Race Differences, Genetic Similarity and Ethnic Nationalism

The human desire for sense of ethnic identity is part of human nature. It evolves out of the same set of altruistic genes that dive the need for a family, a family structure and social organisation. It evolved in order to replicate genes more effectively, which is what evolution is all about.

We often hear that ethnic identity and nationalism are not compatible with being modern, that it is some kind of mental abnormality or social pathology. Well in this article I am going to show how this is simply not the case, by taking a look at some of the evidence on the subject at hand.

Genetic Similarity

Genetic Similarity Theory is a theory, first thought of by Dr J Philippe Rushton, that states that altruism is heritable. The theory itself holds that people will be more altruistic to genetically similar people than to people more genetically distant from themselves. In Rushton’s early years in psychology, he began his research on altruism, having authored 2 books on the subject.

The evidence shows that we are genetically close to our friends, research shows that our close friends are as similar to us as 4th cousins. We also have altruistic behavior towards our friends, because of genetic similarity. It’s also important to note that, on average we are also the genetic equivalent of 12th cousins to people of the same ethnic group.

Researchers at the university of California studied the genomes of 825 heterosexual married couples, and found that spouses in those relationships shared more genetic similarities than random pairs from the same population. They also discovered that couples who share an increase in genetic similarity by at least one standard deviation – are 15% more likely to get married. This phenomenon is know as Assortative Mating, and it applies to not just our genes. But also to our behaviours and physical appearances, characteristics that are also highly heritable.

Back in the 1980s Dr Rushton also conducted similar studies on sexually interacting couples and best friends. These studies yielded similar results to the studies I previously mentioned. So Dr Rushton’s theory on genetic similarity has not only stood the test of time, its only gotten stronger over time as the evidence continues to mount up in favour of Dr Rushton’s theory.

Robert Putnam’s research on diversity, where he studied 41 different communities across America, which ranged from all-white rural South Dakota to the very diverse populations of LA. Putnam’s research revealed that greater amounts of ethnic diversity strongly correlated with decreased trust and less community cohesion. people were less likely to engage in volunteer work or give to charity, while they were more likely to stay at home and watch television. People also had fewer close friends in these highly diverse areas.

A similar study that looked at the effects of ethnic diversity in Germany, conducted at the University of Copenhagen, and Kim Mannemar Sønderskov from Aarhus University revealed similar results to the study conducted by Robert Putnam of Harvard.

The research showing that, in most cases people prefer to be around those that are genetically similar to themselves helps to explain why diversity erodes trust and community cohesion.

The data clearly shows that most people prefer to be amongst people like themselves. This is a completely healthy, normal mindset that shouldn’t be demonised. But unfortunately our establishment loves to slander and attack those of European decent, for simply expressing behaviours that are an important aspect of human behaviour.

Race differences

Race is more than skin deep, and there is a lot of evidence out there that can back up this statement. But first we must ask the question. What is race?

The word “race” is employed to refer to what in the animal world would be a subspecies: a breeding population separated from another of the same species long enough to be noticeably evolved to a different environment, but not long enough to be unable to have fertile offspring with the other group. In other words, a race is a breeding population that differs genetically from other such populations as a result of geographical isolation, cultural separation and endogamy, and which shows patterns of genotypic frequency for a number of inter-correlated characteristics compared with other breeding populations. The most obvious manifestations of these differences are observable differences in physics appearance and physical and mental characteristics which often correlate together. This categorisation works because it permits correct predictions to be made.

The existence of separate races, usually termed subspecies, is uncontroversial when discussing non-human animals. Thus, if Darwin’s theory of evolution is accepted, it should be likewise uncontroversial to assert that humans include distinct subspecies or races.

In this article I am manly going to focus on race differences in intelligence and personality.

Intelligence

Psychologists use IQ tests to measure what we call “intelligence” or “mental ability.” Brighter people score higher on IQ tests than most people. While less bright people score lower. IQ tests aren’t perfect, but they are useful and tell us a lot, because IQ is strongly correlated with life outcome.

