From the New Statesman:
“Jews are adapted to capitalism”, and other nonsenses of the new scientific racism
Nicholas Wade's A Troublesome Inheritance argues that the genetic differences between racial groups explain why the West is rich and Africa is poor - but beneath the new science lies an old, dangerous lie.
BY IAN STEADMAN PUBLISHED 20 MAY, 2014 - 11:34
Before getting into quite why Nicholas Wade’s A Troublesome Inheritance - a book which argues, among other things, that Jews possess a genetic “adaptation to capitalism” - is racist, it may be worth thinking back to the summer of 2012.
Viewers of the BBC’s coverage of the Olympics on 10 August would have been surprised, between heats in the 200 metres, by a short video explaining how the slave trade made black people into better athletes ...
Spot the problem? Congratulations - you’re better at this than Nicholas Wade, former deputy editor of Nature, writer for the New York Times and Washington Post, pop-sci author and pusher of the hypothesis that: a) there is a biological basis for race, and b) racial differences explain cultural and societal differences.
In this, he is partly correct - at least, in the way he defines “race” - but in oh-so-very-many other ways he is not. Frankly, it may well be that A Troublesome Inheritance is most useful as an illustration of the gap between the popular understanding of racism and the reality of how it operates. Wade very clearly does not consider himself, or his conclusions, to be racist, writing that "no one has the right or reason to assert superiority over a person of a different race". Yet this book is ultimately racist, because it does exactly that.
Of course, at the 2012 Olympics, black men achieved all 8 spots in the 100m final for the 8th straight Olympics, but who is counting?
This is most obvious during the (numerous) sections of the book where Wade uses language that can best be described as “unfortunate”. We are told that, as a consequence of genetic analysis, “an individual can be assigned with high confidence to the appropriate continent of origin”. Furthermore, it is “perfectly reasonable” to classify all humans into one of five “continental based races”, while “classification into the three main races of African, East Asian and European is supported by the physical anthropology of human skull types and dentition”. ...
Then there’s the money shot:
"Populations that live at high altitudes, like Tibetans, represent another adaptation to extreme environments. The adaptation of Jews to capitalism is another such evolutionary process.”
And lest you be in any doubt that this isn’t a political tract disguised as science writing, Wade believes that the current scientific consensus is “shaped by leftist and Marxist political dogma”. (Plus, he’s been given the cover feature in this week’s Spectator to argue his position, which is always a science writing red flag.)
A Troublesome Inheritance begins with a history of Darwin and the theory of evolution, an overview of how natural selection works, and an explanation of how eugenics was the “perversion” of Darwinism (including a shout out for New Statesman founders and eugenics fans Sidney and Beatrice Webb - always appreciated). As an opening, it comes across as an attempt to make clear that this new, scientific conception of race isn’t the same, but it’s a bit like saying Father Christmas and your dad aren’t the same person. They both get to screw your mother.
Wade is keen to argue that humans, like all animals, are subject to evolutionary pressures, and that this evolution continues to happen. There are discussions of studies showing how different human populations carry certain genes more than others (for example, Finns disproportionately carry the HTR2B gene, linked with a tendency towards violent behaviour when drunk), but between the science there are bizarre asides where he attacks those he perceives as suppressing these findings - like Marxists, “who wish government to mold socialist man in its desired image and [who] see genetics as an impediment to the power of the state”. (These statements are not given citations.)
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It's a well-known thing here in Sweden that Finns (who I wish Swedes could be more like) can get vicious when drunk, although this has always been denied by the PC brigade. The fact that they are highly introvert is more acceptable to them.
...but between the science there are bizarre asides where he attacks those he perceives as suppressing these findings - like Marxists, “who wish government to mold socialist man in its desired image and [who] see genetics as an impediment to the power of the state”. (These statements are not given citations.)
You could provide a thousand citations and The New Statesman still wouldn't be convinced.
Well, Steve, perhaps its time that someone like yourself or John Derbyshire or someone in the HBD camp actually write a counter-review of the review's of Wades new book.
Writing a scientific based refutation of Steadman's (and others) reviews would help in a more positive direction (e.g. showing from established science exactly where and how reviews such as Steadman aren't entirely accurate and then give specific examples.)
