What this Blog is about

The main topic of this blog will be the study of mankind from a biological and cultural evolutionary perspective. That is, my interest is in learning how biology and culture inter-act during the lifetime of individuals, and aggregates of individuals (populations, races, nations, etc.) to create the story of mankind.

Many times, we hear that "genes determine X", or "X is entirely dependent on culture". Others, realize how this is an oversimplifying distortion of reality, and amend it by proposing that "X is c% genetic and (100-c)% cultural". But, all this misses the point really. What we do, both as individuals and as groups, is the result of the inter-play of biology on culture and vice versa during the lifetime of the individual.

Here is an example: it is often claimed that IQ is e.g., 60% genetic, and 40% cultural. But, if that were so, then an individual born in the jungle would still be quite smart, by the IQ measure (if he has good genes). But in reality, such a person, isolated from society would probably be completely devoid of intelligence. Conversely, the best culture and education cannot make any difference in the intellectual development of someone whose biological hardware, so to speak, has an inherent deficiency.

Thus, the situation of IQ, and other observable measures of human behavior cannot be analyzed into fractions of factors that easily. It is only in ontogenesis that we will see how individuals and groups are what they are. It is only in praxis that we will see how they do what they do.

This blog will hopefully be a collection of useful information on the subject outlined above. It aims to find the middle ground between extremes: the notion that differences between human beings and human groups are entirely accidental, or cultural, or genetic, or the simple superposition of factors. By understanding the human process, and the group process, as it is will we be able to overcome the epistemological quagmire that different sets of a priori beliefs have led anthropology into.

Posted by Dienekes at February 21, 2003 09:45 PM | PermaLink