A very interesting book with striking and memorable numbers and anecdotes. Examples -
- “the Vysya are known to have a high rate of prolonged muscle paralysis in response to muscle relaxants given prior to surgery.”
- “especially common in people with the last name O’Donnell, who descend from one of the most powerful royal families of medieval Ireland, the “Descendants of Niall”—referring to Niall of the Nine Hostages, a legendary warlord from the earliest period of medieval Irish history”
- (Regarding Iceland) “natural selection over the last century against people with more predicted education, likely because of selection for people who began having children at a younger age”
- “Singh and Thangaraj seemed to be threatening to nix the whole project. … We sat together and came up with new names for ancient Indian groups.”
Outside the science, he has his biases (which are anti-hindu, anti-conservative and at times counter-factual), and make him “signal” his “virtue”. Examples -
- “The genome revolution provides us with a shared history that, if we pay proper attention, should give us an alternative to the evils of racism and nationalism…”
- “The repressive nature of caste has spawned in reaction major religions—Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism—each of which offered refuge from the caste system. The success of Islam in India was also fueled by the escape it provided for low-social-status groups that converted en masse to the new religion of the Mughal rulers.”
- “Of course, my concern about disappointing my family is nothing compared to the shame, isolation, and violence that many expect in India for taking a partner outside their group.”
- “The Hindutva ideology that there was no major contribution to Indian culture from migrants from outside South Asia… (Has a point, can be excused for not knowing non-lemurian Hindutva).”
His dismissal of Cochran and Harpending is rather unconvincing (- taking the weakest points in isolation, while leaving out the strongest).