A Mother's Jeans

Have you ever browsed through a magazine at a news stand, then moved on to something else, and later wished you had bought it?

When in Germany the last time, I came across a scientific article published in a popular psychology magazine, and now I wish I had bought it. Instead I put it down, got distracted and carried on with life, to remember it only now. In the meantime, I probably saved Julian from certain death at least thirty-one times and the world from Julian at least twice as often.

It was a promising article, though. The author was presenting a study according to which human intelligence is handed down through the mother’s genes. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to find out more about the study and how the author handled the slippery subject of “intelligence.” Googling key words has gotten me nowhere so far.

But can you imagine what this could mean? All the Bachs and daVincis of the world, their mothers long forgotten, or at least little credited...

These days, the German government is enticing women who hold academic degrees to consider procreation despite the high opportunity costs of motherhood. Maybe I should give the Familienministerium a call. They seem to know something...