Can curse the hecklers are light the candle by showing precisely where their Gouldian reviews are not backed by established scientific consensus.
I'm thinking that Derb would be well up to the task.
Finns have a high homicide rate for Europeans. In general, Scandinavians have a reputation for binge drinking violence. For example, in Waugh's Scoop, the best human being is a Swedish missionary who is in Ishmaelia because when he was 17 he got drunk and killed his grandfather.
You could provide a thousand citations from the New Statesman.
The left has really been on the defensive with Wade's book. If more biologists came out with thick, soberly written, richly sourced books about racial differences, the left would have a lot to answer for.
Intellectually, the left is bankrupt on race. They have established a thought police to keep dissent down, and triumphally proclaim that their opponents are on the wrong side of history, but really they're paper tigers.
I can't understand what this has to do with anything, but I like it:
"a bit like saying Father Christmas and your dad aren’t the same person. They both get to screw your mother. "
What if he had said Jews are adapted to winning nobel prizes?
Meanwhile, in my personal experience, Scots Irish can be mean drunks.
Jonathan Marks reviews Wade's book.
Steve:"Finns have a high homicide rate for Europeans. In general, Scandinavians have a reputation for binge drinking violence. For example, in Waugh's Scoop, the best human being is a Swedish missionary who is in Ishmaelia because when he was 17 he got drunk and killed his grandfather."
Interesting that binge drinking seems to be more of a Northern European thing. The Italians, for example, seem less prone to that kind of violent intoxication. It's tempting to speculate that it might have something to do with Northern Europeans being less well adapted to alcohol. Good to know that THE NEW STATESMAN says that that kind speculation is OK.
Semi OT:
The Philadelphia Eagles' Personnel Strategy: Targeting College Grads
Six of the Seven Players the Team Drafted This Year Are on Track to Graduate
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304422704579572050338722302
The two teams who happened to have loads of graduates were the Colts and New England Patriots. Those teams dominated the first decade of this century.
In a private conversation later, Dungy, now an analyst for NBC, told Kelly that his research showed players with degrees were more likely to earn a second NFL contract and make more money. He told Kelly "the guys with degrees have what you are looking for. They are driven. If it's between two players, a degree might tip the scale. But at the time, I don't think he was even thinking of the NFL."
But before Kelly even arrived in Philadelphia, Roseman was doing his own research. Each year, Roseman and his lieutenants take the last four teams left in the playoffs and do reports on them—studying their players' height, weight, background and virtually everything else. Through those reports came evidence that the most successful teams had many college graduates on them. When Roseman and Kelly joined forces, the plan was clear.
The trends over the last five drafts are startling. Studies show that teams who select players who spent five years in college—and thus almost always have a degree—win big. Of the three teams with the most fifth-year seniors drafted, two of them met in February's Super Bowl: the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos. The Jacksonville Jaguars, who went 4-12, took the fewest.
The team that drafted the most players who stayed just three years on campus? The New York Giants, who have missed the playoffs the past two seasons. The Colts, Patriots and Washington Redskins, who have five total playoff appearances in the last two years, have taken the fewest three-year players, who rarely have college degrees.
Kelly said a degree is more than proof of intelligence. "It's also, what is their commitment?" he said. "They set goals out for themselves and can they follow through for it? A lot of people can tell you they want to do this, this and this. But look at their accomplishments."
My take on the viciousness of drunks is that drink is really bad for you. It takes a lot of will power to over ride addictions to substances and addiction the the thrill of drunken fun.
Jewish people in the diaspora are quite clearly adapted to a city dwelling merchant and professional existence. 50/50 cultural genetic most likely. Even in Israel there is an underclass of arabs doing the scut work for them. It's less pronounced there but the Israelis are adapting to being a nation state.
I don't see why this should be a controversy.
"a short video explaining how the slave trade made black people into better athletes ..."
You'd think that slaving gangs would catch the slowest runners, surely ? Or is the video claiming some kind of "survival of the fittest on the voyage over" ?
