In light of recent decisions on the local level calling for IDiot ideology to be taught with an equal amount of vigor as evolutionary biology, Colin Purrington has uploaded a PDF file of 15 disclaimer stickers that can be posted onto schoolbooks. Check it out!
Posted by Arcane at 09:53 PM
New article in EPAA. It has flaws, but (surprise, surprise):
(a) it adds to the evidence that the achievement gap is not going to go away without massive government intrusion (take a gander at the article’s last paragraph)…and even then, the magnitude of the gap’s closure is debatable (of course, there are other options); and
(b) it gives some evidence that perhaps (math) pedagogy should be race based…
The practices that reduce the gap seem to be somewhat different for African American and Latino students. . . some practices that are beneficial to all students, irrespective of race. Time on task is important. . Conducting routine exercises also proved helpful across the board . . . The practices particularly beneficial to African Americans and Latinos differed somewhat from those beneficial across the board and between the two ethnic groups. . . for black students the most beneficial practice is the emphasis on topics of measurement and estimation. On the other hand, testing has a disproportionately negative impact on black students. . . For Latino students, the most beneficial practice is the emphasis on data analysis. There are no practices analyzed here that proved specifically detrimental to Latino students.*
I doubt that many in Education will rush to accept the fact that there are race-based neuroanatomical and/or neurophysiological differences (why else would different methods of teaching [presumably] have differential outcomes?…and in the 4th grade, nonetheless?), but on the other hand, like medicine, it will be hardly ethical to know something works for a given sub-population and withhold it on a political basis. Of course, this whole field will need multiple replicative (and, hopefully, experimental) studies, but with the brouhaha NCLB is causing (just Google “No Child Left Behind” and you will get a taste), it is plausible this type of research will get underway.
* I am still pondering why emphasizing measurement & estimation or data analysis would be particularly beneficial for a specific race.
Posted by A. Beaujean at 07:42 PM
Modern Humans Did Not Admix with Neanderthals during Their Range Expansion into Europe. The authors seem to be using a demic diffusion model and suggest that the likelihood of Neanderthal mtDNA linages being eliminated through genetic drift alone is rather low.1 Even assuming a low rate of admixture, a population expansion out of the Southwest Asia of “modern humans” into a Europe dominated by Neanderthals would still result in the persistence of a substantial portion of the latter’s genome. Remember that the range expansion of modern culture might be carried out by individuals who were progressively more admixed with Neanderthal stock (assuming interfertility). This sort of process was highlighted by Cavalli-Sforza when he rejected Bryan Sykes’ claim that Neolithic demic diffusion did not occur in Europe after the rise of agriculture in the Middle East because the NRY and mtDNA sources seem to be pointing to figures of about ~25% for “non-Paleolithic” ancestry in modern Europeans. Cavalli-Sforza replied that of course there would be a diminishment of Middle Eastern ancestry as the population expanded into Europe, but that did not imply that change was purely cultural, rather, the character of the demes changed (they became more “native” because of admixture each generation).
In any case, the conclusions in the article above shouldn’t be that surprising, Out-of-Africa always seemed to be on strongest ground in the European case. Not only do the geneticists tend to favor Out-of-Africa (replacement), skull & bones paleontologists like Chris Stringer based the model in particular using the replacement of H. neanderthalis in Europe as a case study. Of course, this European case does not mean that I retract my contention that things are rather unsettled in paleoanthropology at the moment (the authors of the paper alluded to the possibility of mtDNA selective sweep, but only to dismiss it), we may find that rather than a unitary model we might have to simply live with regional explanations.
(via Dienekes)
1 – Retrieved Neanderthal and Paleolithic H. sapien mtDNA seems to point to the likelihood that no mtDNA from the former has persisted into modern populations.
Posted by razib at 12:04 PM
I’m about halfway through Albion’s Seed, and I stumbled upon an interesting historical tidbit. But first, an aside, in Our Kind of People: Inside America’s Black Upper Class by Lawrence Otis Graham he recounts a story about a very light-skinned black woman (phenotypically white) insulting his brother and future sister in law for perpetuating the “slave custom” of jumping over a broom during their wedding. Back to Albion’s Seed, David Hackett Fischer observes that the ancient pagan custom of jumping over the broom was brought to Virginia by cavalier settlers, a custom which was rooted in the traditions of the southwest of England. Fischer notes offhand that black slaves picked up this practice and attached special meaning to it, but I found it fascinating how many black Americans obviously do not know that their own customs are derived from the pre-Christian folkways of the Anglo-Saxons, and that that particular custom is likely perpetuated predominantly by black Amerians now in the United States!
Posted by razib at 06:41 PM
Well, McDonalds thinks you will
One thing I will criticize about our consumer culture (and believe me I normally have little problem with it) is that it takes someone like Heidi who would normally not come within 100 meters of fast food, and turns them into their spokesmodel.
I mean, wouldn’t Michael Moore be a more realistic spokeperson (and no, I will not post a picture of him, razib might ban me if I did)?
Update from Razib: A more interesting picture.
Posted by scottm at 05:37 PM
That’s the conclusion of this blogger who points out that the only real answer to constant lefty whining about tragedies in third world countries is to bring back western colonialism in those failed states. I agree, either we do that, or just shrug and ignore it. But if colonialism is our route we must make sure that it profits us.
TangoMan adds: of interest is Diplomad’s post where the “No Blood for Chocolate” protests directed at the French are examined and French diplomacy is praised.
Posted by scottm at 05:05 PM
“What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?”
The diagram below illustrates the general thesis of From Plato to Nato:
It seems many of the disputes among intellectuals today recapitulate tensions between the various strands of Western culture. In From Plato to Nato the classicist David Gress sketches out how liberal intellectuals, inspired by the Enlightenment, read Jerusalem and Teutoburg (the Germanic element) out of the Western tradition so that Athens could shine brightly as the font of Democracy and Liberty. And yet, after the exchange with Spengler, I am beginning to wonder if today the neoconservative intellectuals in alliance with the evangelical movement in the United States wish to wash away Athens & Teutoburg from the family tree of Western culture.
In any case, where do you stand? Personally, I have a bias for Athens (and Rome) over Tuetoberg and Tuetoberg over Jerusalem, but in the end, I have to admit that the three are so comingled that for me it becomes difficult to ascribe a particular quality to one that is exclusive of the others.
Posted by razib at 02:58 PM
The New York Times reports that a Wisconsin teenager is the first person to survive rabies without the aid of a vaccine. The doctors:
put the critically ill girl into a drug-induced coma and gave her antiviral drugs, although it is not clear which, if any, of the four medicines contributed to her surprising recovery. Posted by TangoMan at 02:52 PM
As some have guessed, Steve’s “mystery factor” is number of children for whites. Apropos that I post this on Thanksgiving when everyone is hanging out with their fam….
Update: The article.
Update II: Randall weighs in. Free Republic links.
Posted by razib at 02:46 PM