3 ms·

We aren't blank slates. Genes inform a lot about who we are.

by bluthru 9y ago

emodendroket 9y ago
That vague truism doesn't seem like enough to justify racially- or otherwise genetically-based separatism to me.
- pdeuchler 9y ago
  The fact that you can't discern between justifying racism and pointing out that racism comes from deep seated biological impulses is pretty scary
  - emodendroket 9y ago
    How else am I supposed to interpret "is that really so bad?" besides justification?
    - rawnlq 9y ago
      You quoted me but I actually didn't say anything about race or genetics. My original response was to the parent which was claiming that "tribalism is avoidable" and I was arguing against that saying that humans will always self-segregate into tribes so it's unavoidable. Examples: - I had a friendship which originally started over shared nostalgia for a cantonese children show - I was excluded from a group because I didn't know enough american pop culture references to get their jokes - I stopped eating dinner with another group because I felt awkward being the only one not praying before the meal - In another group, we only ever talked about programming puzzles and non-programmer friends (such as their girlfriends) learned quickly to leave us alone All of these groups came together and/or left each other due to unwritten emergent social dynamics. You can never stop these clusters from forming. As long as you have groups/tribes, there will be people excluded based on the that tribe's values. Is that really so bad?
      - emodendroket 9y ago
        Hm, well, I don't know that I'd call those "tribes," and I (reasonably, I thought) interpreted "tribalism" to be ethnic or racial based on it appearing in a discussion of "Friends Are Genetically Similar."
        grzm 9y ago
        Tribalism is sometimes used as a descriptor for general in-group/out-group behavior as well.
        emodendroket 9y ago
        Yeah, of course that is true, but I was making what I thought was a reasonable reading in context. It seems like the OP is describing something more like groups of friends; you can't really be a member of multiple tribes, necessarily.

We aren't blank slates. Genes inform a lot about who we are.

emodendroket 9y ago

That vague truism doesn't seem like enough to justify racially- or otherwise genetically-based separatism to me.

pdeuchler 9y ago
The fact that you can't discern between justifying racism and pointing out that racism comes from deep seated biological impulses is pretty scary
- emodendroket 9y ago
  How else am I supposed to interpret "is that really so bad?" besides justification?
  - rawnlq 9y ago
    You quoted me but I actually didn't say anything about race or genetics. My original response was to the parent which was claiming that "tribalism is avoidable" and I was arguing against that saying that humans will always self-segregate into tribes so it's unavoidable. Examples: - I had a friendship which originally started over shared nostalgia for a cantonese children show - I was excluded from a group because I didn't know enough american pop culture references to get their jokes - I stopped eating dinner with another group because I felt awkward being the only one not praying before the meal - In another group, we only ever talked about programming puzzles and non-programmer friends (such as their girlfriends) learned quickly to leave us alone All of these groups came together and/or left each other due to unwritten emergent social dynamics. You can never stop these clusters from forming. As long as you have groups/tribes, there will be people excluded based on the that tribe's values. Is that really so bad?
    - emodendroket 9y ago
      Hm, well, I don't know that I'd call those "tribes," and I (reasonably, I thought) interpreted "tribalism" to be ethnic or racial based on it appearing in a discussion of "Friends Are Genetically Similar."
      - grzm 9y ago
        Tribalism is sometimes used as a descriptor for general in-group/out-group behavior as well.
        emodendroket 9y ago
        Yeah, of course that is true, but I was making what I thought was a reasonable reading in context. It seems like the OP is describing something more like groups of friends; you can't really be a member of multiple tribes, necessarily.