John Benning
@jbenning.bsky.social
humanist, scientist, optimist | assistant professor, Cornell EEB
johnbenning.net
johnbenning.net
We thank our generous colleagues across various disciplines whose feedback helped improve this work.
November 7, 2025 at 7:06 PM
We thank our generous colleagues across various disciplines whose feedback helped improve this work.
We are concerned that a publishing culture which rewards sensationalism may drive a decline in standards of rigor. In that respect, everyone has a role to play: it is crucial that researchers, reviewers and editors uphold high standards in their handling of these issues.
November 7, 2025 at 7:06 PM
We are concerned that a publishing culture which rewards sensationalism may drive a decline in standards of rigor. In that respect, everyone has a role to play: it is crucial that researchers, reviewers and editors uphold high standards in their handling of these issues.
The study of the genetics underlying human behavior and social outcomes, with its fraught history and heightened potential for misappropriation, requires rigorous science. The failure to fully reckon with confounding fuels misinterpretation of genetics research and impedes scientific progress.
November 7, 2025 at 7:06 PM
The study of the genetics underlying human behavior and social outcomes, with its fraught history and heightened potential for misappropriation, requires rigorous science. The failure to fully reckon with confounding fuels misinterpretation of genetics research and impedes scientific progress.
(iii) how confounding is obscured or even leveraged in a broader class of contemporary genetic studies. In particular, we discuss where claims about genetic causality may reach beyond the evidence.
November 7, 2025 at 7:06 PM
(iii) how confounding is obscured or even leveraged in a broader class of contemporary genetic studies. In particular, we discuss where claims about genetic causality may reach beyond the evidence.
(ii) a study by Song & Zhang (2024) purporting to solve a paradox: the evolutionary maintenance of genetic variants that increase same-sex sexual behavior, despite being “reproductively disadvantageous.”
![(a) Song & Zhang [32] show that the estimated genetic correlation between BSB (a measure of bisexual behaviour) in males and number of children is significantly different from zero (left diagram). They hypothesized the causal structure shown in the right diagram: genetic variants affecting BSB affect the number of children only through their simultaneous effect on risk-taking behaviour. When adjusting for genetic effects on risk-taking behaviour, the partial (residualized) genetic correlation between BSB and number of children is no longer significantly non-zero. They take this observation as evidence for their hypothesis. (b) When we repeat this analysis but replace risk taking with a variety of other measures (‘measure X,’ blue in causal diagram), 16 out of 18 measures we examined yield a partial genetic correlation between BSB and number of children that does not significantly differ from zero (bars show 95% confidence intervals). Therefore, the data are equally consistent with the hypothesis that genetic variants driving BSB are maintained through evolution as a byproduct of selection on any of these 16 measures. We note that most of these measures—like risk-taking behaviour—have a significant partial genetic correlation with number of children. Four of the measures, denoted with an asterisk, are not. (c) Male participants in the study sample who reported having first had sex before the age of 13 (including victims of childhood sexual assault, many of which would have had same-sex perpetrators) are likelier to be classified as BSB by the criteria used in Song & Zhang [32]. N, total number of males in each group.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ab4pnmwh4mepfdavgpxiqtyk/bafkreigadzssmgskbkdknxsc32ai5qvte3rjfct35sjt7buz3unv4wxb7y@jpeg)
November 7, 2025 at 7:06 PM
(ii) a study by Song & Zhang (2024) purporting to solve a paradox: the evolutionary maintenance of genetic variants that increase same-sex sexual behavior, despite being “reproductively disadvantageous.”
