Life history theory and race differences: An appreciation of Richard Lynn’s contributions to science

This essay describes six findings by Richard Lynn that substantially influenced my application of life history theory to human differences. Lynn was the first to observe that while sub-Saharan Africans averaged lower on IQ tests than Europeans, internationally, East Asians averaged higher. Further, he found reaction time measures of intelligence showed the same worldwide pattern. He also found the Black–White IQ differences in Africa are more pronounced on subtests having higher g loadings, just as in the US. He also found national IQ differences predictably aggregated into 10 population groups identified by Cavalli-Sforza, Menzoni, and Piazza (1994). Finally, Lynn proposed cold winters theory to parsimoniously explain why East Asians and Europeans evolved a larger brain and a higher IQ than more southerly populations.