[ExI] Race is arbitrary {Terry}

Lee Corbin lcorbin at rawbw.com
Fri Mar 21 11:11:14 UTC 2008


Terry writes

> Race is arbitrary, relative and temporary used  by society and 
> individuals for convenience in communication, research and political 
> reasons.

Just asking:  would you say that since the atmosphere is turbulent
anyway, that the meaning of "storm" is just temporary and is used
by society and individuals for mere convenience in communication
and research, and has no objective reality?  After all, "it" --- if we
want to reify --- is just one "end" or edge of a multidimensional
reality (if you believe that it's a good idea to talk about "reality").

> We do not see thoughts of race or abstract ideas as movements of the 
> mind/brain. MRI showed brains are impacted by emotions or what is going 
> in the structure of the brain during periods of stress. One who clings 
> to the idea of race superiority or whatever  feels stressful when  he/she
> is challenged.

What do you mean, exactly, by "race superiority"?  If you mean
"excel at certain activities", then it's their adversaries who feel
stressful when presented with the facts. Face it, it's going to be
a long time before many Chinese, despite their numerosity, can
run as fast as Kenyans. And Eskimos?  They're just not built for it,
sorry.

There is also a fact that East Asians have larger brains, *especially*
relative to their body size than do Africans, just as the early 20th
century scientists had calculated, before Stephen Gould and a lot
of politically correct types muddied the waters and successfully
hit the truth ("for fear of social consequences", I surmise). You
can't hide from truths like these forever.

On the other hand, if you mean that some race is as superior to
another as, say, chimpanzees are superior to the little animals
they hunt, then I agree with you that no human race is superior
to another.

Lee




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