Anyone over twenty-one who gets drunk needs his arse kicking. Men should be able to hold their drink.
If the NS Ian Steadman :
http://www.newstatesman.com/writers/ian_steadman
"Ian Steadman is a staff science and technology writer at the New Statesman. He is on Twitter as @iansteadman."
is this Ian Steadman (and the pictures look very close) :
http://www.ameliasmagazine.com/?s=Ian%20Steadman
Then the NS science writer is a "Tall lad, born in California but grew up in Slough. Currently freelancing after finishing an MA in Magazine Journalism from City University. Travels a lot. Reads a lot. Probably doesn’t do enough work. Will write for food on any topic. Seriously. Has a twitter, probably should have a blog."
http://twitter.com/iansteadman
Good to see the NS rolling out the intellectual and scientific heavyweights.
"Before getting into quite why Nicholas Wade’s A Troublesome Inheritance - a book which argues, among other things, that Jews possess a genetic “adaptation to capitalism” - is racist, it may be worth thinking back to the summer of 2012. Viewers of the BBC’s coverage of the Olympics on 10 August would have been surprised, between heats in the 200 metres, by a short video explaining how the slave trade made black people into better athletes ...
Spot the problem?"
The problem I'm spotting with the BBC documentary is that west Africans whose ancestors weren't enslaved are still superior sprinters - nothing to do with the slave trade - but that can't be what he means to point out.
What problem will a good progressive identify here that I am just totally missing? Is it just more point and sputter nonsense? ("The bad man said a bad word!")
>>Semi OT:
"""""""""""""""""""""""""The Philadelphia Eagles' Personnel Strategy: Targeting College Grads
Six of the Seven Players the Team Drafted This Year Are on Track to Graduate""""""""""""""""""""""""""
But this is taken from a relatively small sample size (only two teams).
ALSO, this doesn't seem to make a squat of difference in the NBA, where the vast majority are one and done players, and most never ever return to get their BA or BS.
Kobe and Lebron, two of the NBA's biggest stars of the last 15 yrs, never spent a single day in a college classroom; they went directly to the pros from the NBA.
Look at most of the NBA players. They're one and done and most do not return to school to graduate. Why should they? They have their contract.
Think that Derrick Rose is going to return to college?
Really?
Seriously?
if you can get the point-&-sputter crowd to understand "overlapping normal distributions" - that's a win.
Does Wade's book espouse racism? By the dictionary definitions of RACISM given below, yes it does.
1. RACISM: "The notion that one's own ethnic stock is superior" (American Heritage Dictionary).
2. RACISM: "The belief that some races of people are better than others" (Merriam-Webster.com).
3. RACISM: "Belief inherent superiority of some races over others" (Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary).
4. RACISM: "The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races" (Oxford English Dictionary).
"Populations that live at high altitudes, like Tibetans, represent another adaptation to extreme environments. The adaptation of Jews to capitalism is another such evolutionary process.”
Fair enough, that's a weak analogy. There are well documented physiological differences between Tibetans (and other high altitude dwellers) and those who live at lower altitudes. That Jews possess some evolutionary adaption to capitalism is speculative at best.
A weakness in Wade's work is that he does not make a sharp distinction between known scientific facts and scientific speculation. It makes it easier for his critics to find fault with him.
"and, for that matter, nobody gives a shit what your chromosomes are when they’re kicking in your ribcage on a piss-streaked pavement for being 'a bloke in a dress' or whatever."
Hopefully he's speaking from experience.
"Look at most of the NBA players. They're one and done and most do not return to school to graduate."
True. But then there is Tim Duncan, B.A., Class of '97, Wake Forest, who is still gainfully employed by the San Antonio Spurs.
A Statesman type's honest response to the charge of Marxist "molding" might go:
"We really don't go in for much molding. I mean, we scrupulously avoid any attempt to persuade dark-skinned persons to speak standard English or to eschew violence, though we insist on the latter in our own. We really only mold those who need no molding."
Steve Johnson may be the most perfectly forgettable NBA center ever. Not bad, exactly, just never did anything at 7 feet. Since nobody's mentioned his name in ateast 15 yrs., I wonder if he was actually the first gay big man.
