5 ms·
Holy shit. I hope this is sarcastic
by habitue 11y ago
Holy shit. I hope this is sarcastic
- danieltillett 11y agoI am curious to know why you think this?
- api 11y agoYou must be new here. There's a sizable cadre of IQ score worshipping neo-eugenicists around here. More people need to actually study evolutionary biology. Like I mean the real kind with math and combinatorics and stuff. Or maybe I'm just a stupid head.
- danieltillett 11y agoI think you might mean population genetics, not evolutionary biology. If you study population genetics you might discover what results from assortative mating.
- elektromekatron 11y agoHow on earth would you study evolutionary biology without studying population genetics? Is a bit like saying not to study mathematics because you actually need calculus.
- danieltillett 11y agoEvolutionary biology is a real big field. Typically population genetics is its own separate subject at the university level. I was not suggesting to not study evolutionary biology (we should just call it biology as there is no such thing as non-evolutionary biology), just explaining what is the area you need to study if you want to understand the question being discussed.
- elektromekatron 11y agoTypically population genetics is its own separate subject at the university level. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=population+genetics+bsc https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=population+genetics+bsc oh no it isn't
- danieltillett 11y agoSubject as in unit, not subject as in degree. When I taught population genetics I taught population genetics as one half of a unit on human genetics. I would have loved to devote an entire unit to population genetics, but the timetable did not allow it. As a unit it often is called something else to appeal more to students and is more often mixed in with other biology fields. This is a general trend across biology where areas that were once separate fields have come back together with the rise of molecular biology.
- elektromekatron 11y agoTypically population genetics is its own separate subject at the university level. ... As a unit it often is called something else to appeal more to students and is more often mixed in with other biology fields. Which is it?
- danieltillett 11y agoIt is both - it is a a separate subject (course unit), but one that is often hidden inside another subject (unit) to make it palatable to students. To do this you give it another name and mix in some other stuff - I guess a bit like the way nasty tasting medicine is handled :) The problem with teaching population genetics is not that it is not important or interesting, but that it involves maths. Biology students and maths are a bit like oil and water.
- api 11y agoI read the rest of your replies and I think I misunderstood your point a bit (as did the rest of the crowd). I don't agree that assortive mating could do what you suggest as quickly as you're suggesting -- evolution is slower than that. But I agree with the general idea that meritocracy has caused a brain drain from the lower classes, and also that the ruling class is quite clever. As far as transferring 50% of the middle class's wealth upward without a peep -- this has primarily been accomplished through the "culture war." People will vote against their economic interests if it means voting in favor of their cultural biases.