The ancient Greeks said that the Spartans threw any deformed or sick newborns over a cliff, thus practicing eugenics. Indeed, Plato - certainly an individual with a soft spot for Sparta - himself hints at these practices in his Republic. Recent studies of human remains from one such cliff (apothetes) has shown that the remains below are those of individuals between the ages of 18 and 35 and that no children or newborns were disposed of in this manner. Researchers believe the remains are likely to be those of prisoners or traitors.
(source)
- Log in to post comments
More like this
The claim often made is that Darwin is the sine qua non of the eugenics that the Nazis used to justify their genocide.What I aim to do today is show that while it is true (and widely accepted) that Darwinism was used by eugenicists to justify the "scientific" nature of their project, particularly…
John Wilkins over at Evolving Thoughts has posted an excellent brief summary of the history of the eugenics movement. In the process, he makes a strong argument that it was genetics far more than evolution that influenced eugenecists and that the entire eugenics movement was based on the concept…
I have to wonder if the most famous denizen of the Discovery Institute in medical circles, Dr. Michael Egnor, is on vacation or something. For some reason, he's been especially active over at the Discovery Institute's repository of pseudoscience, Evolution News & Views, over the last couple…
With the internecine sniping that's been going on lately throughout ScienceBlogs ove Larry Moran's intemperate "flunk the IDiots" and "Neville Chamberlain school of evolutionists" remarks, or, more specifically, whether opposing ID requires that one oppose religion in general as well, I hesitate to…
Hi John!
Do you have time to very briefly tell me if anything went 'wrong' with spartan eugenics or was it an idea / practice that was just abandoned somewhere along the line.
History teacher at school says problems with inbreeding....
Thanks for your time. If you DON'T have time, don't worry. This is just a passing curiosity provoked by a forum I contribute to on the net......not too important...
Kindest regards, Voula Stathopoulou.
Hi John!
Do you have time to very briefly tell me if anything went 'wrong' with spartan eugenics or was it an idea / practice that was just abandoned somewhere along the line.
History teacher at school says problems with inbreeding....
Thanks for your time. If you DON'T have time, don't worry. This is just a passing curiosity provoked by a forum I contribute to on the net......not too important...
Kindest regards, Voula Stathopoulou.