I think the theory is that binge drinking is caused by a small number of genes and being in the arctic, so it is inherited like eye color.
Why do you think Jews are good at capitalism but not at say playing the violin? It is not clear they are better at capitalism than say clarinet playing, physics, or communism.
Man Who Would Buy NY Times Makes Remarks About Jews, ADL Angry
the business man gave an interview to a Chinese newspaper saying he has an “equally competent IQ and EQ” as Jews. He also added that he is “very good at working with Jews.” (Good to know)
Read more: http://blogs.forward.com/the-shmooze/190651/man-who-would-buy-ny-times-makes-remarks-about-jew/#ixzz32OR5mQW0
Mark Caplan:"Does Wade's book espouse racism? By the dictionary definitions of RACISM given below, yes it does."
Let's see
"1. RACISM: "The notion that one's own ethnic stock is superior" (American Heritage Dictionary)."
Where does Wade say that his own ethnic stock is superior?
"2. RACISM: "The belief that some races of people are better than others" (Merriam-Webster.com)."
Does anyone contest the fact that Tibetans are better than Whites at having babies at high altitude? Does anyone contest that sub-Saharan Africans are better at resisting skin cancer than Whites?If not, I guess that we are all racists.
"3. RACISM: "Belief inherent superiority of some races over others" (Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary)."
Well,as previously noted, sub-Saharan Africans are definitely superior to Whites at resisting skin cancer. Guess that that makes dermatologists racists.
"4. RACISM: "The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races" (Oxford English Dictionary)."
Does anyone actually think that all members of a race possess the same "characteristics, abilities, or qualities?" Seems like something of a straw man argument. After all, no one denies that there are albinos in sub-Saharan Africa.
I saw Steve Johnson play at Pauley Pavilion around 1981. His Oregon (or Oregon St.?) team beat a pretty good UCLA team. He was unathletic but had fine fundamentals and UCLA couldn't stop him.
college:NBA as postdoctoral_fellowship:tenure_track_job
So all of those years binge drinking and brawling as a youth were not my fault?? I was born that way??
If I knew then what I know now...
I understand that this thesis was put forward by a famous Sprinter of Jamaican nationality. The BBC simply reported what he said about it and took a look at the claims.
I wouldn't be surprised to find that some selective breeding went on and that some selection pressure was introduced on the cane field.
"Does anyone actually think that all members of a race possess the same "characteristics, abilities, or qualities?" Seems like something of a straw man argument. After all, no one denies that there are albinos in sub-Saharan Africa."
Or well-dressed black mobs overrunning 7-11's in Washington DC:
http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/25553934/video-flash-mob-robbery-strikes-dc-convenience-store#axzz32Ofv88b2
>>Steve Sailer observed:
"""""""""""I saw Steve Johnson play at Pauley Pavilion around 1981. His Oregon (or Oregon St.?) team beat a pretty good UCLA team. He was unathletic but had fine fundamentals and UCLA couldn't stop him."""""""""""""
That was the "old" Pauley, not the newly renovated out of sight one, hoping to host the soon to be champion Bruins and...
Anyway.
Also forgot: Dwight Howard. Another one and done and not a bad Center to boot either.
Speaking of UCLA, there was a PG couple yrs back, a one and done now in the NBA 3 of his five years the teams he's been with have failed to qualify for the playoffs, and considering how easy it is to merely qualify for the playoffs in NBA (as vs MLB or even NFL), so some of the responsibility has to be on his shoulders.
He's not all that, and wasn't a high first/lottery pick anyway.
And he was a one and done.
He must have a good PR that shields him from any criticism even though, at PG, you're expected to deliver the goods.
Trying to think of the name, escapes at the moment.
BUT...his Q rating isn't all that either since its not really a well known name, nationally. Let's face it, dont most national fans of sports generally remember the winners first?
They do, they do indeed.
Kobe's world, but Lebron is now the King!
"You'd think that slaving gangs would catch the slowest runners, surely ? Or is the video claiming some kind of "survival of the fittest on the voyage over" ?" - And America was the absolute last stop for the slave carrying ships.
