Author Archives: harpend

Perils of Incorrect Thought

Posted on January 23, 2016 by harpend

A colleague pointed me to this essay by an academic who mentioned in a submitted paper that the possibility of biological differences among human groups ought to be considered.  His submission was firmly rejected in the face of “… expletives and … Continue reading →

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Greg is back home

Posted on September 4, 2015 by harpend

Ruth writes that Greg is home from the hospital. He is still quite uncomfortable I gather but progressing rapidly. He will soon be berating all of us again. Toddy Cat asked me for a post in Greg’s absence. I will … Continue reading →

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When Public Policy Meets Elementary Biology

Posted on May 26, 2015 by harpend

I have been thinking a lot about public policy, welfare, support of the indigent, and the growth of the underclass in industrial societies, mostly to prepare for this meeting. Public discussion and journalism routinely identify people as “right wing” or … Continue reading →

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Eugenics, Ready or Not

Posted on May 11, 2015 by harpend

There is an excellent essay about eugenics, genetic manipulation, and technology by Frank Salter here in the Australian webzine Quadrant and reprinted here. The essay is nearly free of the incessant hand wringing that pervades most journalism about the topic. … Continue reading →

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Charles Murray and Robert Putnam on class

Posted on March 20, 2015 by harpend

Charles Murray recently wrote Coming Apart about growing class differences in white Americans. Robert Putnam, a Harvard professor of government or something, has a new popular book, Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis. They apparently say much the same … Continue reading →

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Draft of paper about Amish

Posted on October 10, 2014 by harpend

Mike Weight and I have a draft of a manuscript about responses to personality tests by Amish and non-Amish young men from the same county in Indiana. We have mentioned this material before on the blog. The paper is getting … Continue reading →

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At Least Erroneous in Faith

Posted on August 9, 2014 by harpend

A large collection of prominent geneticists has published a group letter to the New York Times Book Review endorsing a negative review of Nicholas Wade’s “A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race, and Human History.” They speak of “Wade’s misappropriation of research … Continue reading →

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Simple Mobility Models II

Posted on March 29, 2014 by harpend

This is a sequel to the previous post exploring quantitative genetic models of income inequality motivated by the findings in Gregory Clark’s new book [1]. A simple quantitative genetic model must rely on the assumption of an underlying normal distribution … Continue reading →

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Simple Mobility Models

Posted on March 24, 2014 by harpend

Greg’s previous post reviewing Gregory Clark’s new book has generated some interesting discussion. Reviewers elsewhere and some of our customers have been surprised at the persistence of social class by surname and speculated that this implies genetic transmission of class. … Continue reading →

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“I regret studying social anthropology”

Posted on February 21, 2014 by harpend

The best part of running a blog is the quality of many of the people who show up.  A recent customer, “A.J. West”, has a blog of his own here that our readers will surely enjoy. Periodically on this blog Greg … Continue reading →

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