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posted by Fnord666 on Monday February 10 2020, @01:45PM   Printer-friendly
from the Who-Are-You? dept.

Genetic ancestry tests are a multi-billion dollar industry. In exchange for a sample of genetic material, one receives charts and figures mapping them onto popular concepts of race. The problem with this approach is that although there are minor genetic differences that allow geneticists to trace population migrations, these differences don't support the idea that one can sort races on genetic differences alone. Social scientists have argued that given how race definitions have changed over time and place, that race classifications are more a social construct defined more in terms of geographic proximity and cultural norms than they are based on genetics. At the other end of the spectrum is the concept of genetic essentialism. This views the concept of race as being exclusively defined in terms of genetic makeup and how these differences imbue different races with different inherent abilities or liabilities. Genetic essentialist views promote the concept of genetic exclusivity and reinforces racial stereotypes, underpinning negative policies such as eugenics and apartheid.

The problem with genetic ancestry testing, apart from the privacy issues that we typically see stories about here, is the inconsistency of analysis and popular misconceptions of what the results mean. With tens of millions of people taking these tests every year, an open question has been what effect these results have on people's concepts of race. Some have argued that they are likely to reinforce a genetic essentialist view of race because the results are broken down into distinct groups and people interpret the results as being objective and authoritative. Others have argued the opposite in that people have a more social construct idea of race when the results do not confirm their experience ("All my life I thought I was German, but I found out I'm actually Italian!").

Researchers from the University of British Columbia attempted to answer this question with a paper published in the open access journal Plos One. They conducted a randomized controlled trial where they assembled a group of people who were willing to take a genetic ancestry test and provided half of them with a test. The group was then evaluated to gauge the extent that they supported genetic essentialism ideas. In addition, at the outset the group was also quizzed on their general knowledge of genetics. What the researchers found was that, on average, getting these test results did not change one's views on genetic essentialism; however, when considering a person's overall level of genetics understanding, they found that genetic essentialism ideas were strengthened in people who had lower knowledge of genetics after they received their ancestry test results. "Taking a test thus has a polarizing effect, magnifying differences in essentialist beliefs even further between those with weaker and stronger understandings of the science behind them."

Roth WD, Yaylacı Ş, Jaffe K, Richardson L. (2020) Do genetic ancestry tests increase racial essentialism? Findings from a randomized controlled trial. PLoS ONE 15(1): e0227399. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227399


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  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 10 2020, @04:00PM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 10 2020, @04:00PM (#956369)

    Commonly thought by non-Jews, but this is incorrect.

    In most religions you can simply become a member of that religion overnight. Judaism is different. 'Admittance' is heavily restricted and requires months of rigorous and complex testing. There is literally a certificate proving you're a Jew. So for instance any 'real' Jew is free to become a citizen of Israel - it's known as Aliyah [wikipedia.org]. Here [nbn.org.il] is the Israel government page on what's required to prove you're a Jew:

    Acceptable proof of Judaism is a letter from a recognized rabbi in North America or the UK, stating that you are Jewish and born to a Jewish mother.

      This is required for all adults in the family making Aliyah.
      The letter must have been written in the past year on official letterhead.
      If you are Jewish through your father/grandfather, please provide a letter from a recognized rabbi in North America or the UK, who can confirm your Jewish lineage.
      Israeli citizens may have additional options for the proof of Judaism requirement
    Some other requirements of the letter are as follows:

      The letter must be in English or Hebrew.
      The letter must appear on official synagogue letterhead. It must state the name, location and telephone number of the congregation, and include your full legal name (as appears on your passport) and parents’ names (and grandparents’ names, where relevant).
      The letter must bear the rabbi’s signature, and the rabbi’s name and title should appear on the letterhead.
      If you converted to Judaism, you will be required to submit different documentation proving your completion of the conversion process. You will receive further instructions during the application process.

    Jews are defined most precisely as any individual who had a Jewish mother. This is how you see things like 'I'm a Jewish Atheist.' Even if you call yourself an atheist, it doesn't matter. Mother was Jewish = you're Jewish. Mother not Jewish = you're a second class Jew, or not a Jew. For instance a decent number of Jews, especially Orthodox Jews, will not get involved in relationships with converts as they're seen as something different than simply being a Jew.

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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by Arik on Monday February 10 2020, @04:39PM (4 children)

    by Arik (4543) on Monday February 10 2020, @04:39PM (#956387) Journal
    It should be noted that all of this is quite specific to the 'orthodox' movement in Judaism. They're a minority even in Israel, and their definitions are not the only definitions.
    --
    If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 10 2020, @08:24PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 10 2020, @08:24PM (#956502)

      No clue what you're reading, but this is absurdly wrong.

      If you want some sort of numbers here is something from Pew. 96% of Israeli Jews identified with Haredi. And the Haredim are the ultra-orthodox. Keep in mind the requirements docket I linked is from the Israeli government itself! Even among reform these rules generally apply, though the details vary. For instance they are more accepting of Jews raised Jewish and going through Jewish events such as their bar/bat mitzvahs, even if their mother was not a Jew. However, even reform Jews are definitely not going to just accept somebody who wakes up and decides to call himself a Jew one day - that is simply not how the religion works.

      • (Score: 2) by Arik on Tuesday February 11 2020, @05:09AM

        by Arik (4543) on Tuesday February 11 2020, @05:09AM (#956741) Journal
        "If you want some sort of numbers here is something from Pew. 96% of Israeli Jews identified with Haredi."

        No, they don't.

        Here's something from PEW:

        https://www.pewforum.org/2016/03/08/israels-religiously-divided-society/

        8% Haredi. Not 96%, 8%.

        The Haredi don't even represent the majority of the religious.

        --
        If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 10 2020, @08:26PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 10 2020, @08:26PM (#956504)

      It would actually help to fill out that link wouldn't it? Here [pewresearch.org] is aforementioned link from pew.

      • (Score: 2) by Arik on Tuesday February 11 2020, @04:42PM

        by Arik (4543) on Tuesday February 11 2020, @04:42PM (#956886) Journal
        OK, so you have a link to a different study from about the same time that gives different numbers and a different spin. It still doesn't give you anything like 96%. That one got 9% haredi vs 8%, likely within the margin of error. Then they also got 13% for dati instead of 10%, and added the two together to claim 24%. Dati aren't exactly orthodox, but there's enough overlap that makes some sense. It's still consistent with what I said (a minority even in Israel) and it's still nowhere near your 96%.
        --
        If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
  • (Score: 2) by RamiK on Monday February 10 2020, @09:35PM

    by RamiK (1813) on Monday February 10 2020, @09:35PM (#956545)

    Let me just stop you there and point you to directly to the relevant Wikipedia entry:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_is_a_Jew [wikipedia.org]

    And here's a whole list of Ethnoreligious groups:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnoreligious_group#Examples [wikipedia.org]

    For instance a decent number of Jews, especially Orthodox Jews, will not get involved in relationships with converts as they're seen as something different than simply being a Jew.

    Lets refer to the classics:

    Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!" He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?"

    He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" He said, "A Christian." I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me, too! What franchise?" He said, "Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?" He said, "Northern Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?"

    He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region." I said, "Me, too!"

    Northern Conservative†Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912." I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over.

    ( https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2005/sep/29/comedy.religion [theguardian.com] )

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