Hunting Down Social Darwinism Will This Canard Go Extinct

The Ethologists’ UnpaidDebtsto Spencerand Sumner 295

fromthe Greeks’ recognitionthattheirbeliefthattheirwayof life wassuperiorto thatof the Persians
mightbe basedon mereprejudice.Theydecidedit was not.” Evenif Nisbettis right,it remainstruethat it
was still Sumnerwhopopularizedthe conceptof “ethnocentrism” as a pejorativethroughoutacademiain
the twentiethcentury.

20. Sumner1940,13. “Folkways”—yet anothertermSumnercoined—refersto a society’s set of cus-
    toms,practices,beliefs,and traditions.


21. R. H. Gabriel1956,239,makesnoteof howFolkwaysadmonishessocialscientistsnot to allowtheir
    ownconceptsof moralsocialcustomto interferewiththeirunbiasedstudiesof the customsof foreign
    cultures.


22. I shouldmakeclearwhatI meanby “multiculturalism” whenI criticizeit. I live in Hawaii,where
    peoplepracticecustomsfrommanydifferentsocieties.The Westerninfluenceis verystrong,but people
    eat lot of EastAsianand Hawaiianfood,and manyislandresidentshaveadoptedthe Japanesepracticeof
    removingone’s footwearbeforeenteringa house.Somepeoplethinkof this as “multiculturalism.” I do
    not haveanyproblemwithpeopleadoptingothersocieties’ customswhentheyfindsuchcustoms
    congenialand harmless.I do not thinkof this as “multiculturalism,” though;I thinkof it as “cosmopoli-
    tanism.” Indeed,one can adoptmanyJapanesecustomswithoutassumingthe inherentevilnessof private
    propertyrightsin particularor Westerncivilizationin general.Whenacademicianson the continental
    UnitedStatespreach“multiculturalism,” theyare usuallytryingto disparageWesterncivilizationin
    general,and theyspecificallytakeissuewiththe followinginstitutionstheysee as predominantlyWest-
    ern:privateownership,individualism,the profitmotive,technologicalprogress,inductivereasoning,
    rationalself-interest,commerce,free enterprise,and big business.


23. D’Souza 2002 providesnumeroushistoricalexamplesof non-Westernculturesproclaimingthem-
    selvessuperiorto everyotherculture.


24. Sumner1940,459. M. Harris1985,241, talksof a similarphenomenonwhereinlow-incomemothers
    in somepartsof Indiaeat out and try not to havetheirchildrensee themeating.If theywereseeneating,
    theywouldbe askedto sharethe food.Thattheyhaveas muchas theycan to themselvesis actually
    importantfor the wholefamily,though,as it is necessaryfor the motherto eat as muchas she can in order
    for her to maintainenoughstrengthto engagein the gruelinglaborwithwhichshe supportsher family.


25. Sumner1940,27–31, 173–260.


26. Eldredgeand Tattersall1982,176–181.


27. SumnerindeedacknowledgesSpenceras an importantinfluenceuponhis scholarship.Sumner
    1940,8, citesHerbertSpencer’sPrinciplesof Sociology.


28. Eldredgeand Tattersall1982,33, 172.


29. Tudge2000,171, 180-81,224, 229.


30. Shermer2009,paperback,3, 12, 20–22.


31. Shermer2003b,http://tinyurl.com/2aok9f,accessedTuesday,May29, 2007.


32. See the entry“Sumner,WilliamGraham” in JohnScottand Marshalled. 2007.Thisis alsostatedin
    RobertC. Bannister’s introductionto Sumner1992,http://tinyurl.com/3dvc43,accessedTuesday,May29,


33. 
    


34. For anotherexampleof MichaelShermerusingthe W. G. Sumner-coinedwordin-group—and using
    it the sameanthropologicalwaythatW. G. Sumnerdid—see Shermer2009,paperback,13. For an exam-
    ple of MichaelShermersayingout-group—anotherW. G. Sumner-originatedterm—anddescribingthe
    tribal“us againstthem” mentalitypreviouslydescribedby W. G. Sumner,see Hudgins2007,32, http://
    http://www.objectivistcenter.org/ct-1852-M_Shermer.aspx,accessedSunday,July5, 2009.For an exampleof W.
    G. Sumnerusingit in 1906—perhapsfor the first timein print—see Sumner1940,12–13.


35. Shermer 2009 paperback,20–21.


36. “About:MeetMichaelShermer,”SkepticsSocietywebsite,2009,http://www.skeptic.com/about_us/
    meet_michael_shermer.html,accessedFriday,July3, 2009.


37. Theobservationaboutsunlight,rickets,andVitaminD playinga rolein the emergenceof light
    skin,blueeyes,and blondehairin humanbeingsis madein S. Olson2002,40-41.It can alsobe foundin
    JaredDiamond, 1993 paperback,115; R. Dunn2011,204; and M. Harris1985,145.


38. The theoriesrelatingto red hair are in M. Roach2005.


39. I emphaticallydisagreewiththe eugenicistargumentlaidout inThe Bell Curve.The Bell Curve
    proclaims:(1) IQ numberplaysthe biggestrole in determininghoweconomicallysuccessfula personis,
    andevenplaysthe biggestrolein determiningthe person’s ethicalconduct,suchas one’s tendencyto
    commitviolentcrime.Generally,the higherthe IQ, the less likelysomeoneis to initiateviolence.(2) IQ is
    geneticallyinheritable,andIQ is unchanging.(3) Someraces,on average,havehigherIQs thanothers.
    HenceThe Bell Curvetriesto arguethatrace,playinga pivotalrole in determiningone’s IQ number,still
    playsan essentialrolein determininghow“fit” someoneis beingableto bestperpetuatehis genetic
    legacyin the modernindustrialenvironment.But SteveJohnson’s bookEverythingBad Is Goodfor You
    disprovesthat.The fact of the matteris that overthe past50 years,the averageIQ numbersof blacksand
    whiteshavebothbeenincreasing.Wereone of the mainpremisesofThe Bell Curvetrue—that IQ number
    is genetically-determinedandthatit cannotchangeimmediatelyovera singlegeneration—thenthere