You should check out andrew Sullivan's site. He's on vacation and one of his helper writers has put up a bunch of posts really bashing wade, more or less calling him a racist.
I can't imagine Sullivan being too pleased about this considering he likely agrees with most of wades points
@KBAndersen I'm pro-truth & read Wade's A Troublesome Inheritance open-mindedly. But science-based *speculation* that validates racism is irresponsible.
"As working scientists in the field of evolutionary genetics and ecology, we have been attempting with some success to guide our own research by a conscious application of Marxist philosophy. We therefore cannot accept the view that philosophy must (or can) be excluded from science, and deplore the anti-ideological technocratic ideology of Soviet liberals."
--Lewontin.
So there ya go, Statesman.
So all of those years binge drinking and brawling as a youth were not my fault?? I was born that way??
They definitely are your fault if you were born that way, more so than if you were not born that way.
I don't think that Finnish drunkenness and violence is the kind of Finnish content you are looking for.
I saw Steve Johnson play at Pauley Pavilion around 1981. His Oregon (or Oregon St.?) team beat a pretty good UCLA team. He was unathletic but had fine fundamentals and UCLA couldn't stop him.
Oregon State. Johnson was very good on the low post where he made use of hook shots. Johnson shot 75% from the field that year, which is still an NCAA record. Mark Eaton was getting some playing time for UCLA then and Johnson ate him alive--Johnson was just much quicker and Eaton looked like he was rooted in place in comparison. To be fair this was before Eaton was really Eaton, and Oregon State had some great passing and could get the ball inside.
He was married with a kid at the time to the gay hypothesis is implausible.
But science-based *speculation* that validates racism is irresponsible.
This is confused on a couple levels.
First of all, the definition of "racism". Current anthropologists will call anyone who doesn't agree that race is a always an exclusively a social construct a racist, which presents a problem to anyone who believes there's a genetic basis to the idea--they are immediately discounted as a racist by the mere act of disagreeing with the premise they are arguing against. Wade is clear that he doesn't regard race as a reason to engage in oppression of another, which is I think closer to what most people think of as racism.
Second, I don't think it particularly irresponsible. The blank slatists freely engage in speculation about the malleability of human capabilities, despite the damage this idea can do, without sanction by the public. In fact they're quite a lot more dogmatic about their speculations than those who believe genetics may play a role, and much ruder to people who disagree with them.
I think Wade is simply laying down some speculative markers that may be proven or disproven over the next 20 years, or 40 years. Maybe he could have hewn closer to what's been demonstrated in genetics, but the idea of co-evolution of genetics and human society in a self-reinforcing manner is an interesting one.
Mark Caplan at 5/21/14, 2:24 PM
So, nature is racist?
I think your confusing moral superiority with superiority in objective abilities. Some individuals are superior in abilities compared to others, and some groups are superior in abilities in comparison to other groups. That is factual. Ex: homo sapiens sapiens had superior technological skills compared to neaderthals. Would that justify our species in unjustly (not based on merit)discriminating against them or subjugating them on that basis if they were still alive? No, we would allow them moral rights equal to ours even though our latent abilities are different. Just as we provide equality before the law or morality to all individuals regardless of differences in abilities.
Your problem is with nature my friend. Me thinks your none too bright or deluded in your ideology, but what do I know, I'm just a dumb Mexican.
Actually, I think you insult my intelligence with your lies( Assuming you actually aren't delusional or intellectually deficient.). You damn well know what you are doing. People don't like being lied to. Stop lying. If you won't tell the truth, then shut the f--- up. Your not helping us with your lies.
"There are discussions of studies showing how different human populations carry certain genes more than others"
Do tell... It speaks poorly of the New Statesmen readership that this pabulum dispenser passes for their science editor. By 2050 he may be onto Bitcoins and 3D printing
You could provide a thousand citations and The New Statesman still wouldn't be convinced.
He's channeling online dorkspeak where someone writes "Citation Needed" taunts in every thread without getting punched
"I don't think that Finnish drunkenness and violence is the kind of Finnish content you are looking for."
well, I don't know. Honesty is the best policy. As a Finn I believe, that Alcoholism is one of the greatest maladies in our society. Violent crimes are almost always committed under the influence. Therefore I am highly sceptical of tendency to "Europeanize" (=make booze easier to buy) Finnish alcohol policy.
