Who would have guessed? Smart people believe in genes! What kinds of people are most likely to think that where you end up in life has nothing to do with genes? Educated people might talk a good egalitarian game, but people going no further than high school are much more likely to think that genes don't matter. Thirty-five percent of the uneducated felt this way: only 20 percent of those with advanced degrees did. And other factors? Not surprisingly, 40% of blacks are pure nurturists, compared to 30% of whites. For hard-core conservatives, it was 17%. For hard-core liberals, it was 35%. As for religion, people with no religion had the highest share of nurturists (37%). Interestingly, the religion with the greatest appreciation of genes was Judaism. Only 24% of Jews thought genes were inconsequential.

The picture that emerges here is this: smarter, better informed people appreciate the power of genes (at least privately) unless they have some agenda, as in the case of liberals.