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Are you implying that my reaction to genetic determinism is just a result of my uncritical acceptance of liberal, academic mores? Personally, I think racism is
by jsnx 19y ago
Are you implying that my reaction to genetic determinism is just a result of my uncritical acceptance of liberal, academic mores?
Personally, I think racism is more socially acceptable than most of us would like to admit. I've met people who left research in biotech because the ubermensch mentality was so pervasive there.
There is little evidence that social behaviours are transmitted genetically -- but you need only examine the history of Buddhist monasticism to realize that social behaviours can be transmitted, with extreme uniformity, in the absence of consanguinity. Why do people fall back on genetic determinism? It has a lot to do, I think, with logical positivism -- something that is very attractive to academics of every persuasion, except those close enough to its roots (physicists) to understand its limitations.
- rms 19y agoI am strongly in favor of genetically engineering myself and my children. Improving ourselves using biology is inevitable. Is this the ubermensch mentality you're referring to?
- jsnx 19y agoNo, that's not the ubermensch mentality -- I'm talking about folks who think they've found the ubermensch. (Usually, the ubermensch is white.)