They came not to bring peace but a sword
Recently there was a debate on Twitter about whether the legacy of the Indo-Aryans, one of the most impactful descendants of the Sintastha culture, was positive, significant and worthy of admiration. More generally, what have the descendants of the Yamnaya culture of the Pontic steppe done for us? This is a complicated question. I think … Continue reading They came not to bring peace but a sword
Eurocentrism, the West, and white supremacy
Listen now (85 min) | The rise of the West (and its fall?)
How Christian Militarism slowed the spread of Christianity
In 1250 AD Mindauguas, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, accepted Christianity. This was to be a “Clovis moment” for the Lithuanian tribes, but history took a different path. Mindaugas’ nobles […]
Nikolai Yakovenko: a Twitter engineer on machine learning and his former company’s prospects
When Jack Dorsey stepped down as Twitter CEO last year, I wondered what we could expect from the new leader, Parag Agrawal. Luckily, I knew Nikolai Yakovenko, who worked at Twitter on deep neural networks in the mid-teens. Yakovenko told me Agrawal was…
Will Twitter fail whale come back before December 1st?
I set up a market on Manifold. Thoughts?
The Todas are more like IVC people than anyone else
I noticed something interesting a few weeks ago in the supplements of the Genomes Asian 1000K paper. Look at where the Toda are on the PCA. Now look at the Indus Valley samples I have…. I don’t have access to the Toda samples. But there’s a lot of evidence that this is a very unique … Continue reading The Todas are more like IVC people than anyone else
Razib Khan: Anatolia over 10,000 years
On this episode of the Unsupervised Learning podcast, Razib discusses the history and genetics of Anatolia, from the first farmers to the Ottoman conquest of the peninsula. He focuses on the underappreciated reality that prehistoric Anatolia was the fo…
The varieties of Brahmins (and others)
Sometimes people pass me data. Turns out Rajasthani Brahmins are quite different from UP Brahmins (more northwest-shifted). In this, they are like Pandits. In contrast, Bihar Babhans are just like UP Brahmins, who don’t seem to have much structure. Gujarati Brahmins are between South Indian Brahmins and North Indian Brahmins, and closer to the latter, … Continue reading The varieties of Brahmins (and others)
Garett Jones: The Culture Transplant – How Migrants Make the Economies They Move To a Lot Like the Ones They Left
Listen now (60 min) | Culture and institutions in economic development
Tenure and the intellectual monoculture
How Tenure Fosters Conformity: This is a tough one to answer technically. We have nothing to compare directly with the academia we have today, no alternative system of higher education. […]
Open Thread – 11/15/2022 – Brown Pundits
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Adivasis are just like everyone else…sort of…but not
My previous post on Adivasis was not totally clear. So I’m going to try in shorter fragments and outline things so I’m more clear. I am not 100% correct with the model below (we’ll know more later), but this is my best current conception. 10,000 BC, end of the Ice Age, NW quadrant of the … Continue reading Adivasis are just like everyone else…sort of…but not
Adivasis are not really more indigenous than most other Indians; they are marginalized
Periodically I get questions about whether the Adivasi are the “indigenous” people of the Indian subcontinent. The short answer is that they are not distinctive or more indigenous than most of their non-Adivasi neighbors. The President of India is from a Munda-speaking community, and these populations are arguably more culturally intrusive than Indo-Aryan or Dravidian-speaking … Continue reading Adivasis are not really more indigenous than most other Indians; they are marginalized
Hinduism will die, and Hinduism will live
Sometimes in these comments or on social media, I see Hindus bemoan the passivity and weakness of their religion in the face of faiths with greater vigor and asabiyyah. This is such a common occurrence that I don’t often comment on it. But I have to say ironically that these sorts of comments exhibit a … Continue reading Hinduism will die, and Hinduism will live
RKUL: Time Well Spent 11/11/2022
Fall back edition
Cody Moser: universal baby talk
Listen now (63 min) | Why do babies and adults talk to each other in the same way across all cultures?
Cody Moser: universal baby talk
Listen now (63 min) | Why do babies and adults talk to each other in the same way across all cultures?
What is Islamophobia?
One of the problems with “traditional” familial and cultural systems is the level of depravity they can mask. This is not a “slam dunk” argument against them, but it is a real thing. The suppression of the evidence of clear sexual abuse in a certain community in the UK in the service of preventing negative … Continue reading What is Islamophobia?
Bangladesh and West Bengal genetics
I got a few more samples with provenance. The Bengali Brahmins are shifte the way you would expect. The Bangladesh Kayastha (someone from a Hindu background) is in the cluster with generic Bangladeshis from Dhaka. The West Bengali Kayastha is far less East Asian. My current model right now is that the Kayasthas are basically … Continue reading Bangladesh and West Bengal genetics
Usha Vance “hit piece”
The New York Times has a quasi-hit piece out on Usha Vance, From Yale to Newsmax, Usha Vance Has Helped J.D. Vance Chart His Path – The Ohio Senate candidate’s wife, an accomplished lawyer, remains ensconced in the milieu he now rails against. I say quasi because there’s nothing bad they could really find except … Continue reading Usha Vance “hit piece”