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I'd be careful about associating a genetic cause with high-level behaviors. I don't have a good argument either way, but it seems to come close to a political t

by Y_Y 1y ago

I'd be careful about associating a genetic cause with high-level behaviors. I don't have a good argument either way, but it seems to come close to a political third rail where you can ascribe patterns of behavior to genetically defined(-ish) groups like "race".

exe34 1y ago
I'm always suspicious of people who advocate this kind of caution - I can never trust if you are saying or withholding information in case it might lead to outcomes you don't like. Reality should take precedence. If X does Y, let's find out how to help X, not pretend X doesn't exist.
- nkrisc 1y ago
  Because it's rarely ever as simple as X causes Y, yet it will be taken out of context and concluded out of context that X in fact causes Y, thus we must round up everyone exhibiting X to prevent Y.
  - exe34 1y ago
    And that's how you make it worse for everyone, because now some X still cause Y, but Z doesn't trust you anymore and will start hurting random X anyway.
- Y_Y 1y ago
  You may have misunderstood, I'm advocating caution on the basis that naive discussion of this kind of topic can attract attention from people who associate it with outcomes they don't like, and specifically you can end up being accused of having an ulterior motive But maybe you underood that and think I'm arguing in bad faith. From your perspective, that may well appear to be the case, I don't think I can demonstrate otherwise.
mrkramer 1y ago
It's not about race, it is about personality, even cats have different personalities which are shaped by their genes[0]. Evolution uses variation so you can adapt and survive but variation is experimental meaning its results are nor perfect nor conclusive. [0] https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250626-how-loud-a-cat-meows-might-be-down-to-their-genes https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250626-how-loud-a-cat-m... This article was on HN frontpage 2 days ago.

by Y_Y 1y ago

exe34 1y ago

I'm always suspicious of people who advocate this kind of caution - I can never trust if you are saying or withholding information in case it might lead to outcomes you don't like. Reality should take precedence. If X does Y, let's find out how to help X, not pretend X doesn't exist.

nkrisc 1y ago
Because it's rarely ever as simple as X causes Y, yet it will be taken out of context and concluded out of context that X in fact causes Y, thus we must round up everyone exhibiting X to prevent Y.
- exe34 1y ago
  And that's how you make it worse for everyone, because now some X still cause Y, but Z doesn't trust you anymore and will start hurting random X anyway.
Y_Y 1y ago
You may have misunderstood, I'm advocating caution on the basis that naive discussion of this kind of topic can attract attention from people who associate it with outcomes they don't like, and specifically you can end up being accused of having an ulterior motive But maybe you underood that and think I'm arguing in bad faith. From your perspective, that may well appear to be the case, I don't think I can demonstrate otherwise.

mrkramer 1y ago

It's not about race, it is about personality, even cats have different personalities which are shaped by their genes[0]. Evolution uses variation so you can adapt and survive but variation is experimental meaning its results are nor perfect nor conclusive. [0] https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250626-how-loud-a-cat-meows-might-be-down-to-their-genes https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250626-how-loud-a-cat-m... This article was on HN frontpage 2 days ago.