AD & AF Diamond Study Guide - Q & A (1007)This is a featured page

11/11 I have checked & editedyour Study Guide. The edited version is here. I think you should use this version to help you prepare for the PWT.

What are some of the main issues in Diamond? Please add your answers. Your answer will include paraphrased or quoted information from the text, as well as your opinion when it is appropriate to the question. This will help you to reveal the meaning of the text, as well as the range of opinions thatexist within the class as a whole. By working together, your class will create a second study guide for Diamond that will be useful for you individually in your personal analysis for the essay and the PWT.

Please add your answers. Include paraphrase/qouted information from the text to support your answer. As well include your opinion if it is appropriate to the question. Your answer should clearly distinguish between information from Diamond and your opinion. Please add the page and line numbers to show where the information comes from in Diamond.


ARW - Race Without Color – Diamond (1994)

1.What is the “common sense” view about race? (167)
AF Rei:We generally decided the race by seeing hair color,eye color or any
appearance of human. It's "common sense" view about race refering to Diamond.
AF Shunsuke:


2.Why is this reasoning not objective? (167)
AD Mio: Because there are many different, equally reasonable procedures for explaining races.
AF Hiroki: Because different procedures yield very different classifications.
AF Kei: Because there are many ways to classify human race caused by various and equaly reasonable procedures for difining race.

3. Why is classification of human races more problematic that classification of animal races? (168)
AD Yuki Y:
AF Chiaki:
Classification of humans formes our views of others, promotes subliminallly distinguish "us" from "them". Futhermore, it gives justifications for political, socioeconomic descrimination. Because of this, classification of human races is more problematic. (168)
AF Megumi T: Because classification let us recognize the difference
unconsciously descreminate others in politics and socioeconomy.

4.What is a species? (168)
AD Nagiko:a species is a group of populations whose individual members would, if given the oppotunity, interbreed with individuals of other populatons of that group. To sum up, species is group whose members can interbreed with each other.
AF Kotaro:

5.What does it mean when it is said that traits are “concordant”? (169)
AD Shintaro: it means that if one of traits is different from others, other all traits have to be different to accompany with it.

AD Aya: it means that if one category such as voice difference differs from others, it has to be different for "all" the traits such as throat color or habit difference.

AF Yuki:(←YUKIE?) "That is, voice defferences or habitat differences lead to the same racial classification as differences in throat color."

6.Why is racial classification of golden whistlers problematic? (169)
AD Ryoksuke:
AF Machi:Because golden whistlers have various characters( big or small, black- winged males or green winged males etc..) depending on where they live, what they eat offten or some other reasons. So, "if you divide golden whistlers into races based on single traits, you would get entirely different classifications depending on which trait you chose. "(16-18)

7.What is a “hierarchy of distinctness”? (169)
AD Misaki: It means different group when the races are diveded.
AF Haruka S:It is the group which different from each other.

8.What is the problem with using a hierarchy of distinctness? (169)
AD Tomoya:
AF Misa:The problem of using a hierarchy of distincness is that the extent to which you continue the racial classfication is arbitrary, and it's a decision about which taxonomists disagree passionateely.

9.What are “lumpers”? (169)
AD Hisako: Lumpers are people who prefer to recognize few races.
AF Masataka:

10.What are “splitters”? (169)
AD Eito:
AF Rutsuko:

11. How is the classification of non-human animals different from the classification of human animals? (170)
AD Rina:
AD Mastada:
AF Emao:

12.What are three reasons why traits vary? Give an example of each. (170-174)
AD Li Hwa:Traits vary by environments or climates, body chemistry and geography. First, African people tend to have antimalarial genes, however, northern European people never have that traits because there are no malaria in Northern Europe. Second, northern European have lactase, on the other hand, African black people do not have it in common. Third, Asian have fingerprints that shape "loops" and Khoisians have the differnent kind of fingerprints that shape "arches"
AF Shoko:

13. Is skin color an example of a trait that was an adaptation to geographic areas? Why or why not? (175)
AD Juri:Skin color is not an example of a trait that was an adaptation to geographic areas.
AF Katsuya:

14.Are human racial classifications that are based on different traits concordant with one another? (176)
AD Seiya: No. The results of human race classififications vary with the each criterion for human discriminations. In fact, when we classify plural people with various criteria, we can find various results. Therefore, in this part, author insists that a human racial classification is not absolute indicator.
AD Ken:No,they are not.
AF Juria: No, they would not be concordant with one another at all (P176 L21). They are various by which trait we use for classification, for example, skin color or antimalaria geans(P171 L18).
15. What is the hierarchical relation based on skin color among recognized races? (176)
AD Yoko S:
AF Tetsuya:

16. What is the function of racially variable traits? (176)
AD Masaru:
AD Ikue:
AF Anna: It includes protection against skin cancer, rickets, frostbite, folic acid deficiency, beryllium poisoning, overheating, and overcooling. In other words, to enhance survival under particular conditions (P175 L1-5 & L25-26).

17. Why is the issue of racial classification more serious in modern society? (177)
AD Taichi:
AF Haruna: Because we live our lives surrounded by people who are much more varied in appearance.

18. What is meant by: “The last thing we need now is to continue codifying all those different appearances into an arbitrary system of racial classification.” (177)
AD Misato:
AF Yuki H:

19. A final thought – On page 177, Diamond mentions the possibility of classifying races based on a hierarchy of genetic distinctness. The primary races could be African and other races such as Swedes, New Guineans, Japanese, and Navajo would belong to the same race. Do you think this will ever happen? Why or why not? (Your opinion)
AD Haruka T: I think this concept will never happen. The concept of race came from human being's instinct of classify. People have desire to classify and identify everything. Who wants to regard human and vegetable as same living matter? Almost all people would consider vegetable as plant, not same as human. Of course, it is different situation from racial discrimination, but I think these situations have common term. People tend to find rather differences than similarities, I think. Diamond's concept is logically and genetically correct, but people would deny this genetic similarities viscerally, and take intelligible differences such as skin color, language or culture. That is why I do not think this will not happen.
AF Megumi H:



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