What's your opinion on this guy's logic?

(read this on another site)

ARE BLACKS BETTER ATHLETES THAN WHITES?

There seems to be a disproportionate number of professional black athletes. Are blacks naturally better athletes than whites? Through evolution, did blacks develop bodies superior to whites as a result of environmental demands?

On the other side: Whites tend to score significantly higher than blacks on standardized tests of intelligence. There are exceptions, but as a collective this is true. Even in blacks schooled among whites this model rings true and was the subject of "The Bell Curve."

As a result of millions of years of evolution did the races evolve to be stronger in needed areas? Whites (Europeans) grew excess body hair to adapt to a cooler climate. Blacks developed a higher melanin content to deal with prolonged sun exposure. Asians grew an extra eye fold to deal wih the harsh wind in China, Mongolia and Siberia.

Are we the same? Are we different? Does one group have an advantage?

Message edited 12/19/2006 10:28:21 AM.

Re: What's your opinion on this guy's logic?

i read this GREAT book called "The Way We Were and it is about how people adapted biologically depending on their environment.(yes I am a dork) One thing I read about people of color is that because they lived in warm climates and ran for days on big game hunts they had more flared nostrils to allow more oxygen, longer leaner leg muscles to adapt to endurance running, darker skin to protect from the sun, etc. so yes I think there may be some biological quotient to athletic skill. But I am sure some whites also have biological attributes that help them in athletics too

Re: What's your opinion on this guy's logic?

I agree with the evolutionary observations. I think those are pretty obvious and I thought it was generally accepted that those were the reasons for those differences.

I don't think any race has an "advantage" physically per se, but yes, the races are different in some ways - on the outside - yet so much the same in the more important ways - on the inside.

The external differences balance each other out, I think. And in the end, it's almost like there are different breeds of dogs - some were bred as working dogs, sheep herders, guard dogs, etc. That doesn't make one dog better than another though.

I think evolution definitely played a role in developing the differences in the races but I don't think that means that one has a physical advantage over another. It just shows adaptation to the environment.

Re: What's your opinion on this guy's logic?

Re: What's your opinion on this guy's logic?

Re: What's your opinion on this guy's logic?

I must say that I agree with his theory and don't think there is anything "derogatory" with what he is proposing. All you need to do is turn on the television or do research on any sport team and see that there is an astonishing difference in the number of black vs. white athlete's. It's a known fact that most basketball players are black and the same with football. There are a rare few successful white players but they are few and far between when compared to their counterparts.

I do think that the theory of evolution has a lot to do with this anomoly. When looking back in history, unfortunately, black's were exposed to much more primitive conditions than white folk, for longer periods of time. This is probably why their bodies evolved differently than other people, they were in need of different skill sets to survive.