Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Asian Americans: Math Genes or Better Students?

05-26-2005, 01:32 PM

Tallness is a direct function of body development, that's what genes do. Baldness likewise. Yes there are some genetic defects such as Downs' Syndrome that effect mental development. But races are hugely diverse populations - some chinese people are taller than some black people, some white people can jump etc

My point is that the link between race and genetics isn't even closely defined yet. Yes, you can trace your maternal line down your mitochondrial line genetically, and yes you might be able to make some geographical analysis of where a particular gene in your body is most likely to originate, but the fact remains that races are populations of individuals, and are vastly diverse within those populations.

There may be a gene (or more likely a multitude of genes coupled with environmental factors) that makes you smart, but it wont be racially exclusive.

The thing is, you can look at a particular aspect of mathematics in so many ways, that one mode of thinking that might be gene related (and that's still a big if) is no better than another, entirely different one. What I mean to say is that even if the brain works differently for different races, then you still can't make the judgement that one is better than the other, but you can suggest different ways of teaching the same things.

Then there's the link between autism and mathematics - whether autism is genetic or not I don't know, but it is commonly seen as an inability to cope with or appropriately categorise large amounts of information. The reason mathematics is supposed to express itself with these people is that they find comfort within its safe, predictable logical structures. Does that mean that math is being expressed by <i>less</i> or more capable brains? And are there more autistic people of one race or another? If there are is this likely to be genetic, or environmental? And you come back round to the original point that races are populations of individuals with a wide range of genotypes, and an exponentially larger range of phenotypes - this is why it doesn't make sense to make racial projections.

05-26-2005, 01:32 PM	#12 (permalink)
zen_tom Guest	Tallness is a direct function of body development, that's what genes do. Baldness likewise. Yes there are some genetic defects such as Downs' Syndrome that effect mental development. But races are hugely diverse populations - some chinese people are taller than some black people, some white people can jump etc My point is that the link between race and genetics isn't even closely defined yet. Yes, you can trace your maternal line down your mitochondrial line genetically, and yes you might be able to make some geographical analysis of where a particular gene in your body is most likely to originate, but the fact remains that races are populations of individuals, and are vastly diverse within those populations. There may be a gene (or more likely a multitude of genes coupled with environmental factors) that makes you smart, but it wont be racially exclusive. The thing is, you can look at a particular aspect of mathematics in so many ways, that one mode of thinking that might be gene related (and that's still a big if) is no better than another, entirely different one. What I mean to say is that even if the brain works differently for different races, then you still can't make the judgement that one is better than the other, but you can suggest different ways of teaching the same things. Then there's the link between autism and mathematics - whether autism is genetic or not I don't know, but it is commonly seen as an inability to cope with or appropriately categorise large amounts of information. The reason mathematics is supposed to express itself with these people is that they find comfort within its safe, predictable logical structures. Does that mean that math is being expressed by <i>less</i> or more capable brains? And are there more autistic people of one race or another? If there are is this likely to be genetic, or environmental? And you come back round to the original point that races are populations of individuals with a wide range of genotypes, and an exponentially larger range of phenotypes - this is why it doesn't make sense to make racial projections. Last edited by zen_tom; 05-26-2005 at 01:35 PM..