http://www.sellingwaves.com/2005/08/06/the-racist-gene/ A graduate student in mathematics and a modern languages major take on politics and culture with the following aspirational motto: ‘Deregulate your mind.’ Tue, 06 Jan 2009 04:36:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 http://www.sellingwaves.com/2005/08/06/the-racist-gene/#comment-66485 DS Thu, 20 Dec 2007 20:57:18 +0000 http://www.sellingwaves.com/2005/08/06/the-racist-gene/#comment-66485 <p>I suppose the now-countless examples of "miscegenation", both socially accepted an not, throughout human history are all merely glitches in the binary? Stop using science to justify acting like animals. Despite being a highly dubious notion, even if there is such a "racist/ethnic" tribalist gene, it is certainly is only one of many contradictory ones flowing within our coding - WE STILL HAVE THE WILL TO CHOOSE. I'm sure there might be a gene somewhere telling me to konk a woman over the head and drag her back to my cave and rape her, but I've squashed it out quite thoroughly if that's the case. Have you?</p> I suppose the now-countless examples of “miscegenation”, both socially accepted an not, throughout human history are all merely glitches in the binary? Stop using science to justify acting like animals. Despite being a highly dubious notion, even if there is such a “racist/ethnic” tribalist gene, it is certainly is only one of many contradictory ones flowing within our coding - WE STILL HAVE THE WILL TO CHOOSE. I’m sure there might be a gene somewhere telling me to konk a woman over the head and drag her back to my cave and rape her, but I’ve squashed it out quite thoroughly if that’s the case. Have you?

]]> http://www.sellingwaves.com/2005/08/06/the-racist-gene/#comment-16253 selling waves » Blog Archive » Sun, 13 Aug 2006 03:23:19 +0000 http://www.sellingwaves.com/2005/08/06/the-racist-gene/#comment-16253 <p>[...] Almost exactly a year ago I speculated about how ethnocentrism, racism and various other kinds of local identifications in human society might be justified biologically.  Here is what I wrote then, which I mostly still agree with.  In the context of reading The Selfish Gene I would like to add one other point.  The mathematical determination of degree of genetic relatedness between individuals in a group, as described by Dawkins and presumably as enumerated by W.D. Hamilton, shows by implication the minimum number of relatives necessary to sacrifice oneself for in a genetically sustainable way.  For example, since siblings and children share half their genes with a given individual, in order for altruism towards them to be good for the continued survival of one’s genes the altruistic act has to have a benefit for at least two of them that equals or exceeds the loss incurred by the individual. [...]</p> […] Almost exactly a year ago I speculated about how ethnocentrism, racism and various other kinds of local identifications in human society might be justified biologically.  Here is what I wrote then, which I mostly still agree with.  In the context of reading The Selfish Gene I would like to add one other point.  The mathematical determination of degree of genetic relatedness between individuals in a group, as described by Dawkins and presumably as enumerated by W.D. Hamilton, shows by implication the minimum number of relatives necessary to sacrifice oneself for in a genetically sustainable way.  For example, since siblings and children share half their genes with a given individual, in order for altruism towards them to be good for the continued survival of one’s genes the altruistic act has to have a benefit for at least two of them that equals or exceeds the loss incurred by the individual. […]

]]> http://www.sellingwaves.com/2005/08/06/the-racist-gene/#comment-899 selling waves » Blog Archive » Free-market morals Mon, 15 Aug 2005 20:55:10 +0000 http://www.sellingwaves.com/2005/08/06/the-racist-gene/#comment-899 <p>[...] strange parallel between this conclusion and the mechanism of genetic kin selection that I discussed earlier, and decide that it is then merely a rationalization of the operation o [...]</p> […] strange parallel between this conclusion and the mechanism of genetic kin selection that I discussed earlier, and decide that it is then merely a rationalization of the operation o […]

]]>