Living with inequality: Ten principles

Inequality is the rule in nature. We should learn to live with it.

Written by Bo Winegard.

Natural selection is driven by variation. Plants, animals, humans. No two are alike. This is a source of joy when we admire the variegated beauty of nature. But it is often a source of moral consternation when we reflect on ourselves. We do not agonize over the fact that some butterflies are more attractive than others; some cheetahs faster than others; some chimpanzees stronger than others. But we do care that some human beings are smarter, more attractive, more desirable. And we especially care that some groups are.

Indeed, many of us find it unsettling, as though it were a flaw in the cosmos itself, that individuals, sexes and races differ in ways that shape life outcomes. But as wisdom literature has long observed, nature does not conform to our sense of fairness. The sun shines indifferently on birth and death, triumph and tragedy. We may try to shield children from this unpleasant truth, but a mature society cannot be built on the denial of reality.

I have spoken and written about human variation for many years, including about race differences. Online, this often provokes hysteria and personal attacks; in person, it more often elicits worry, reflection and genuine concern. “If some differences are real,” people ask, “what follows? How should we live with them?”

These questions are understandable. For many, poetic declarations about human equality have hardened into a belief in literal sameness of talent, character and potential. It is not enough, for them, that laws be just. The cosmos itself must be just as well. Anyone who challenges this expectation is treated as if violating a sacred religious dogma. And when people first confront the idea that human populations might not be equal, the experience can resemble a kind of disillusionment. It feels like losing the faith of one’s childhood. Bewildering, unsettling, and almost morally transgressive.

But recognizing that human traits are not uniformly distributed is not an act of juvenile rebellion. It may even be a step toward a more mature, and more tolerant, understanding of humanity. An understanding that does not attribute every hardship to racism or sexism, nor every failure to some imagined moral defect in the individual. An understanding that does not pretend that hard work, goodwill or more schooling can eliminate all differences in talent, temperament or inclination. An understanding that sees the human world as it actually is, rather than as we wish it to be. Ten principles follow.