I forget where I first read this, but one theory is that during the Middle Ages there was a strong selection for neurotic, manipulative, greedy Jews. Basically, the Jews who lived outside the cities and farmed, etc. converted to Christianity or Islam and just stopped considering themselves Jewish. The ones in the cities gravitated towards banking, etc.
The people who stuck with that identity selected for having an extremely strong ingroup preference. It's why you'll see "atheist" Jews and Orthodox Jews uniting whenever it is beneficial for them, and why "remembering the Holobunga" is the most important part of being a Jew to American Jews.
TL;DR if you were a normal person over the last couple thousand years you probably stopped considering yourself Jewish after a while.
Well cities are often cesspools so I can see how a group descended entirely from affluent urbanites could have a lot of negative, culturally entrenched baggage.
You say 'selected'. Do you mean in terms of genetics? Of course I'm willing to accept IQ being inherited genetically, and I'll even grant you 'neurotic', but I'm not sold on 'greedy' and 'manipulative' being hereditary traits (if that's what you meant).
I think of ingroup preference as something that most groups have, only it's beaten and shamed out of the ones that aren't allowed to have it. But it's very plausible that being kicked out a bunch of countries and developing a 'it's us against the world' mindset would kick it into overdrive.
But it's an interesting theory, thank you for sharing it.
I forget where I first read this, but one theory is that during the Middle Ages there was a strong selection for neurotic, manipulative, greedy Jews. Basically, the Jews who lived outside the cities and farmed, etc. converted to Christianity or Islam and just stopped considering themselves Jewish. The ones in the cities gravitated towards banking, etc.
The people who stuck with that identity selected for having an extremely strong ingroup preference. It's why you'll see "atheist" Jews and Orthodox Jews uniting whenever it is beneficial for them, and why "remembering the Holobunga" is the most important part of being a Jew to American Jews.
TL;DR if you were a normal person over the last couple thousand years you probably stopped considering yourself Jewish after a while.
Well cities are often cesspools so I can see how a group descended entirely from affluent urbanites could have a lot of negative, culturally entrenched baggage.
You say 'selected'. Do you mean in terms of genetics? Of course I'm willing to accept IQ being inherited genetically, and I'll even grant you 'neurotic', but I'm not sold on 'greedy' and 'manipulative' being hereditary traits (if that's what you meant).
I think of ingroup preference as something that most groups have, only it's beaten and shamed out of the ones that aren't allowed to have it. But it's very plausible that being kicked out a bunch of countries and developing a 'it's us against the world' mindset would kick it into overdrive.
But it's an interesting theory, thank you for sharing it.