wanderer wrote:
Wow. ... All I have to do to debunk these claims (not the evidence, just the way the evidence is interpreted) is tell people to look at Japan, where I have been studying and working for the last several years. It is full of 'Asian brains', and the levels of mental illness here are incredible. Most people don't seek any form of treatment or therapy, being that psychology and psychiatry are still in their infancy here, so it is likely that reported levels of mental illness in Japan are misleading.
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This discussion is about people of Asian/non-Asian biracial genetic background. I have several friends who lived in Japan for years at a time and they told me of the social pressure cooker it could be. But I see that as largely environmental.
I have to admit to being bothered by terms such as "hybrid" or "mixed race" in terms of referring to biracial (and could we have a better word to replace "biracial"?) people. It almost smacks of "half-breed" or the shorter version of it, "breed." I wish instead of the term "human races" (I see all homo sapiens sapiens as members of the same race) we used something more accurate like "sub-types" or "lineage." I sometimes wonder if it will take having extra-terrestrials making regular public visits to the Earth for humanity to finally realize we are simply one race.
you continue:
I think, after looking at the big picture and examining 'Asian brains' around the globe, we will find that the connection between race and mental illness is much weaker than the connection between culture and mental illness.
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I agree.
you continue:
It seems to me that the problem in America is that the majority of people rely on the most arbitrary and meaningless stuff to define themselves and everyone else (the color of one's skin, the kind of sex one likes, the deity one believes in, the place one was born, the 'culture' one grew up in, etc.). In this sort of society, bi-racial children are forcefully encouraged early on by society to decide whether they are black or white or Asian or whatever. (We can't possibly be unaware of this phenomenon anymore with Obama in the spotlight. From a genetic standpoint, he is no more black than he is white.) If one is one's race, however, this requires children to deny half of their being. ... Bi-racial children often have identity problems because of society's ridiculous focus on the arbitrary, and these problems can grow into full-blown mental illnesses as the children approach adulthood.
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Things like the area you are born, religion and race are meaningless for defining oneself? LOL But I do agree that people should not use it to exclude and mistreat others. I remember my childhood best friend being torn between his Caucasian and Inuit heritage due to social pressures and discrimination. A respect for diversity (and required work/school indoctrination) was not an important thing then as it is now. I don't see that as a miracle cure, but I think it does help.
you continue:
We have to be careful about how we interpret these results. The interpretation of the OP seems to indicate that he/she believes the study indicates the superiority of 'pure-blood' Asians. Most of the people at imminst are smart enough and sufficiently educated to see that this is baloney, however. There is no evidence for mental illness resulting from mixed-race DNA. It is far more reasonable to assume that mental illness can often result from identity problems, which, for bi-racial children, result from society expecting them to define themselves as 'black, white, or yellow'.
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I think the jury may still be out regarding biologically based mental illness and biracial Asians. But I do admit that even if it is a factor for their challenges, it is probably not as large as I had feared (though it is possible assumed environmental factors could be masking biological ones; future studies and progress in medical technology may prove this down the road).
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you wrote:
On a related note: Has anyone ever considered that perhaps maintaining 'racial purity' is similar to inbreeding?
The evolutionary purpose behind the incest taboo is to encourage us to look outside of our own family for genetic strengths we do not possess. By mating with those outside of one's family, more often than not the sum is greater than the parts. This is one reason that successive generations of humans appear to be getting bigger, stronger, smarter, and perhaps even better-looking. If anything, societal pressures and identity issues aside, it seems logical to me to assume that bi-racial children would not be genetically inferior, but genetically superior to 'pure-bloods'.
To the OP: I would be willing to bet vast sums of money that if I were to take a wife from each major race around the world, and you were to take as many wives of your own race, 1000 years down the road my descendants would be bigger, stronger, smarter, and much better-looking than yours.
I am only half-serious, of course. I don't currently have vast sums of money.
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Or a wife from each major race? heehee The following link from the Psychology Today online supports your point:
http://www.psycholog...221-000001.html you wrote:
I really wish people would stop thinking like this. If people would have the strength of character to define themselves as themselves, to categorize themselves as... themselves, to realize that a person is the sum of his or her decisions, not the color of his or her skin, not his or her 'culture', not his or her sexual fetishes, not his or her religion, then the world would be a much better, more peaceful place. Stop with the racism already (when looking both at others AND at yourself).
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You wrote "stop with the racism already..." I don't take kindly to slander. And I bet the other people around here don't either. In the future please be more careful with your words.
The background/foundation of a person is in large part the religion (or lack of it), ethics, race, socio-economic and ethnic/religious/national culture, etc., that they started out with in life. And so a major task of adulthood is to take a focused and introspective look at the sum parts and decide (usually over time, not all at once) what is to be retained and what must be walked away from.
The link below goes to a research summary that indicates births of biracial children do have somewhat higher rates of certain birth defects. But further studies will certainly be needed.
http://www3.intersci...l...=1&SRETRY=0John Grigg