IQ tests are designed to have an average of 100. The “normal” range goes from “dull” (IQ around 85) to “bright” (IQ around 115). IQs of 70 suggest handicap, while IQs of 130 and above predict genius. The average North East Asian IQ is about 106, the European IQ is about 100, and the Black IQ is about 85. This pattern is found around the world, with Blacks in Africa having a lower IQ than Blacks in America. We also know that the average South Asian/Middle Easterners IQ is around 80 and the Polynesian IQ is about 88..

The 1994 best seller The Bell Curve shows how IQ predicts success in education, jobs, and training. Low IQ predicts child abuse, crime and delinquency, overall health, accident proneness, having a child out of wedlock, getting a divorce, and even smoking during pregnancy. Groups with higher average IQs tend to have more gifted people. While Asians developed complex societies in Asia, and Europeans produced complex civilizations in Europe, Black Africans and Polynesians did not.

The Black-White difference in IQ appears as early as three years of age. If the races are matched for education and income, the gap only goes down by 4 IQ points. So, Black-White differences are not due only to social class. More recent studies like the one conducted at the University of California show that General Intelligence is around 80% heritable. Although this research focuses on Black-White differences it’s reasonable to consider this evidence when trying to better understand why different racial groups in New Zealand have different outcomes.

The Bell Curve also highlighted British psychologist Richard Lynn’s 20 year survey of the global pattern of IQ scores. He found Asians in the Pacific Rim to have IQs in the 101 to 111 range, Europeans in Europe to have IQs of 100 to 103, and Blacks in Africa to have IQs of around 70.
The average IQ of 70 for Blacks living in Africa is the lowest ever recorded.

The Raven’s Progressive Matrices measures reasoning, not culturally specific information. It’s also a test that is highly G loaded, which means it tests for General Intelligence, which is highly habitable. Using this test, Kenneth Owen found a Black African IQ of 70 for 13-year-olds in the South African school system. So did Fred Zindi, a Black Zimbabwean, in a study of 12-to 14-year-olds in his country. Interestingly, the Mixed-Race students in South Africa had an IQ of 85-the same as Blacks in the United States, Britain, and the Caribbean. Genetic tests (like those used in paternity tests) show that Mixed-Race Blacks have about 25% European ancestry. Their IQs fall half way between Blacks (70) and Europeans (100). While a study conducted by Dr Fergusson In New Zealand revealed That Maori had an average IQ of 94, genetic tests show that Maori have about 40% European ancestry, so their IQs fall half way between Polynesians (88) and Europeans (100).

The evidence also shows that the distribution of bright and dim individuals isn’t the same across different racal groups. This can be explained, in part by the fact that some racial groups are more genetically diverse than others. For example Europeans are more genetically diverse than Asians in the Pacific Rim. Consequently you are more likely to see more very low IQ Europeans and more very high IQ Europeans, when compared to Asians. Having a wider gene pool, by genetic chance increases the odds of exceptional outliers popping up within the population. This difference in genetic diversity arises because Asians and Europeans have been under different group selective pressures for thousands of years, having a smaller gene poll would have been advantageous in north east Asia, because it would have helped increase in-group cooperation due to genetic similarity, which was something that was strongly selected for in that region.

Personality

Studies find that Blacks are more aggressive and outgoing than Europeans, while Europeans are more aggressive and outgoing than Asians. Blacks also have more mental instability than Europeans. Black rates of drug and alcohol abuse are higher. Again, Asians are under-represented in most mental health statistics, with the only exception being that Asians are higher in social anxiety than both Europeans and Blacks.

A study carried out in French-speaking Quebec looked at 825 four- to six-year-olds from 66 countries. The immigrant children were rated by 50 teachers in preschool classes. The teachers found more adjustment and less hostility among Asian children than among European children, but they also saw more adjustment and less hostility among European children than among Black children.

