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In reply to the discussion: I have a serious question. [View all]safeinOhio
(32,641 posts)7. The Concept of "Race" Is a Lie Even the Ancient Greeks knew it
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/the-concept-of-race-is-a-lie/
The science of genetics demonstrates that humans cannot be divided into biologically distinct subcategories; and it challenges the traditional concept of different races of humans as biologically separate and distinct. This is validated by many decades of research. In other words, race itself is a social construct, with no biological basis.
In 2014, more than 130 leading population geneticists condemned the idea that genetic differences account for the economic, political, social and behavioral diversity around the world. In fact, said a 2018 article in Scientific American, there is a broad scientific consensus that when it comes to genes there is just as much diversity within racial and ethnic groups as there is across them. And the Human Genome Project has confirmed that the genomes found around the globe are 99.9 percent identical in every person. Hence, the very idea of different races is nonsense.
A second problem, as cognitive scientist George Lakoff has shown, is that simply using the word race, even when criticizing racism, actually reinforces the false belief that human beings belong to fundamentally different groups. Thats because the more a word is used, the more that certain brain circuits are activated and the stronger that metaphor
The science of genetics demonstrates that humans cannot be divided into biologically distinct subcategories; and it challenges the traditional concept of different races of humans as biologically separate and distinct. This is validated by many decades of research. In other words, race itself is a social construct, with no biological basis.
In 2014, more than 130 leading population geneticists condemned the idea that genetic differences account for the economic, political, social and behavioral diversity around the world. In fact, said a 2018 article in Scientific American, there is a broad scientific consensus that when it comes to genes there is just as much diversity within racial and ethnic groups as there is across them. And the Human Genome Project has confirmed that the genomes found around the globe are 99.9 percent identical in every person. Hence, the very idea of different races is nonsense.
A second problem, as cognitive scientist George Lakoff has shown, is that simply using the word race, even when criticizing racism, actually reinforces the false belief that human beings belong to fundamentally different groups. Thats because the more a word is used, the more that certain brain circuits are activated and the stronger that metaphor
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