Is race a sign of evolution?

This is not meant to be offensive in any way. Does anyone else believe that race could be a sign of evolution. Some races are more athletic than others for the most part, some races seem to be more based on technology and less on athletic ability.

There's no such thing as race from a genetic point of view. Your DNA and my DNA may have more similiarities than my DNA and that of another ethnic-Malay.

You can say there are different ethnic groups, but there's no such thing as race. Some ethnic groups appear more athletic than others because it is in their culture to be athletic, just as it is some other culture's way to develop science and technology.

It's all due to cultural learning and norms. Like in Japan, it is their current culture to copycat and improve, as it is their culture to go crazy with electronics. Likewise in Brazil it is their culture to play good Soccer, so you have plenty of good Brazilian soccer players.

I would have to say yes, evolution never stops and it effects humans just as much as animals. The reason we have what we call races is a direct result of evolution. In evolution if you dont use something you lose it. When humans left Africa and moved farther north they didn't need dark skin as much and thus that gene became less prominent in northern populations.

Not that any race is a higher evolution then any other, just humans have evolved in slighty different ways depending on where they lived. Homosapiens havent really been around long enough to see any major changes.

ShadowXIX,

That may explain skin colour, but it doesn't explain what the original poster is asking -- why some cultures/ethnic groups have a predisposition to technology or athletic abilities and such.

Anyways I stand by my assertion that there's no such thing as races, just different ethnicities and different cultures.

I think you might be on to something here. It certainly seems that each race has certain attributes that make them more proficient at certain activities. Whether it's evolution or not, i can't say, but I cannot believe it is solely dependant on culture.

Your DNA and my DNA may have more similiarities than my DNA and that of another ethnic-Malay.

i can't agree with that when we are taught that our dna very different in each person. yes it has the same genetic makings but if our dna was all the same we'd all look very much the same.

And our race is one of the many things that separates our dna from everyone else's.

i agree that each race has more fine tuned attributes than others but i feel that that is a matter of culture and genetics. Your lifestyle especially, is what makes you better at somethings than others.

You could take a knew born baby straight out of africa and let the child grow up with a family of different race .That doesn't mean that because they are african they won't pick up certain attributes like the seductive lingo.
But it doesn't mean they won't keep other attributes that are prominent in their parents, for instants athletics.

They can be educated just as well as anyone else. I think it all comes down to how your brought up.

[edit on 24-2-2006 by spearhead]

spearhead,

I said similiarities, I didn't say it was the exact same copy. I'm trying to find that research I read that said that there is more genetic variance between individuals within a 'racial subset' then there is between individuals from two different 'racial subsets'.

That's what I meant by that line you quoted.

sorry, still doesn't sound the way you wanted it to even after that.

Race...............Ethnicity.................Splitting hairs !!!

Yes, it's true that everyones DNA is similar. But then we all share a common ancestor in Mitochondrial Eve (150,000 years ago) and so we all share the same DNA that every common ancestor before that passed down. We even have the complete DNA make up of a Nemotode incorporated into this vast biological database.

Anyway, I'll throw Bone density into this debate. Black Africans, or descendents, have a higher bone density than European whites and their descendents. The theory has been advanced that Black women are less likely to fracture bones but that this extra bone density disadvantages black swimmers.

This and many other more visible differences between races/ethnic groups leads me to state catagorically that race is a clear indication of evolution in geographical isolation.

However, globalisation ( the opposite of isolation) should see those differences eventually diminish.

[edit on 24-2-2006 by John bull 1]

Darn it, I've been trying to look for more info on what I just said, but it seems there are many schools of thought concerning this race issue, some for and some against it.

Contemporary views on race

Do human races exist?

• Racial realism
  - Racial naturalism: races are important biological or natural kinds
  - Racial constructionism: races are not biological kinds, but they are social constructs
  
• Racial skepticism: race does not exist
  

I suppose I follow the 'constructionism' school of thought, but I find the biological 'lineage concept of race' quite compelling, too.