"Think that Derrick Rose is going to return to college?"
NFL players going back to finish college is somewhat more common. I remember one being in one of my classes when I was in college. Of course, it's easier for NFL players to do it, since unless their team makes the playoffs, their offseason coincides perfectly with most schools' spring semesters.
Correct me if I am wrong, but slaving gangs at least as presented in Roots never happened.
Not to say there weren't groups (call them gangs) dedicated to taking slaves, it was a profit center after all.
But the slave traders, the white ones, just showed up and bought slaves from the locals, who were black.
My take is that it was nothing any different than had always been done, the European presence just kicked it into overdrive and made it a "boom" industry.
The remaining lifespan of a European at that time residing in West Africa was something along the line of a couple of years on average.
While the odd adventurer or something may have gone out beating the bush with a local group of slavers, pretty much most of the traders sailed up, bought what was available, then left.
This is my recounting of what I think I know. If I am incorrect, someone correct me.
Racism, as an accusation is simply the way that blacks get stuff from whites.
Additionally it gives the Caplans of the world their 5%
So diversity theory is allowed to posit inherent substantive differences based on race, but if someone outside the PC clan suggests racial differences, that is racist!
sunbeam said...
... pretty much most of the traders sailed up, bought what was available, then left.
This is my recounting of what I think I know. If I am incorrect, someone correct me.
====
I don't think the Europeans sailed up anywhere in significant numbers until modern medicine was invented.
The closest thing to Europeans roaming around in black Africa catching slaves was a group of people called the lançados in the Angola area, who were half portuguese and half african mulattoes. Only they seemed able to survive long term. They probably inherited protection against malaria from their african forebears.
I'm not sure about this but I suspect that the portuguese part in the lançados was jewish. The island of Sao-Tomé and Principe, in the Atlantic, was inhabited by jewish owners and their african slaves.
"I'm not sure about this but I suspect that the portuguese part in the lançados was jewish. The island of Sao-Tomé and Principe, in the Atlantic, was inhabited by jewish owners and their african slaves."
Most historians careful sail around this island and its pivotal role in the Atlantic Slave Trade. Here be monsters garrrr!
It seems that there are some Vikings left in the world after all.
Does Wade's book espouse racism? By the dictionary definitions of RACISM given below, yes it does.
Nobody uses the textbook definition. They use the far broader definitions espoused by the left (your co-ethnics most prominently). In short:
1. Charge: anything about race or ethnicity that blacks or Jews don't like and can make a stink about that doesn't make people roll their eyes and laugh.
2. Convict: torturing and mutilating blacks, then hanging them from trees and setting them on fire.
(By "charge" and "convict," I mean you get charged for 1 but if found guilty, you're convicted of 2.
If not, I guess that we are all racists.
We are. The definition is definitely that broad now. But like any tyranny, the fun part is that who gets prosecuted is highly selective.
Wade is clear that he doesn't regard race as a reason to engage in oppression of another, which is I think closer to what most people think of as racism.
That's the "convicted" part, above. But nobody ever charges under that definition; it would exclude 99.9% of all charges that get thrown about.
He's channeling online dorkspeak where someone writes "Citation Needed" taunts in every thread without getting punched
Ignorance is Intellect, Freedom is Slavery, etc.
Best way to argue against race-realism is to know nothing about race, refuse to learn anything about race, deny the existence of race, and tire race-realists out with your ignorance until they go away.
That doesn't speak well for the anti-race-realist position.
but the slave traders, the white ones, just showed up and bought slaves from the locals, who were black.
My take is that it was nothing any different than had always been done, the European presence just kicked it into overdrive and made it a "boom" industry.
The difference was the Europeans had descendants with consciences and deep pockets.
Racism, as an accusation is simply the way that blacks get stuff from whites.
Additionally it gives the Caplans of the world their 5%
Bingo.
And by "the Caplans of the world," he means "Scots-Irish." And by "Scots Irish," I mean Jews.
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