4 ms·

Using the word 'racist' is inflammatory and often seems to be an affront, so I can appreciate your disappointment with the author. However, I don't see how man

Using the word 'racist' is inflammatory and often seems to be an affront, so I can appreciate your disappointment with the author. However, I don't see how many 'human biodiversity' (HBD) claims are not racist - that is, they make claims about individuals based on the social construct of race though they ostensibly mean to discuss 'biology.'

davidgerard 13y ago
They seriously talk about "African" as if it were a tight genetic grouping (like Icelanders or Ashkenazim) - Africa has the greatest human genetic diversity per distance of anywhere, as one would expect (diversity per distance is greatest near the point of origin).
- Chen77 13y ago
  Who is they? What I find amazing is that people are surprised that group differences have arisen over the last 50,000 years. Gene-culture coevolution makes it seem inevitable that different cultures will favor different traits. Therefore you're going to see some average differences. There are obvious examples, a more polygamous society where women do more of the work (eg female farming systems) with lower paternal investment, might favor different traits to those where there is State control, monogamy and greater paternal investment. I'd recommend that you read some posts by Steve Hsu, Peter Frost, or 'The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution'.
spindritf 13y ago
My disappointment is that it stopped at "racists." Because it brings up a more interesting question of why a geek sitting in front of a computer, out of a thousand topics and million cats, chose to investigate IQ differences between populations. And it went far beyond idle curiosity. Here was his chance to actually shed some light "on the psyche of contemporary tech culture." Same with the popularity of nootropics. I know of very few groups (body builders, athletes, and geeks may actually be the only ones) so interested in boosting performance. This is interesting. Shed the light on the psyche. Does those two tie into the disappointment with the mainstream news and opinion outlets, contemporary scientific institutions, and governance? I'd venture a yes. Isn't that interesting? Just to me? Maybe I'll write that article one day then. His loss.

davidgerard 13y ago

They seriously talk about "African" as if it were a tight genetic grouping (like Icelanders or Ashkenazim) - Africa has the greatest human genetic diversity per distance of anywhere, as one would expect (diversity per distance is greatest near the point of origin).

Chen77 13y ago
Who is they? What I find amazing is that people are surprised that group differences have arisen over the last 50,000 years. Gene-culture coevolution makes it seem inevitable that different cultures will favor different traits. Therefore you're going to see some average differences. There are obvious examples, a more polygamous society where women do more of the work (eg female farming systems) with lower paternal investment, might favor different traits to those where there is State control, monogamy and greater paternal investment. I'd recommend that you read some posts by Steve Hsu, Peter Frost, or 'The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution'.

spindritf 13y ago

My disappointment is that it stopped at "racists." Because it brings up a more interesting question of why a geek sitting in front of a computer, out of a thousand topics and million cats, chose to investigate IQ differences between populations. And it went far beyond idle curiosity. Here was his chance to actually shed some light "on the psyche of contemporary tech culture." Same with the popularity of nootropics. I know of very few groups (body builders, athletes, and geeks may actually be the only ones) so interested in boosting performance. This is interesting. Shed the light on the psyche. Does those two tie into the disappointment with the mainstream news and opinion outlets, contemporary scientific institutions, and governance? I'd venture a yes. Isn't that interesting? Just to me? Maybe I'll write that article one day then. His loss.