Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Stay Classy, Linnaeus

Seen in the new exhibit, Race: Are We Really So Different?, currently at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

For those not familiar, Carl Linnaeus is responsible for the taxonomic scheme that has been used at least in part for almost three hundred years for classifying living things.  (The exact classifications have altered somewhat, but much of the structure remains intact, as does the classic two-word scientific naming protocol he developed.)  For example, Homo sapiens, being ourselves and most of those we know.

Turns out Carl also took the time to promulgate a division of the races, using the conventions of the ancient "Four Temperaments".  Grand.  I think this is a nice reminder of what also comes with the revered naturalists of old, in addition to breathtaking works of exploration. These sort of "explanations", seeking reasoning to justify conclusions, are the sort of bad pseudo-science that I'm glad we can really start to do away with as we truly understand the diversity within the human genome and the amazing similarity between all of humanity.

Oh, and the website for the exhibit is here if you're interested.

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