[–] Inquisitioner 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Your worldview is incoherent and fatally flawed
It is entirely coherent. We're made of matter and energy, we follow its rules. Until we see evidence that a person can defy the rules of matter and energy, I see no reason to believe otherwise.
corporeal characteristics determine behaviour
It's already been proven that for the most part, they do. We're already hunting down the individual genes that determine traits, and have so far found around 10% of behavioral genes directly.
like the many highly skilled, moral, intelligent pure-blooded Africans who far exceed in work ethic and morality
Genetic influence is probabilistic, so we would expect that outliers would form in large populations, but the large populations themselves have an even higher genetic correlation with their differences than individuals, up into the 90%+ range, AND they have a tendency towards genetic mean behaviors over time. So, you COULD make Africans to all become engineers, but you would need to apply constant, tremendous effort and resources, more than the world has available right now, endlessly to make it happen. The instant you stop applying those efforts, regression to racial mean behavior commences; hence why the Congo went from being a decent Belgian colony to being just another African hellhole the moment they were granted autonomy. That is because nature isn't something you can beat by rambling about the consciousness or the spirit. The only way you can make your method work is with White Imperialism, whereby you force your White virtues on alien peoples, to whom these values do not come naturally.
[–] PeaceSeeker ago (edited ago)
It is not, for the reasons I stated and many others. There are many things whose existence is self-evident which plainly cannot be reduced to matter, and so upholding an ideology that claims unfalsifiably that all things are reducible to matter is untenable.
It is not a matter of defying matter; insofar as we are material we obey immaterial principles that pertain to matter. Insofar as we are immaterial (our spirit) we obey immaterial principles that pertain to the immaterial. These very "rules of matter" you cite are by their nature immaterial. So is Truth itself.
No, it has not. Characteristics have been associated with genetics because characteristics are corporeal. Behaviour has not been and cannot be associated with genetics because behaviour is linked to the free will, whose existence is also self-evident and which cannot be reduced to material as I've already explained.
Traits != Behaviour.
Now calculate the probability of entire villages changing their behaviour entirely after baptism and catechesis. This isn't a matter of outliers; it is a causal connection between grace and the power of the free will over behaviour.
[–] Inquisitioner 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
It already has, and to a statistically significant degree. Take birds as an example. Their temperament, practices, rituals, etc. are all controlled by their genes.
The key point being "insofar." How far is it? Not very. The wiggle-room within which free will could exist is the realm of quantum physics, as it is inherently very wild and unpredictable. When you go from the quantum level to the neuronal level, that wild-factor is, while real, not nearly as significant as the deterministic behaviors.
After 4 generations of no outside pressure by the Vatican, minimal change will have occurred. This already happened with Islam. Africans went from writing voodoo symbols on their voodoo charms, to writing Koranic verses on those same voodoo charms. All that changed was the coat of paint, because the underlying element (Africans) was still the same.
Behavior is a trait.