Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #neuroracism
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[#NeuroRacism | Eugenics 🧵]
What we hope to show today is that there are real consequences to this racist way of pursuing science. This is more than just an academic debate.
There is, perhaps, no better example than the eugenics movements of the 20th century.
What we hope to show today is that there are real consequences to this racist way of pursuing science. This is more than just an academic debate.
There is, perhaps, no better example than the eugenics movements of the 20th century.
Controlling human reproduction for some "greater good" is nothing new. Plato and other ancient Greeks advocated for it.
It was in just 1883 that Francis Galton, who coined the term, consolidated these thoughts with a Darwinistic notion of humans "winning" natural selection.
It was in just 1883 that Francis Galton, who coined the term, consolidated these thoughts with a Darwinistic notion of humans "winning" natural selection.
Those ideas didn't go unnoticed, and it is easy to forget how widespread (and legal) they were. International conferences, official policies in multiple countries, support from hundreds of influential people.
Unlike phrenology, this wasn't a short-lived idea - this was the norm.
Unlike phrenology, this wasn't a short-lived idea - this was the norm.
Going to try to live tweet some take-homes from this panel on #neuroracism for anyone who is missing it. #BlackInNeuroWeek @blackinneuro
Nice to see that the panelists are a mixture of later and earlier career neuroscientists!
@dhsmoove_dotcom talking about changing the nomenclature around the Tuskegee syphilis study -> United States Public Health Service syphilis study in Tuskegee
[#NeuroRacism | Phrenology 🧵]
Phrenology was the study of head shapes and sizes. It was a pseudoscience wildly popular between 1820-1850.
Surprisingly, its beginnings did not completely overlap with race. Instead, it started by looking at criminality
Phrenology was the study of head shapes and sizes. It was a pseudoscience wildly popular between 1820-1850.
Surprisingly, its beginnings did not completely overlap with race. Instead, it started by looking at criminality
The work that Franz Gall, founder of phrenology, did was more related to the origins of what we now call criminology - as in finding biological explanations for crime and criminality.
Gall believed that changes in the brain manifested as bumps on the skull that can be measured.
Gall believed that changes in the brain manifested as bumps on the skull that can be measured.
What Gall created, George Combe helped spread, even reading the heads of Queen Victoria's kids. At his height, Combe's books were outselling Darwin's.
Cheap and colorful pamphlets also popularized this new science, making it approachable to everyone - including slave owners.
Cheap and colorful pamphlets also popularized this new science, making it approachable to everyone - including slave owners.
[#NeuroRacism | Before Neuroscience 🧵]
To start the story of racism in neuroscience, we'll have to go back even before neuroscience existed, to the age of Enlightenment.
This is when the scientists tried, for the first time, to classify humans.
To start the story of racism in neuroscience, we'll have to go back even before neuroscience existed, to the age of Enlightenment.
This is when the scientists tried, for the first time, to classify humans.
As it was in vogue at the time to try to classify and rationalize everything, one of the key debates was between monogenism and polygenism.
The question was: do all races come from one ancestor or did we all come from different origins?
You can imagine how this is gonna go...
The question was: do all races come from one ancestor or did we all come from different origins?
You can imagine how this is gonna go...
We also didn't distinguish between race and species at the time, we'd just barely coined those terms.
So when different races were discussed, there was an implication of types and sub-types of humans. In that sense, being white was the norm by which the other races deviated.
So when different races were discussed, there was an implication of types and sub-types of humans. In that sense, being white was the norm by which the other races deviated.
