What is Lysenkoism, and why was it preferred by the Soviet Union?
In: Biology
It wasn’t really a coherent theory, it was more of a rejection of theories that communists didn’t like because of ideological reasons and wishful thinking about what would be possible with their new communist science.
Lysenkoists rejected the idea of natural selection through competition and survival of the fittest. They thought that sounded like capitalism.
They didn’t think that seeds of the same species would compete for nutrients with each other, because the plants would be of the same ‘class’ and so they would cooperate. This meant Lysenkoists thought that you could plant as many seeds in a field as you liked and the crops would cooperate with each other and you’d get loads of harvest.
They didn’t like the idea of genes being in charge, they liked the idea that their new marxist science would be able to conquer nature and turn Siberia into a land of orchards and gardens.
They liked Lamarckist evolutionary theory because they liked the idea of an organism improving itself. This paralleled their idea of everyone becoming better people under communism.
The study of genetics was condemned and many biologists were executed or sent to gulags. Crop yields collapsed and there was famine.
Latest Answers