(i) a study by Clark (2023) suggesting that patterns of similarity in social status between relatives indicate that social status is largely determined by one’s DNA
![Confounding between genetic and non-genetic factors influencing traits. (a) Confounding within families. Non-genetic transmission can parallel genetic transmission and their respective effects are confounded in observational data. Illustrated is a model where a trait value is the sum of an inherited component from parents and random noise. Under this model, the expected resemblance between relatives depends on transmissibility (t2, the portion of trait variation attributable to the transmitted component) and a rate of decay across genealogical distance (the ‘persistence rate,’ b, which increases with increasing degree of assortative mating). Ignoring the confounding of genetic and non-genetic transmission in the data, Clark [3] misassigns all transmission as genetic heritability and all assortative mating to be on a latent ‘social genotype’.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ab4pnmwh4mepfdavgpxiqtyk/bafkreia5tvv32hfxhyrcq7vvjja4mm6npjm4qt2zzusigf6l7fqmtgmlvi@jpeg)
![Reanalyses of data from Clark [3] challenge the paper’s claims. (a) Example of confounding between genetic and non-genetic transmission. The relationship between paternal wealth and a measure of social status suggest at least one source of confounding between genetic and non-genetic transmission. Across relative pairs, correlation in occupational status is highly correlated (Pearson’s r = 0.91) with those relatives’ correlation in paternal wealth. Inset shows that individual occupational status is strongly correlated (Pearson’s r = 0.72) with father’s wealth. (b) Pseudoreplication distorted estimates of familial correlations. Familial correlations (95% confidence interval (CI)) in occupational status (1780−1859) using the approach employed by [3] (in gold) involved pervasive, non-uniform pseudoreplication (electronic supplementary material, note S6). For example, the (1780−1859) occupational status correlation for fourth cousins is calculated from 17 382 pairs, derived from only 1878 unique individuals. In teal we show conservative estimates using only a single relative pair per surname (means and 95% CI over 1000 bootstrap samples are plotted for each familial correlation), which are therefore not susceptible to pseudoreplication. Distant cousins show dramatically higher correlations after adjusting for pseudoreplication. (c) Signals of change in social mobility. Parent-offspring correlations in multiple status measures generally decrease over time in Clark’s [3] data, in contrast to claims of stagnant social mobility made in the original paper. To mitigate pseudoreplication, we calculated correlations using one pair from each surname (as in (b)). Shown are average correlations (95% CI) across 500 bootstrap iterations of correlation estimation. The electronic supplementary material, figure S13 shows two complementary analyses estimating correlations either without accounting for pseudoreplication, or using percentile ranks—both result in similar trends.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ab4pnmwh4mepfdavgpxiqtyk/bafkreifkieycjlnnblrtzptezw7ox26z66rkhpfzcx4o2vp56znsyn3vcy@jpeg)
November 7, 2025 at 7:06 PM
(i) a study by Clark (2023) suggesting that patterns of similarity in social status between relatives indicate that social status is largely determined by one’s DNA
We detail how multiple modes of confounding are incompletely understood and underappreciated in many contemporary papers. We illustrate these issues through reanalysis of data from case studies and discussion of the literature. We focus on…
November 7, 2025 at 7:06 PM
We detail how multiple modes of confounding are incompletely understood and underappreciated in many contemporary papers. We illustrate these issues through reanalysis of data from case studies and discussion of the literature. We focus on…
Full OA paper here: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Confounding fuels misinterpretation in human genetics | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
The scientific literature has seen a resurgence of interest in genetic influences
on human behaviour and socioeconomic outcomes. Such studies face the central difficulty
of distinguishing possible cau...
royalsocietypublishing.org
November 7, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Full OA paper here: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
I maybe did bury the lede a bit 😂
August 22, 2025 at 3:54 PM
I maybe did bury the lede a bit 😂
I sent the letter above to WSJ as a Letter to the Editor a few days after Dr. Wright's piece came out. They declined to publish it, and declined to comment on why. They did publish other letters.
August 22, 2025 at 3:05 PM
I sent the letter above to WSJ as a Letter to the Editor a few days after Dr. Wright's piece came out. They declined to publish it, and declined to comment on why. They did publish other letters.
These facts should be considered when evaluating Dr. Wright’s claims of oppression.
These views are my own and do not represent Cornell University.
These views are my own and do not represent Cornell University.
August 22, 2025 at 3:05 PM
These facts should be considered when evaluating Dr. Wright’s claims of oppression.
