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Re: BELL CURVE
Michael Andrew Turton (turtom@rebecca.its.rpi.edu)
29 Jan 1995 22:19:27 GMT
In article <1995Jan29.211345.1041@adobe.com>,
William Tyler <wtyler@mv.us.adobe.com> wrote:
>In article <3ge9p5$kv9@no-names.nerdc.ufl.edu>
djohns@grove.ufl.edu (David A. Johns) writes:
>>In article <1995Jan28.190123.28449@adobe.com>
wtyler@mv.us.adobe.com (William Tyler) writes:
>>
>># Now try answering the question. I'll repeat it. What do you call
>># the property or group of properties that allow you to, more often
>># than not, correctly distinguish between a Nigerian and a Swede?
>>
>>There are obviously genetic traits that have limited geographic
>>distribution. We know that there are some common in Sweden that don't
>>extend to Nigeria and some common in Nigeria that don't extend to
>>Sweden.
>>
>>But this fact does not validate the concept of races, unless you're
>>willing to accept 5 billion of them.
>
>More accurately, this fact doesn't validate whatever YOUR concept of
>race is.
>
>I'm still waiting for an answer to the question, however.
>
>Bill
>
>--
>Bill Tyler wtyler@adobe.com Adobe is not responsible for my opinions.
I'll give you an answer -- the only thing that allows me to
distinguish between a Swede and a Nigerian "more often than not"
is whether they are carrying a passport. "Swede" and "Nigerian"
are not racial designations -- Nigerian is not even an ethnic
designation.
Your point is meaningless because the world is not a room
with two people in it, one person telling me what to find in it, and
only one set of preconceptions viewing it. Even if I was able to parse
a "Swede" and a "Nigerian" it would mean only that you were able to
find a citizen of Sweden and a citizen of Nigeria who corresponded
to some preconception of "swede" and "nigerian" (perhaps "white" and "black")
which we both shared....it would tell me nothing about "race." For example,
it would be child's play to find a citizen of Sweden who looked "black"
to you, find a citizen of Nigeria who looked "white" and watch your
preconceptions simply fall apart, or get a citizen of Sweden who looked like
some of the peoples of northern Nigeria and then watch you be unable to
chose between them. Your example makes the same error that the Congressman
from Maryland (?) was making when he claimed that his state's universities
were filled with people with names that weren't "American" like Chong and
Hu and Kim..........
Mike Turton
turtom@rpi.edu
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