The meaning of 'diagonstic', 'statistical', and 'in nature'

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the meaning of 'diagonstic', 'statistical', and 'in nature'

The passage below is from ‘the Blank Slate’ by Steven Pinker.

http://evolbiol.ru/blankslate/blankslate.htm

Wilson was called a “determinist,'” someone who believes that human societies conform to a rigid genetic formula. But this is what he had written:

The first and most easily verifiable ?diagnostic trait [about human societies] is ?statistical ?in nature. The parameters of social organization ... vary far more among human populations than among those of any other primate species.... Why are human societies this flexible?

In this passage I'd like to ask the respective meaning of the underlined words.
I have my answers.

'?diagnostic' seems to have the meaning of 'particular, peculiar'.
(Am I right?)

'?statistical' doesn't have any other meaning except 'of, pertaining to, consisting of, or based on statistics' in several dictionaries I checked out. But I don't think this meaning fits well in with this context.
(Could you give me any illuminating suggestion?)

'?in nature' seems to have the meaning of 'naturally'.
(Am I right?)

Regards.

Teechr · Accepted Answer

Stenka25?diagnostic' seems to have the meaning of 'particular, peculiar'.(Am I right?)

You're right, but I would have used "characteristic" instead.

Stenka25'?statistical' doesn't have any other meaning except 'of, pertaining to, consisting of, or based on statistics' in several dictionaries I checked out. But I don't think this meaning fits well in with this context.(Could you give me any illuminating suggestion?)

The clue is in "vary far more." That suggests that you'll get all sorts of figures and statistics.

Stenka25?in nature' seems to have the meaning of 'naturally'.(Am I right?)

It means "in its nature."

Stenka25 · Answer

Thanks a lot as always, teechr<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Teechr · Answer

You're welcome.
I see you've got a fair bit to go before you finish reading that text!

CalifJim · Answer

Stenka25The first and most easily verifiable ?diagnostic trait ... is ...

A diagnostic trait is a trait by which we may "diagnose" something, as doctors diagnose diseases by, for example, testing blood. Thus, various measurements of blood are "diagnostic traits" of the presence of, say, diabetes.

It seems that the specific diagnostic trait that Wilson is referring to is the variability of human social organization that is mentioned in the next sentence.

Stenka25... is ?statistical ?in nature.

~ is of a statistical kind.

"in nature" is like "in kind":
Marilyn's problems are psychological in nature. (They have to do with Marilyn's psychology, her mental states.)
The discussion was political in nature. (It was a discussion of political matters.)
The student's questions were general in nature. (The student asked general kinds of questions.)
____________

In this sentence (The first ... in nature.) we get a description of what kind of trait this "first trait" is, namely, that it is a kind of trait that can only be described in terms of statistics. In other words, we must use statistics to study the variability of human social organization.

CJ

Stenka25 · Answer

Thanks a lot for your encouragement, teechr<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/2.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/2.gif' alt='Emotion: big smile'/>

Stenka25 · Answer

Thanks a lot for your illuminating reply, CJ.
It never occurred to me that 'nature' in 'in nature' can be used in this way.
Thanks a million.

The meaning of 'diagonstic', 'statistical', and 'in nature'

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