These views are my own and do not represent Cornell University.
These views are my own and do not represent Cornell University.
To be clear, Dr. Wright was not implicated in any wrongdoing. But the assumption that this association was a non-issue for hiring committees reviewing Dr. Wright's application in 2020 seems implausible.
August 22, 2025 at 3:05 PM
To be clear, Dr. Wright was not implicated in any wrongdoing. But the assumption that this association was a non-issue for hiring committees reviewing Dr. Wright's application in 2020 seems implausible.
In early 2020, Pruitt — Wright’s PhD advisor — was accused of scientific fraud and later found by his university to have engaged in multiple instances of data falsification and fabrication. “Spidergate” was the biggest scandal our field has weathered.
August 22, 2025 at 3:05 PM
In early 2020, Pruitt — Wright’s PhD advisor — was accused of scientific fraud and later found by his university to have engaged in multiple instances of data falsification and fabrication. “Spidergate” was the biggest scandal our field has weathered.
A notable omission from Dr. Wright’s commentary is the fact that 95% of his publications at the time of his applications were co-authored with Jonathan Pruitt.
August 22, 2025 at 3:05 PM
A notable omission from Dr. Wright’s commentary is the fact that 95% of his publications at the time of his applications were co-authored with Jonathan Pruitt.
His CV certainly demonstrates potential. But “top in [his] field”? You would be hard pressed to find a domain expert who agrees with that claim.
August 22, 2025 at 3:05 PM
His CV certainly demonstrates potential. But “top in [his] field”? You would be hard pressed to find a domain expert who agrees with that claim.
Most folks spend years applying to dozens or hundreds of faculty jobs, and most PhDs do not end up in faculty positions. There are many potential reasons Dr. Wright failed to land a job.
August 22, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Most folks spend years applying to dozens or hundreds of faculty jobs, and most PhDs do not end up in faculty positions. There are many potential reasons Dr. Wright failed to land a job.
I personally know two other white male evolutionary biologists hired by Cornell within the last two years.
People unfamiliar with EEB often do not realize how competitive the job market is.
People unfamiliar with EEB often do not realize how competitive the job market is.
August 22, 2025 at 3:05 PM
I personally know two other white male evolutionary biologists hired by Cornell within the last two years.
People unfamiliar with EEB often do not realize how competitive the job market is.
People unfamiliar with EEB often do not realize how competitive the job market is.
Dr. Wright suggests that being a white male prevented him from securing a faculty position in our field (EEB) and that in particular, Cornell University’s doors were closed to him because of his identity. However, I was hired by Cornell this year.
August 22, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Dr. Wright suggests that being a white male prevented him from securing a faculty position in our field (EEB) and that in particular, Cornell University’s doors were closed to him because of his identity. However, I was hired by Cornell this year.
Reposted by John Benning
I say we start by making it less financially appealing.
We need a ruthless anti-scam administration. A total crackdown on robocalls, MLMs, crytpo scams, get rich quick influencers, and fake supplement companies.
Steep penalties and enforcement structures with teeth.
We need a ruthless anti-scam administration. A total crackdown on robocalls, MLMs, crytpo scams, get rich quick influencers, and fake supplement companies.
Steep penalties and enforcement structures with teeth.
August 7, 2025 at 6:50 PM
I say we start by making it less financially appealing.
We need a ruthless anti-scam administration. A total crackdown on robocalls, MLMs, crytpo scams, get rich quick influencers, and fake supplement companies.
Steep penalties and enforcement structures with teeth.
We need a ruthless anti-scam administration. A total crackdown on robocalls, MLMs, crytpo scams, get rich quick influencers, and fake supplement companies.
Steep penalties and enforcement structures with teeth.
had not seen this; very cool
August 7, 2025 at 5:29 PM
had not seen this; very cool
I need to write a response, as the latest white male evolutionary biologist hired by Cornell!
August 1, 2025 at 6:15 PM
I need to write a response, as the latest white male evolutionary biologist hired by Cornell!