It’s too bad he doesn’t regularly blog at some fixed spot, I never would have known about this post at the Straight Dope forums if it hadn’t been mentioned in a comment at GNXP classic. It’s about his famous paper with Henry Harpending on the natural history of Ashkenazi IQ. I recall it being rather favorably received by the press (I believe it was a Newsweek cover, and Steve Pinker gave a popular talk), but by Cochran’s account a lot of academics wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole.
Steve Hsu’s Google Tech Talk on the BGI IQ study is here. BGI was one of the organizations that turned down Cochran & Harpending*.
*I gave an inaccurate account. See Henry Harpending’s comment below.
August 28, 2011 at 11:36 am
If Cochran and Harpending really have such trouble getting published (which I can believe) they should start their own online, open-access journal, which ought to be relatively easy these days. This would be much more effective than popping up randomly in blog comments.
August 28, 2011 at 12:43 pm
It’s interesting that he says that BGI turned them down, because the survey they give to potential participants includes a question about ancestry and they have relatively few categories, but one of them is Ashkenazi Jewish. The categories they initially had were:
East Asian
South Asian
Sub-Saharan African
Native American
Ashkenazi Jewish
Other European
Other Middle Eastern
They’ve subsequently broken down the “Other European” into directional quadrants.
August 28, 2011 at 12:50 pm
Your wish is our command: Greg just set up a blog at <a href = "http://westhunt.wordpress.com". westhunt.wordpress.com. .
We shall see if we can goad him into using it.
BTW BGI did not turn us down, it turned down some colleagues. Apparently things have changed in the meanwhile since Steve Hsu’s new project is recruiting Ashkenazi actively.
Henry Harpending
August 28, 2011 at 12:52 pm
Your wish is our command: Greg just set up a blog at . westhunt.wordpress.com.
We shall see if we can goad him into using it.
BTW BGI did not turn us down, it turned down some colleagues. Apparently things have changed in the meanwhile since Steve Hsu’s new project is recruiting Ashkenazi actively.
Henry Harpending
August 28, 2011 at 2:55 pm
I gush the same thought every time it happens, but wow, the internet really is like that scene in Annie Hall.
August 28, 2011 at 4:03 pm
The first step would be to make it public.
August 28, 2011 at 10:04 pm
Although the reasons GC & HH encountered so much trouble finding a journal to publish undoubtedly have to do with PC, the process itself is not at all unusual. Every time you try to do/publish something really new, interesting or simply out of the box, there are hordes of editors and reviewers who just don’t get it – and thus refuse to let it be printed. E.g., Stanley Prusiner’s career (and the eventual Nobel) was rescued basically at the last minute by a lucky connection that resulted in a grant from Philip Morris.
August 28, 2011 at 11:35 pm
Nanonymous, thanks for your comment. We will say more on these issues when (if) Greg figures out how to turn the blog on and make it world readable. There is a thin line between supporting only established research units with a track record and corruption. Interesting times……
HCH
August 29, 2011 at 6:56 pm
Looking forward to the new blog getting active.
I’m not sure if I ever saw “Annie Hall”, which scene is that?
The name Prusiner didn’t ring a bell and I had to check wikipedia. That reminded me that not too long ago I read someone express skepticism about his prion theory. I’m not sure who it was though. Maybe Seth Roberts.