Kadu
09-24-2009, 03:41 PM
Some appetizers first...
Race is a more elusive concept than that of species.
A species may be divided into races if the differences between the populations so defined are of some significance, but the level of differences used as a threshold is entirely arbitrary. When differences are striking, the classification is easy; but even then the taxonomical work may be made difficult by the existence of gradual transitions between the groups so defined. In most cases, separate races will be defined only if the groups differ in several significant traits. However, in most cases, these traits vary independently of one another in the transitional populations between the races. Thus, boundaries between the races drawn on the basis of one trait will not coincide with boundaries drawn on the basis of another trait. These are precisely the problems faced by the taxonomist who attempts to classify the human species into races. It is not difficult to see why there is nearly complete continuity in the distribution of almost every single trait, as revealed by maps of their geographical distributions.
These reflections on the biology of race and the concept of equality suggest the following conclusions:
* Every single human being is biologically unique and differs in major characteristics even from close relatives.
* Geographical groups of humans, what biologists call races, tend to differ from each other in mean differences and sometimes even in specific single genes. But when it comes to the capacities that are required for the optimal functioning of our society, I am sure that the performance of any individual in any racial group can be matched by that of some individual in another racial group. This is what a population analysis reveals.
* In small groups of primitive human beings, just as in all groups created by social animals, there is a rank order, with certain individuals being dominant.
* In the large human societies that developed after the origin of agriculture and the rise of cities, new systems of ranking became established, of which the European feudal societies of the fourteenth to the eighteenth century were typical.
* Democracy, including the principle of civil equality, emerged during the Enlightenment and became fully established through the American Revolution and incorporated in the Constitution of the new American republic.
* When Thomas Jefferson proclaimed that " all men are created equal," he failed to distinguish between the civil equality of individual human beings and their biological uniqueness. Even though all of us are in principle equal before the law and ought to enjoy an equality of opportunity, we may be very different in our preferences and aptitudes. And if this is ignored, it may well lead to *********
* It is our obligation to overcome the seeming conflict between a strict upholding of civil equality and the vast biological and cultural differences among individual human beings and groups of individuals. The introduction of new educational measures and even legislation to overcome existing inequalities will be successful only if based on a full understanding of the underlying biological and cultural factors.
Sources:http://www.goodrumj.com/CavalliS.html
http://www.goodrumj.com/Mayr.html
Race is a more elusive concept than that of species.
A species may be divided into races if the differences between the populations so defined are of some significance, but the level of differences used as a threshold is entirely arbitrary. When differences are striking, the classification is easy; but even then the taxonomical work may be made difficult by the existence of gradual transitions between the groups so defined. In most cases, separate races will be defined only if the groups differ in several significant traits. However, in most cases, these traits vary independently of one another in the transitional populations between the races. Thus, boundaries between the races drawn on the basis of one trait will not coincide with boundaries drawn on the basis of another trait. These are precisely the problems faced by the taxonomist who attempts to classify the human species into races. It is not difficult to see why there is nearly complete continuity in the distribution of almost every single trait, as revealed by maps of their geographical distributions.
These reflections on the biology of race and the concept of equality suggest the following conclusions:
* Every single human being is biologically unique and differs in major characteristics even from close relatives.
* Geographical groups of humans, what biologists call races, tend to differ from each other in mean differences and sometimes even in specific single genes. But when it comes to the capacities that are required for the optimal functioning of our society, I am sure that the performance of any individual in any racial group can be matched by that of some individual in another racial group. This is what a population analysis reveals.
* In small groups of primitive human beings, just as in all groups created by social animals, there is a rank order, with certain individuals being dominant.
* In the large human societies that developed after the origin of agriculture and the rise of cities, new systems of ranking became established, of which the European feudal societies of the fourteenth to the eighteenth century were typical.
* Democracy, including the principle of civil equality, emerged during the Enlightenment and became fully established through the American Revolution and incorporated in the Constitution of the new American republic.
* When Thomas Jefferson proclaimed that " all men are created equal," he failed to distinguish between the civil equality of individual human beings and their biological uniqueness. Even though all of us are in principle equal before the law and ought to enjoy an equality of opportunity, we may be very different in our preferences and aptitudes. And if this is ignored, it may well lead to *********
* It is our obligation to overcome the seeming conflict between a strict upholding of civil equality and the vast biological and cultural differences among individual human beings and groups of individuals. The introduction of new educational measures and even legislation to overcome existing inequalities will be successful only if based on a full understanding of the underlying biological and cultural factors.
Sources:http://www.goodrumj.com/CavalliS.html
http://www.goodrumj.com/Mayr.html