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> Chinese people do not trust each other as much as Westerners do There is an interesting line of thought that high trust societies are caused by out-breeding.

> Chinese people do not trust each other as much as Westerners do There is an interesting line of thought that high trust societies are caused by out-breeding. The medieval european church forbade cousin marriage for centuries out to something like third cousin. This broke up the clans and arguably made cohesive western nations possible. Today in much of the non-western world first cousin marriage is still normal. I believe most arab marriages are to first cousins. In the places where it's most prevalent you do tend to see clannish behavior and indifference/viciousness to the out-group. Dunno if it's really true, but it does seem to fit various historical developments. With China I think maybe you have to keep in mind what a scarring catastrophe Maoism was. Middle class people and values were systematically purged.

magicalist 13y ago
> Today in much of the non-western world first cousin marriage is still normal. I believe most arab marriages are to first cousins First and second cousins, and only in a few countries, and much of the collected data you'll find on the topic is 40-50 years old[1]. But what does that have to do with China? > Dunno if it's really true, but it does seem to fit various historical developments This is a really dangerous line of anthropological reasoning; certainly non-scientific at the very least. [1] http://www.consang.net/index.php/Main_Page http://www.consang.net/index.php/Main_Page has a long bibliography. Unrelated: the site feels a little creepy...I don't totally understand the purpose of having a standalone site for the topic. However, the citations appear legitimate.
- a8da6b0c91d 13y ago
  > dangerous line of anthropological reasoning Oh no! Thoughtcrime? It's perfectly amenable to science. I just don't happen to know the supporting science well myself.
  - Volpe 13y ago
    Are you saying chinese are predominantly inbred?
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
Volpe 13y ago
> With China I think maybe you have to keep in mind what a scarring catastrophe Maoism was. Middle class people and values were systematically purged. Maoism was a resounding success, it was the cultural revolution that replaced the middle class. I think the lack of trust rises from the fact that the chinese middle class were very recently (< 1 generation) the poor/underclass. There concept of wealth is a lot more transient than the west's, they have a much greater fear of losing wealth (given it happened almost overnight during the cultural revolution). It generates what the west views as a "selfish" attitude, but is probably viewed by Chinese as "prudent".
- andrewcooke 13y ago
  i don't know much about this, but wikipedia lists the culural revolution as one of the "basic components" of maoism. so your distinction between the two doesn't seem to make much sense. can you clarify? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maoism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maoism
  - Volpe 13y ago
    "Cultural revolution" is a basic component of Maoism (as in your culture changes drastically, as you attempt to remove the bourgeois. "The Cultural Revolution" was a horrible play Mao instigated through the Gang of Four in order to maintain power and throw those that might take it from him into disarray. Cultural Revolution was used as an excuse to justify "The cultural revolution", but they are not the same, and you don't need students to go around killing people in order to achieve a cultural revolution.

magicalist 13y ago

> Today in much of the non-western world first cousin marriage is still normal. I believe most arab marriages are to first cousins First and second cousins, and only in a few countries, and much of the collected data you'll find on the topic is 40-50 years old[1]. But what does that have to do with China? > Dunno if it's really true, but it does seem to fit various historical developments This is a really dangerous line of anthropological reasoning; certainly non-scientific at the very least. [1] http://www.consang.net/index.php/Main_Page http://www.consang.net/index.php/Main_Page has a long bibliography. Unrelated: the site feels a little creepy...I don't totally understand the purpose of having a standalone site for the topic. However, the citations appear legitimate.

a8da6b0c91d 13y ago
> dangerous line of anthropological reasoning Oh no! Thoughtcrime? It's perfectly amenable to science. I just don't happen to know the supporting science well myself.
- Volpe 13y ago
  Are you saying chinese are predominantly inbred?
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]

Volpe 13y ago

> With China I think maybe you have to keep in mind what a scarring catastrophe Maoism was. Middle class people and values were systematically purged. Maoism was a resounding success, it was the cultural revolution that replaced the middle class. I think the lack of trust rises from the fact that the chinese middle class were very recently (< 1 generation) the poor/underclass. There concept of wealth is a lot more transient than the west's, they have a much greater fear of losing wealth (given it happened almost overnight during the cultural revolution). It generates what the west views as a "selfish" attitude, but is probably viewed by Chinese as "prudent".

andrewcooke 13y ago
i don't know much about this, but wikipedia lists the culural revolution as one of the "basic components" of maoism. so your distinction between the two doesn't seem to make much sense. can you clarify? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maoism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maoism
- Volpe 13y ago
  "Cultural revolution" is a basic component of Maoism (as in your culture changes drastically, as you attempt to remove the bourgeois. "The Cultural Revolution" was a horrible play Mao instigated through the Gang of Four in order to maintain power and throw those that might take it from him into disarray. Cultural Revolution was used as an excuse to justify "The cultural revolution", but they are not the same, and you don't need students to go around killing people in order to achieve a cultural revolution.