Friends are as genetically similar as fourth cousins • Hacker News Board

Re: Friends are as genetically similar as fourth cousins

#121

Post by kafkaesq » Tue, Jul 12, 2016, 5:07 PM UTC

eric_h wrote: post #105

TheLarch wrote: post #101

The lead author, Nicholas Christakis, is the man who was reviled by some students at Yale during the Halloween costume debacle: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/11/the-new-... .

Thanks for reposting that article. I swear I'm starting to feel like an old man "back in my day, vigorous intellectual disagreement and debate was the point of living on campus during college"

Back in my day, vigorous intellectual disagreement and debate was the point of living on campus during college

Well they've sure fixed that, haven't they.

Re: Friends are as genetically similar as fourth cousins

#122

Post by TheLarch » Tue, Jul 12, 2016, 5:10 PM UTC

sliverstorm wrote: post #104

TheLarch wrote: post #101

The lead author, Nicholas Christakis, is the man who was reviled by some students at Yale during the Halloween costume debacle: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/11/the-new-... .

I hope you're not suggesting that has any bearing on the quality of the paper?

Not sure if you are speculating that I am a supporter or detractor of his. My only impression of the man up until now was that I thought he and his wife conducted themselves with grace and forebearance during the Halloween fiasco. I find this research fascinating.

Re: Friends are as genetically similar as fourth cousins

#123

Post by TheLarch » Tue, Jul 12, 2016, 5:13 PM UTC

eric_h wrote: post #105

TheLarch wrote: post #101

The lead author, Nicholas Christakis, is the man who was reviled by some students at Yale during the Halloween costume debacle: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/11/the-new-... .

Thanks for reposting that article. I swear I'm starting to feel like an old man "back in my day, vigorous intellectual disagreement and debate was the point of living on campus during college"

[TheLarch proffers curmudgeon fist bump]

Re: Friends are as genetically similar as fourth cousins

#124

Post by TheLarch » Tue, Jul 12, 2016, 5:23 PM UTC

kafkaesq wrote: post #121

eric_h wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for reposting that article. I swear I'm starting to feel like an old man "back in my day, vigorous intellectual disagreement and debate was the point of living on campus during college"

Back in my day, vigorous intellectual disagreement and debate was the point of living on campus during college Well they've sure fixed that, haven't they.

I read Erica's infamous email without any knowledge of the situation, and only a vague impression that she was the wrong end of some campus non-event. The letter was so well-written and thoughtful! The key line, that she does not trust herself to police Halloween, was so effective.

Then I watched the video of the children yelling and cursing at Nicholas. Yes, they fixed that all right.

Re: Friends are as genetically similar as fourth cousins

#125

Post by fiatjaf » Tue, Jul 12, 2016, 5:29 PM UTC

kingnothing wrote: post #120

avodonosov wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, you don't. You don't call a son of your first-cousin your second-cousin. You call him a second nephew I think.

First cousin once removed. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Cousin_t...

No, stop that removed madness!

Re: Friends are as genetically similar as fourth cousins

#126

Post by bencollier49 » Tue, Jul 12, 2016, 5:30 PM UTC

Doesn't 23andme "identify" fourth cousins?

Re: Friends are as genetically similar as fourth cousins

#127

Post by awl130 » Tue, Jul 12, 2016, 5:35 PM UTC

in other words, we pick friends from the same ethnic group

Re: Friends are as genetically similar as fourth cousins

#128

Post by awl130 » Tue, Jul 12, 2016, 5:36 PM UTC

kbd wrote: post #10

Pretty sure my Thai best friend is more dissimilar to me than a fourth cousin.

unless you are thai yourself? are we supposed to presume that everyone is not-thai on this site?

Re: Friends are as genetically similar as fourth cousins

#129

Post by dragonwriter » Tue, Jul 12, 2016, 5:41 PM UTC

peter303 wrote: post #108

Most people with European ancestry are 10th or 11th cousins to each other based upon how every US president is related to every other. This includes the current President who is half Eoropean.

> Most people with European ancestry are 10th or 11th cousins to each other based upon how every US president is related to every other.

"The people who have been elected President of the United States" are not a representative sample of "people currently alive with European ancestry" (or even a nonrepresentative subset of that set) such that generalizations about relations between members of the latter class could be drawn from the relations between members of the former class.

And even if they were, strong conclusions can't really be drawn from an N=44 sample.

Re: Friends are as genetically similar as fourth cousins

#130

Post by tempestn » Tue, Jul 12, 2016, 7:12 PM UTC

avodonosov wrote: post #65

tempestn wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That makes a lot of sense! The distinction between sibling and nth cousin is basically arbitrary. (Although obviously there is logic in making the distinction as well as in omitting it.)

Arbitrary? You have the same parents with sibling; with cousin you share only one of the two pairs of grandparents.

Agreed: in the case of siblings you share all ancestors; with cousins only some. In that way the distinction makes sense. The other way to look at it though is that with siblings your common ancestor is one generation up. With first cousins, it's two. With second, it's three. So it's the same thing, just a matter of degree.