Wiki

"A subspecies (race) is a distinct evolutionary lineage within a species. This definition requires that a subspecies be genetically differentiated due to barriers to genetic exchange that have persisted for long periods of time; that is, the subspecies must have historical continuity in addition to current genetic differentiation."
--Templeton (1998)

It's a fuzzy distinction, like the following graph suggests:

Originally posted by John bull 1

However, globalisation ( the opposite of isolation) should see those differences eventually diminish.

[edit on 24-2-2006 by John bull 1]

Thats a important factor for the equation and one we cant really compare with other animals. We can move to radically different eviroments in the a blink of a eye from a evolution stand point.

Another important factor is Sexual selection which can trump practical evolution every time. But with humans the waters have also been muddy in that respect.

Say one area on men find large breast attractive, women of that area can now get breast implants attract males that desire that gene even though the women does not have that gene and cannot pass it on.

What people consider attractive can also vary a great deal depending on the area.

www.thingsasian.com...

This for example is very attractive to many men in some areas of the world. Not so much in say the US.

Due to Abovetopsecret being a deny ignorance I will state which I believe is denying ignorance.

What people believe are different races (in fact just different collections of dna) do in fact have different aspects to other collections of 'dna'.

Yes there are differences between different cultures of people, but in essence we are all these same - whether or not we have a dispostion on certain genetic values.

Hopefully we will lose our hatred of others due to their 'dna' and get along as a human family rather than seperate 'species' (or sub-families) as others (hitler for eg) have put us out to be.

- Nazgarn

[edit on 24-2-2006 by nazgarn]

So what, you got your blacks, japs, and whities. Wooo Weeee pa, let's start some racial cleansing!

We're all of the SAME race/species. Homo Sapiens. Say it with me. Doesn't matter what genetic variation's there is allowing for different color's. Let's segregate the red head's from the blonde's too while we're at it.

Believe it or not, each individuals have only 0.1% difference in the strcuture of our DNA protein, the other 99.99% are identical. But it is that 0.1% difference in our genes that makes each of us unique and one of a kind.

Are we trying to sing kumbayah?

Yes we are similar. Heck chimpanzees are 99% genetically similar to humans. Why don't we celebrate are differences.

Taysachs(sic) disease, sickle cell, Females have bettter hearing, men have better spatial abilities. We have seemingly genetic differences. SO WHAT?

So we were all made differently for a purpose, and whatever with the evolution idea. I heard some awesome stuff was going on back in the day and I don't attribute it to flights of the imagination. You think we can't remember past the last 10,000 or so years because paper hadn't been invented yet? HaHaHa. The contrast between the races are just too great, there are just too many holes. I would think (if the end of the world wasn't coming and crap wasn't going to start going down this year and if we had enough time and if research wasn't being suppresed like it is), we'd find sooo many holes and find out so many things about our history that it would paint a much different picture of who we are and where we came from than we think right now. There just isn't enough time though....

Despite what you think chimpanzees are not 99% genetically similar to humans. Where did you get that from.

Originally posted by bigpappadiaz
So we were all made differently for a purpose, and whatever with the evolution idea. I heard some awesome stuff was going on back in the day and I don't attribute it to flights of the imagination. You think we can't remember past the last 10,000 or so years because paper hadn't been invented yet? HaHaHa. The contrast between the races are just too great, there are just too many holes. I would think (if the end of the world wasn't coming and crap wasn't going to start going down this year and if we had enough time and if research wasn't being suppresed like it is), we'd find sooo many holes and find out so many things about our history that it would paint a much different picture of who we are and where we came from than we think right now. There just isn't enough time though....

Oh c'mon now... I'm so sick of ignorant ppl claiming it's the end of the world! How many time's have we heard this pure BS for the past 2000ish years huh? TOO MANY! How much longer are we going to sit here and put up with such ignorance? Damn ... almost wish it were the end of the world so we wouldn't have to endure people like this anymore!

Well it was pure BS those last 2000 years, but now it really is crappinin. And you'll put up with it as long as it takes for it to finally end, and it shouldn't be much longer for you to realize that's coming. But back to races and evolution,

No, I think they're not a sign. I don't think geographic isolation fully accounts for the vast differences seen in all the peoples of the world, just like independent origination doesn't account for all the ancient history shared and striking similarities between these seemingly "isolated" people.