Jonathan Anomaly: To Make a Better World
On this week’s episode of Unsupervised Learning, Razib talks to Jonathan Anomaly, author of Creating Future People: The Ethics of Genetic Enhancement. Anomaly is currently the director of the Philosophy, Politics and Economics program at La Universidad…
Genetic history with Chinese characteristics
How two Bronze-Age tribes became the world’s 1.3 billion Han (without even changing much genetically)
Down with eggs?
I don’t have a big personal issue with vegetarians, though I really enjoy ribeye and you’ll take shrimp from my dead hands. My daughter has been a vegetarian since she was five due to ethical concerns about animal cruelty. But every now and then I hear that BJP-aligned governments or officials are removing eggs from … Continue reading Down with eggs?
Madagascar: where Asia and Africa met
Listen now (46 min) | The peopling of the land of lemurs
Bryan Caplan: Open minds and Open borders
On this episode of Unsupervised Learning, Razib talks to Bryan Caplan about Caplan’s new book, Don’t Be a Feminist: Essays on Genuine Justice. Despite what the narrow purview the title might suggest, Don’t Be a Feminist is a wide-ranging book that con…
Division
One of the things that has saddened and frustrated me on this weblog over the last 12 years has been the tendency of brown people, Indian subcontinentals, South Asians, etc. to engage in differentiation. As a geneticist, I am aware of differences, and I accept and admit it candidly to an extent that is rare … Continue reading Division
John Hawks: A Year in Paleoanthropology
On this episode of Unsupervised Learning Razib reviews the year in paleoanthropology and previews the year to come with John Hawks. First, they tackle the latest discoveries regarding Homo naledi, in particular, the finding that they likely used fires …
Jonathan Anomaly: To Make a Better World
Listen now (63 min) | A philosopher makes the case for improving humans with biotechnology
Bryan Caplan: open minds and open borders
Listen now (87 min) | How to think like a nerd, but earnestly
Open Thread, 1/6/2022, Brown Pundits
Happy New Year!
Genetics of Maharashtra Deshastha Brahmin
A Maharashtra Deshastha Brahmin sent me his sample. He plots with the Maharashtra Kayastha. He’s much more like a South Indian Brahmin than a North Indian Brahmin. The Maharashtra Saraswat Brahmin seems more north shifted.
Shadi Hamid: Democracy in America and Araby
What is a democracy? Is American democracy in danger? And should we care about the possibilities for democracy in the Middle East? On this episode of Unsupervised Learning Razib talks to Shadi Hamid, a senior fellow at Brookings, an assistant professor…
RKUL: Time Well Spent 01/01/2023
new-leaf edition and a one-day subscription discount
Your brain on books: themed readings lists for a 20-page-a-day habit in 2023
And a one-day 23% off discount on annual subscriptions
John Hawks: a year in paleoanthropology
Listen now (66 min) | John and Razib review the biggest findings of the year, and the year to come
South Asian nations
I dislike the “GDP wars” that sometimes crop up on this message board. Comparing India to Bangladesh or Pakistan is apples to oranges. India is economically a collection of nations, and the average can be misleading. That being said, a lot of the Indian commentators also seem to engage in a lot of cope when … Continue reading South Asian nations
Nikolai Yakovenko: GPT-3 and the rise of the thinking machines
As 2022 draws to a close, the chat AI based on GPT-3 (Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3) has been taking the internet by storm, with millions of users beginning to ask it questions. Is humanity on the way to birthing a true artificial general intell…
The Hui Muslims, two pulses of “western” ancestry 1,000 and 500 years ago, mostly male mediated
There are 20 million Hui people in China. These are traditionally Chinese-speaking Muslims. Though they are found in every region of China (and in the Chinese Diaspora), they are concentrated […]
Merry Christmas!
I got a sample from someone where one parent was a West Bengal Sagdop, and another parent a Baidya with family origins in East Bengal. One hypothesis that I’ve see is that Baidya are basically Brahmins who lost their caste. Genetically this does not seem to be the case. Bengali Brahmins shift considerably toward the … Continue reading Merry Christmas!
Posts of Substack past, posts of Substack present…
Merry Christmas, and some reading recommendations if you have downtime