Just getting back to things, further to “SciAm unfondly recalls the Kleagle,” a reader pointed out that our second favourite neutral theorist (or whatever) PZ Myers has wade-ed into the comments to this post by Jennifer Raff, on Nicholas Wade’s new book attempting to rehabilitate Darwinian racism, A Troublesome Inheritance:
However, according to former New York Times science writer Nicholas Wade, we should never have stopped thinking of race as a biological taxonomic category. In his new book, “A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History”, Wade takes it upon himself to educate scientists about the errors of our interpretations of human genetic diversity.
Wade claims that the latest genomic findings actually support dividing humans into discrete races, and that the genetic makeup of different races contributes to behavioral and economic disparities. In a spectacular failure of logic, he asserts that those who disagree that races are meaningful biological categories in humans must ALSO think that human populations do not differ genetically, or have not been affected by evolution.
Here.
We wondered what he thought. He calls it a “li’l book of racism,” noting “Although the scientists are all laughing at him, at least he’ll have the praise of David Duke and John Derbyshire as consolation.” Actually, it’s not clear that all scientists are laughing at him.
Our reader claims to have lost the plot.
Here’s a hint: Today, oppressive ideas get marketed safely under a PC label.
Here’s an example: If a guy comes along and says Hi, I’m the Kleagle, and I think that Catholics are dogs and Jews are pigs and slavery should be legal. Well, there’d be an uproar right enough and he might end up in the klink.
But suppose an Islamist leader comes along and says the exact same thing, you can’t touch him, because, see, it’s his religion and culture, and everyone bends over backwards to accommodate it.
But don’t believe me. Bill Maher has pointed this out to Ariana Huffington and others that liberals “do not stand up for liberalisms” in such cases:
We don’t claim to have sorted out the puzzle yet but these pieces certainly do fit together. – O’Leary for News
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