Geneticists Decry Book On Race and Evolution

sciencehabit writes "A best-seller by former New York Times science writer Nicholas Wade about recent human evolution and its potential effects on human cultures has drawn critical reviews since its spring publication. Now, nearly 140 senior human population geneticists around the world, many of whose work was cited in the book, have signed a letter to The New York Times Book Review stating that Wade has misinterpreted their work. The letter criticizes "Wade's misappropriation of research from our field to support arguments about differences among human societies."

Comments

Re:This is why I'm leaving academia.

[The Evil Atheist]

The correct response, if you care enough, is to follow up by pointing out where their interpretation falls short. The incorrect response is to write some whiny letter crying about how seemingly racist conclusions were drawn from your publications and it deeply offends you.

Who the fuck are you to say which response is correct?

People have a right to be offended if their work is misused, even if that work is scientific. When people put their hard work into something, it is completely reasonable to be offended to have others come along and completely misrepresent your work without evidence.

The only hyper PC bullshit going on is the extremely PC response about PC going hyper. THAT is the new political correctness. It is now the politically correct thing to say PC has gone mad every time a "PC" issue comes up. It is to pre-emptively and emotively label the otherside as "SO PC" in order to cast FUD on them before their full arguments are heard.