to my work and others.
sequencesandconsequences.substack.com
A Frivolous Case for Race Realism: Dismissed with Prejudice
*As an inauguration for this news letter, I will repost some older works that were originally posted on my personal blog.
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Jon Phillips @jowiph.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
In case anyone wants more background on Murray after listening to the podcast, here's the profile I wrote on him for the SPLC lo these many years ago
splcenter.org
Charles Murray
Charles Murray, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, has become one of the most influential social scientists in America, using racist pseudoscience and misleading statistics to argue that s...
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Psychologist Leon J. Kamin (1927-2017) was a champion of the oppressed in his role as an intellectual nemesis of the purveyors of the false ideologies of scientific racism and IQ hereditarianism. My 2018 article on Kamin's work and pioneering analyses. jayjoseph22.substack.com/p/leon-j-kam...
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Dr. Katja Thieme (she/they) @katjathieme.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Bouke de Vries is the supervisor who used his ERC grant to shimmy Nathan Cofnas into a postdoc position for which he did not actually qualify. There's a lot we already know about de Vries. 1/
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
For those interested, lead Minnesota twin researcher Thomas J. Bouchard, Jr. wrote a 2023 response to my Human Development article, followed by my 2023 rejoinder that became a chapter in The Heredity Hoax. www.cambridge.org/core/journal... freeassociations.org.uk/FA_New/OJS/i...
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
The "Minnesota Study of Twins Apart" is the #1 most often cited study by IQ hereditarians and race science supporters in favor of high within-group IQ heritability. In this 2022 peer-reviewed article, I explained why the study's conclusions should be rejected. jayjoseph.net/wp-content/u...
jayjoseph.net
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Expatina @thelongblonde.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Some of you were probably too young to know about the Bell Curve book scandal, but you should— especially as it's racist claptrap is still being promoted in universities. 😁
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Proud to be on this list! The 2024 preprint linked below on the lack of genetic evidence in "The Bell Curve," co-authored with @kenrich12.bsky.social, is very relevant. It later became a chapter in "The Heredity Hoax." Stay tuned for future posts debunking IQ hereditarianism. osf.io/preprints/ps...
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Gillian de Nooijer @gilliandn.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
The number of rightwing-conservative gifters and anti-"woke" fake-"Centrists" that are spamming articles defending white supremacist Nathan Cofnas and "we-did-nothing-wrong"-ing about Jason Arday currently is insane. You can see the racist network show off their propaganda globally right now.
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Ian Carrillo @iansociologo.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
Excellent article. Paragraph after paragraph is damning.
Estimating national IQ averages for populations with millions of people requires enormous sample sizes, usually in the thousands. But the studies Lynn chose for his database often included few people. The IQs Lynn assigned to half of sub-Saharan African and Latin American nations were calculated from fewer than 1,000 people, sometimes far fewer. He calculated the national IQ of Angola, a nation of 35 million people, from tests performed on 19 individuals, about whom almost the only thing known is that they did not have malaria. He calculated the IQ of the Dominican Republic from 34 individuals; Greenland from 40; Uzbekistan from 51; the Republic of Congo from 88 schoolchildren; Namibia from 103 schoolchildren from an ethnic group which makes up only 7% of the national population; Sierra Leone from 119 individuals, all tested in 1966; and Botswana from 140 adolescents who don’t even appear to have been citizens of Botswana.
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
What Cofnas and others like him don't realize (or maybe they do, but don't care) is that the right-wing and fascistic forces they help set in motion will eventually come for the Jews. For these forces, ideologically, Jews are the main enemy. Even more reason to despise everything Cofnas stands for.
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Interesting piece on Cofnas. jeffpearce.medium.com/the-lingerin...
jeffpearce.medium.com
The lingering problem of academic racist Nathan Cofnas. Cast him out.
Update: Only a day after I published the article you’re about to read, the Rector and Vice-Rector of Ghent University, Cofnas’s employer…
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Given the attention Cofnas is getting, this 2024 article is highly relevant. In it, I introduce and link to the preprint version of much more detailed anaysis I wrote with @kenrich12.bsky.social. The preprint later became a chapter in book The Heredity Hoax. www.madinamerica.com/2024/03/bad-...
madinamerica.com
Bad Science Revisited: "The Bell Curve" Turns 30
Critiquing the wildly popular 1994 eugenicist book, which purported to link IQ and race, by reviewing the supposed genetic evidence.
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Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Given the attention Cofnas is getting, this 2024 article is highly relevant. In it, I introduce and link to the preprint version of much more detailed anaysis I wrote with @kenrich12.bsky.social. The preprint later became a chapter in book The Heredity Hoax. www.madinamerica.com/2024/03/bad-...
madinamerica.com
Bad Science Revisited: "The Bell Curve" Turns 30
Critiquing the wildly popular 1994 eugenicist book, which purported to link IQ and race, by reviewing the supposed genetic evidence.
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Kevin Bird @stairwaytokevin.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Look, I know I’m radical, but I simply don’t think one should be able to be hired for a job they’re unqualified for under questionable pretenses & then use that sinecure to start lynch mobs against a Black academic as part of a personal vendetta to prove the biologically inferiority of Black people
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