Huh, I hadn't ever considered that - I knew that Puritans were responsible for a lot of proto-capitalist commerce, but I hadn't put it together with the endogamy that they practiced as well to get a similar situation to the Ashkenazim. Definitely interesting to consider!
I'm assuming from your argument that you are familiar, but just in case you're not, have you read Greg Cochran and Henry Harpending (of The 10,000 Year Explosion)? They wrote a paper arguing for the eugenic process you mentioned that resulted in high average IQ among the Ashkenazim (I think it's included in the book, which is more widely about how evolution among humans not only didn't stop at the agricultural revolution, but instead accelerated due to higher populations). They both used to blog at westhunt.wordpress.com, but Harpending has died, so it's only been Cochran for a few years. Lots of interesting crotchety views, but most of all on human genetics.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2022-06-04 06:29 pm (UTC)I'm assuming from your argument that you are familiar, but just in case you're not, have you read Greg Cochran and Henry Harpending (of The 10,000 Year Explosion)? They wrote a paper arguing for the eugenic process you mentioned that resulted in high average IQ among the Ashkenazim (I think it's included in the book, which is more widely about how evolution among humans not only didn't stop at the agricultural revolution, but instead accelerated due to higher populations). They both used to blog at westhunt.wordpress.com, but Harpending has died, so it's only been Cochran for a few years. Lots of interesting crotchety views, but most of all on human genetics.