Gould: AF Study Guide

Gould: AF Study Guide These are key questions in understanding the “The Geometer of Race” article. AF will work together to create a study guide for Gould that will be useful for you individually in your personal analysis for the essay and the PWT.

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1. Everyone should do this first: In your text, draw and label a diagram below to represent Blumenbach’s Model, see Gould p. 151, lines 6-16. We will check answers next class. 2. Now, please answer your individual question below: A 1. What are the first two questions the author asks in this section? (Kei) (Machi) (Megumi.T)
The two questions are: 1) "Why are political radicals called 'left ' and their conservative counterparts 'right'?", and 2) "Why should the most common racial group of the Western world be named for a mountain range that straddles Russia and Georgia?" 2. What are the answers? (Shunsuke) (Kotaro)
Ans. 2) The name Caucasian was defined by Blumenbach in his book, "De Generis Humani Varietate Nativa." Blumenbach named Europeans after the region around Mount Caucasus because he believed it was the region from which humans originated, and because its neighborhood, especially its southern slope, produced the most beautiful variety of European. Therefore, he named the all peoples of Europe "Caucasian" because that was where the most beautiful Europeans came from.
3. What two questions does he leave as yet unanswered? (Megumi H) (Misa)
These questions are: 1) "Why should a scientist attach such importance to an evidently subjective assessment?", and 2) "Why should an aesthetic criterion become the basis of a scientific judgment about place of origin?"
4. Why doesn’t he answer those questions at this point? (Yuki)
Gould does not answer those questions at that point because we cannot answer those correctly, unless we compare Blumenbach's 1775 text with his final 1795 text.
B 1. What is the “paradox” the author refers to? (Haruna)
The original four-race system was developed by Blumenbach's guru Linnaeus. Blumenbach added is a Malay variety to the system later, but people credit Blumenbach as the founder of the modern racial classification rather than Linnaeus.
Blumenbach was accepted as the inventor of modern racial classification even though he only added a Malay variety to the original four-race system developed by Linnaeus. (Rutsuko) 2. What does Gould mean by the statement, “This change has been missed or misconstrued…”? (Anna)
The addition of the Malay variety seems such a minor change. However, it was actually a radical change. Moreover, scientists have either not noticed this or have not interpreted it correctly.
C In this section the author provides straightforward background information on Blumenbach and on the relationship with his mentor and teacher, Linnaeus. 1. What are the four groups Linnaeus identifies? List some of their characteristics. (Tetsuya) (Megumi T)
Linnaeus' classification is based on geography (4 regions), and then by color, humor, and posture. American variety is red, choleric, upright and ruled by habit. European is white, sanguine, muscular, and ruled by custom. Asian is pale yellow, melancholy, stiff and, ruled by belief. African is black, phlegmatic, relaxed, and ruled by caprice. 2. Why does Gould compare the shift from a geographic to a hierarchical ordering of human diversity with railroads and nuclear bombs? (Juria)
[It is because characterize the Blumenbach's order. Railroads and nuclear bombs are symbol of intelligence and power and these viewpoint's order is racism.] - This original answer is not accurate. I have included another answer from students in AD below (Owen):

The reason why Gould compared the shift from a geographic to a hierarchical ordering of human diversity with railroads and nuclear bombs is that Blumenbach's ideas have critically affected people's conception of race and what is more opened the door to racism. These influences and impacts are the same as railroads and the nuclear bomb in that they directly impact our daily lives, although people are usually unconscious of their huge significance. (Masatada) (Taichi)
D 1. Try to paraphrase Gould's statement, "Scientists assume that their own shifts in interpretation record only their better understanding of newly discovered facts. They tend to be unaware of their own mental impositions upon the world's messy and ambiguous factuality." (Katsuya) (Hiroki)
Scientists assume that thanks to their transformation of interpretation, they can understand their new discoveries more deeply. They are unlikely to acknowledge the impact of their own mental impositions (their beliefs and ideas) on their observations and their theories.

Scientists tend to suppose new theories come only from their better understanding through better observation, however new theories also draw on their personal beliefs and biases. Many of them don't notice this. (Juria)
2. What does the author mean by the statement “When scientists adopt…”? Can you relate this to your knowledge of Perception? (Shoko)
Author means that scientists do not think of movements in their mind and it makes difference. - This answer is difficult to understand, it needs developing more. I have included an additional answer from students in AD below (Owen):

According to the author, scientists' personal mental impositions can be as important as their observations because scientists do not realize the movements that occur in the bottom of their minds. And these movements make them change their interpretations. Therefore, it is related to the part "Sensation and Interpretation" of Fisher. (Misato) (Yuki) (Hisako)
E 1. Can you paraphrase the quote which begins “There is no single character so peculiar…”? (Emao)
[Even facial characteristics are different between Caucasian and Ethiopian, both of them have same characteristics as a human.] - This answer does not answer the question.

There is not a single unique characteristic or trait that exists in only one variety of mankind that does not also exist in all other varieties of people as well. (Owen) 2. What did Blumenbach think of using skin color as a means of grouping peoples? (Rutsuko)
He thinks that skin color is useless, and can never constitute a diversity of species because it is changeable over generations, by moving to a new region and adopting new behaviors to survive.
F 1. At the beginning of this section the author writes, "We may now return to the riddle of the name Caucasian." Why does he say this? Where have the readers returned from? (Masataka) (Rei)
The author wants to stop looking into the background and details of Blumenbach's theory and return to the main subject of Blumenbach's definition of all Europeans as "Caucasians." (Rei) Readers have returned from P142, L 28. (Yukie) 2. What was Blumenbach's dilemma? (Misa)
Blumenbach's dilemma arose because he had claimed that all people were mentally and morally equal, therefore he could not use these racist criteria for ranking peoples. He needed a non-racist criteria. In Blumenbach's view the most appropriate criteria was 'beauty' based on the example of the people from the Caucus region, whom he claimed to be the most beautiful of all Europeans.

He could not use conventional standards of racist ranking that regarded Europeans as closest to the ideal because he had asserted the mental and moral equality of all peoples. (Megumi.H)
G 1. How is the statement “ But ideas do not reside in the ivory tower…” related to the College Thinking [Spring term] reading? (Haruka)
In the College Thinking [Spring term], Meiland states that college is regarded as an "ivory tower". However, it's not an "ivory tower" because the ideas academics have affect many things in "real" life. In The Geometer of Race, Gould also states that academic ideas do not reside in an ivory tower and they motivate human history. In brief, Gould's statement is similar to Meiland's statement.
2. What is the purpose of the final quote “It was from America that…”? (Machi)
By placing the quote at the end of the article, Gould wanted to emphasise to readers/society that Blumenbach and scientists tend to forget or slight the influence they can have on society.
3. What might Gould want to imply by this final quote? (Yukie) (Kei)
The author suggests implicitly that ideas have built and transformed human history. In other words, ideas - good or bad, right or wrong - have the power to advance history.

[Although scholars believe that academic ideas must be offensive and neutral, ideas should be aggressive and practical even it causes human right violation.] - This part of the original answer is not accurate.