Languages, Genes, and Cultures

This paper examines three situations in which distances between languages, genes, and cultures matter. The first is concerned with the determinants that govern the learning of foreign languages. One of these is the “difficulty” of the foreign language, represented by the distance between the native and the foreign language. The second case deals with the formation and breaking-up of nations. Here, it is suggested that genetic distances between regions with diversified populations (such as between the Basque country and the rest of Spain) need to be “compensated” by more generous transfer systems if the nation wants to avoid secession-prone behavior. The last case looks at a very popular cultural event, the Eurovision Song Contest, in which nations are represented by singers who are ranked by an international jury that consists of citizens chosen in each participating country. It is shown that what is often considered as logrolling in voting behavior is rather generated by voting for culturally and linguistically close neighbors. Copyright Springer Science + Business Media, Inc. 2005