Racial differences in personality are found using tests such as the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and Cattell’s Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire. Asians everywhere are less aggressive, dominant, and impulsive than Europeans while Europeans are less so than Blacks. Asians are also more cautious than either Europeans or Blacks.

It may be surprising to learn that Blacks have higher self esteem than do Europeans or Asians. This is true even when Blacks are poorer and less educated. In one large study of 11- to 16-year-olds, Blacks rated themselves as more attractive than did Europeans. Blacks also rated themselves higher in reading, science and social studies but not mathematics. The Blacks said this even though they knew they had lower actual academic achievement scores than Europeans children.

Are race differences heritable or environmental?

Heritability is the amount of variation in a trait due to the genes. A heritability of 1.00 means that the differences are entirely down to genes and the environment has no effect. A heritability of zero (0.00) means the differences in a trait are controlled by the environment and not at all by the genes. A heritability of 0.50 means that the differences come from both the genes and the environment.

If genes are important, identical twins should be twice as similar to each other as are fraternal twins or ordinary siblings, the evidence shows they are. Some identical twins are separated early in life and grow up apart. The famous Minnesota Twin Study by Thomas J. Bouchard and others compared many of these, here is what they found.

Even though they grew up in different homes, identical twins grow to be very similar to each other. They are similar both in physical traits (like height and fingerprints) and in behavioral traits (like IQ and personality). Identical twins who grow up in different homes share all their genes but do not share the effects of upbringing. Heredity accounted for 97% of the difference for fingerprints, and the environment only 3%. Social attitudes were 40% heredity, 60% environment. IQ was 70% heredity, 30% environment.

Cary Funk a senior researcher at the Pew Research Center conducted a similar study that looked at the heritability of personality traits and political beliefs. The study produced very similar results to the Minnesota Twin Study previously mentioned. While another study that was lead by Dr Panizzon MS found that General intelligence was around 86% heritable.

In 2016 an Italian anthropologists by the name of David Piffer was able to show that the correlation between a country’s average IQ and the percentage of the population who carry forms of particular genes which essentially predict high intelligence is 0.9, which is an exceptionally high correlation. It means that 81% of the variance in population differences in IQ is down to genetic differences. In effect, Piffer proves that race differences in intelligence are overwhelmingly a reflection of genetic differences.

So the scientific evidence strongly implies that intelligence and various personality traits are significantly heritable. The evidence shows that genetics do in-fact play an important role in race differences, and the different overall outcomes between different ethnic and racial groups.

Conclusion

In this article we have covered just a few examples of the differences that exist between the different races of the world. We have also demonstrated that race differences are strongly influenced by genetics although ones environment definitely plays a role to some extent. We have also gone over why it’s important for people to be amongst people like themselves, and explained why we are naturally drawn to those that are genetically similar our selfs. The evidence clearly disproves this ridiculous idea that ethnic nationalism is some backwards ill thought out ideology. On the contrary ethnic Nationalism is an ideology that is very compatible with human nature, and the nationalists world view is backed by a mountain of credible scientific evidence.

Sources

Heritability of personality. https://emilkirkegaard.dk/en/?p=6457

Genetics of intelligence. https://www.nature.com/articles/5201588

Robert Putnam on the Negative Effects of Diversity. https://socialdemocracy21stcentury.blogspot.com/2016/09/robert-putnam-on-negative-effects-of.html?m=1

Ethnic Diversity and Social Trust: A Narrative and Meta-Analytical Review. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335924797_Ethnic_Diversity_and_Social_Trust_A_Narrative_and_Meta-Analytical_Review

Genetic similarity theory. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF01065540

Edward Dutton, April 16, 2019, Race Differences in Ethnocentrism, Arktos Media Ltd.

Dr J. Philippe Rushton, July 1, 2000, Race, Evolution and Behavior: A Life History Perspective, Charles Darwin Research Institute.