A clip of Neil DeGrasse Tyson has been lighting up my social feeds. It’s made Upworthy.Tyson ends by stating “Before we start talking about genetic differences [between race and gender], you gotta come up with a system where there is equal opportunity, then we can have that conversation.”
The major question that immediately comes to mind with these sorts of assertions, which are quite ubiquitous, is how one determines the extent of equal opportunity if one does not have a model for the outcomes of equal opportunity. The reality is that those making such claims have a model of the outcomes, unstated because it is shared by so many.
Proportionate representation, because they assume that in fact that there are no innate dispositional differences between groups. The Left liberal version of Homo economicus. Once this model is in place then lack of proportionate representation can be taken as ipso facto evidence of lack of equal opportunity. With this model in hand innate dispositional differences would give the same outcomes, but could be taken as evidence of lack of equal opportunity. So ultimately the “lack of interest” in these issues dovetails nicely with priors. If it turned out there were differences between the groups that the model would start to get messier.
Read the full, original story here: The End of History Will Never Arrive
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Additional Resources:
- Gene studies suggest ‘races’ may exist but sociologists push back, fearing stereotypes, Genetic Literacy Project
- Will genetic sequencing lead to a new racism?, Agence France-Presse
- Racism may cause African-American men to age faster, CBS News
