Friday, June 15, 2007

Is Race a Valid Scientific Concept?

The existence of sub-species isn't particularly controversial for non-human animals (as we say on the West Coast). But for obvious reasons it's a tricky one when it comes to a certain East African ape. Unfortunately, ignoring ethnic differences in susceptibilities to disease and (quite possibly) reactions to medicines will kill people, especially people who don't belong to the dominant ethncities in lands of advanced medicine. The New Republic has made an interesting discussion on the subject available to non-subscribers here and here.

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