ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses whether there is some general rule, such as "science and politics don't mix," and whether questions about human beings should be treated differently from other scientific questions. Arthur R. Jensen argues that successful policy must be based on reality not wishful thinking, and that's where science gets involved. Policy decisions then emerge from weighing scientific knowledge along with all the other, and at times conflicting, factors outside the province of science—ideals and goals; economic feasibility; traditional social, cultural, and religious values; and the prevailing consensus of public opinion at a given time. No one is really being "left out" of whatever benefits come from science and invention, except for some pockets of deplorable destitution in parts of the Third World. In every society there has always been a wide range of individual differences in material advantages, wealth, abilities, talents, looks, and sheer luck.
