How can you believe in evolution but no social darwinism

[Left]

Power and reproductive success are strongly positively correlated

Which explains why wealthy families have lower birthrates.

 

[sanabas]

How can you believe in gravity but still willingly be a passenger on a plane?

 

[Souron]

Evolution is a theory about the working of the natural world. Social Darwinism is an idea about the moral worth of individuals and their entitlement to resources. The two are quite separate.

Evolution is true, but that does not mean that we should perpetuate the mechanism of evolution in human society if we have a choice in the matter.

 

[GhostWriter16]

It's mostly because of political correctness. Nobody in their right mind wants to be shunned as a bigot. Of course different races are going to have different strengths/weaknesses. Different doesn't necessarily mean deficient overall though. One race may have some evolutionary advantage at sports like being able to grow taller and jump higher. Another might have more of an inclination towards math and science.

Well, I would not consider that racist, as long as you believe they are equal overall. However, you pretty much have to hold to a difference if you believe in Evolution, the odds of all races being exactly the same, or even exactly equal, by chance, are very low.

 

[Souron]

In your opinion. I don't agree with that statement.

What is and isn't science isn't up to the individual, but a matter of scientific consensus. And scientists have come to a consensus that evolution is a valid theory, in essence that it is true.

 

[Murky]

Well, I would not consider that racist, as long as you believe they are equal overall. However, you pretty much have to hold to a difference if you believe in Evolution, the odds of all races being exactly the same, or even exactly equal, by chance, are very low.

If they were not roughly equivalent, one would probably have gone extinct leaving the others to inherit the earth. That's probably what happened to Neanderthals.

 

[GhostWriter16]

I said exactly equivalent, not roughly equivalent. Though the race issue to me is yet another reason to just reject evolution outright.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

How can you believe in relativity (you use GPS, right?) but not be a moral relativist?

 

[GhostWriter16]

How can you believe in relativity but not be a moral relativist?

I don't believe in relativity...

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

So you don't ever plan on using satellite-based technologies?

 

[Murky]

I said exactly equivalent, not roughly equivalent.

So long as their best is closely equivalent to the others best and their worst isn't too far behind the others in general, they can coexist peacefully and benefit from the best traits of all the different races. When they mix, evolution takes advantage of the best genetic traits and so you may end up with a new race that is in someway better than those that came before.

Though the race issue to me is yet another reason to just reject evolution outright.

You reject facts because they make you uncomfortable?

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Does Newton's third law advocate retributive justice?

 

[Traitorfish]

Though the race issue to me is yet another reason to just reject evolution outright.

Even though contemporary evolutionary biology has thoroughly dismissed scientific racism in all its forms as a demonstrable nonsense?

 

[Dachs]

History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce. Karl Marx

Oooh, we're talking about Louis Napoleon? Where?

 

[Orange Seeds]

SS-18 ICBM wins the thread.

 

[Verbose]

It's mostly because of political correctness. Nobody in their right mind wants to be shunned as a bigot. Of course different races are going to have different strengths/weaknesses. Different doesn't necessarily mean deficient overall though. One race may have some evolutionary advantage at sports like being able to grow taller and jump higher. Another might have more of an inclination towards math and science.

OK, so to you "race" is "that which explains". Now, how do you define this apparently quite powerful thing?

 

[Tacitusitis]

Of course different races are going to have different strengths/weaknesses. Different doesn't necessarily mean deficient overall though. One race may have some evolutionary advantage at sports like being able to grow taller and jump higher. Another might have more of an inclination towards math and science.

Stop putting words in Science's mouth.

Science does not reify your prejudices

 

[Tacitusitis]

I don't believe in relativity...

 

[Bill3000]

In your opinion. I don't agree with that statement.

This is a thread running on the assumption that evolution is science, and whether or not these scientific facts have merit on moral theories. If you cannot make that assumption, or pretend so for the purpose of this thread, then please leave that thread.

 

[duckstab]

Even though contemporary evolutionary biology has thoroughly dismissed scientific racism in all its forms as a demonstrable nonsense?

One point that bears repeating often is that for almost any trait you care to measure, individual variability within a race is usually far greater than any variability among races. There are more than enough black mathematicians and Asian basketball players to put to bed any stereotypes to the contrary.