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To: WildHorseCrash; Right Wing Professor; PatrickHenry
Our resident plagiarist and quoteminer probably had the following in mind when he tried to put words in Darwin's mouth:

Darwin cites Galton and quotes Greg, being particularly taken with Greg's 1868 Fraser's "On the Failure of 'Natural Selection' in the Case of Man" (Darwin, 1989, pp. 138-39). He was particularly struck by Greg's characterization of the Irish: "The careless, squalid, unaspiring Irishman, fed on potatoes, living in a pig-stye, doting on a superstition, multiply like rabbits or ephemera; and the frugal, foreseeing self-respecting, ambitious Scot, stern in his morality, spiritual in his faith, sagacious and disciplined in his intelligence, passes his best years in struggle and in celibacy, marries late, and leaves few behind him." Darwin (1989, p. 143) quoting Greg (1866, pp. 360-61). [emphasis added]

The more interesting point is that Darwin, after quoting Greg, goes on to refute the point that Greg was making (to which Greg's opinion of the relative status of Irish vs. Scot is not at all material): that the "least fit" people will tend to dominate the human population over time. Darwin refutes that argument in a straightforward manner. IOW, Darwin, rather than embracing the arguments put forth by Eugenics ninnies, rejected them, with evidence.

409 posted on 01/24/2006 11:30:09 AM PST by longshadow (FReeper #405, entering his ninth year of ignoring nitwits, nutcases, and recycled newbies)
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To: longshadow
The more interesting point is that Darwin, after quoting Greg, goes on to refute the point that Greg was making ...

Yes, but this is woefully late, considering that I posted a link to the original text, which anyone could have followed to learn this for himself. I've discussed your performance with the Grand Master. He says that it's not enough to cry "Quote Mine!" You have to fully expose it. To drive the point home, he has decreed that you won't get any desert tonight.

On behalf of the Grand Master, I am,
PatrickHenry

411 posted on 01/24/2006 11:49:28 AM PST by PatrickHenry (Virtual Ignore for trolls, lunatics, dotards, scolds, & incurable ignoramuses.)
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