Many Western societies have seen pretty dramatic productivity-enhancing institutional changes in the last few hundred years that aren’t explicable in terms of changes in genetic makeup. In light of this, your view seems to rely on believing that most currently remaining institutional variation is genetic, whereas this wasn’t the case ~300 years ago. Do you think this is the case?
Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea seem to make a pretty strong case for a huge independent effect of institutions.
Many Western societies have seen pretty dramatic productivity-enhancing institutional changes in the last few hundred years that aren’t explicable in terms of changes in genetic makeup.
Who said anything about genetics?
Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea seem to make a pretty strong case for a huge independent effect of institutions.
Korea is. China (I assume this is what you mean by Hong Kong and Singapore) is evidence against.
Oops, shouldn’t have assumed you’re talking about genetics :)
Still, if you’re talking about character in a causally neutral sense, it seems that you need to posit character traits that hardly change within a person’s lifetime. Here I admit that the evidence for rapid institutional effects is weaker than the evidence for institutional effects in general.
(Re: Hong Kong, Singapore, no, I do mean those cities specifically. Their economic outcomes differ strikingly from culturally and genetically similar neighbors because of their unique histories.
Many Western societies have seen pretty dramatic productivity-enhancing institutional changes in the last few hundred years that aren’t explicable in terms of changes in genetic makeup. In light of this, your view seems to rely on believing that most currently remaining institutional variation is genetic, whereas this wasn’t the case ~300 years ago. Do you think this is the case?
Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea seem to make a pretty strong case for a huge independent effect of institutions.
Who said anything about genetics?
Korea is. China (I assume this is what you mean by Hong Kong and Singapore) is evidence against.
Oops, shouldn’t have assumed you’re talking about genetics :)
Still, if you’re talking about character in a causally neutral sense, it seems that you need to posit character traits that hardly change within a person’s lifetime. Here I admit that the evidence for rapid institutional effects is weaker than the evidence for institutional effects in general.
(Re: Hong Kong, Singapore, no, I do mean those cities specifically. Their economic outcomes differ strikingly from culturally and genetically similar neighbors because of their unique histories.