Abstract: Many people now take it as a scientific fact that IQ is at least 50-75% genetically determined. A lot of research has been done but there is no direct evidence for this claim. Furthermore,

I will argue that the evidence is more supportive of the hypothesis that IQ is a social construct. Determining the answer to this question is extremely important due to the implications for educational policy and also due to the unfortunate tendency to confabulate IQ results with racial differences.

**Robert West is a faculty member at the Institute of Cognitive Science.