I've heard it all now!

[snaw]

"modern humans, Homo sapiens, evolved once in Africa and subsequently colonized the rest of the world replacing, without mixing with them, archaic forms such as the Homo neanderthalensis and the Homo erectus,"

So if Nordics and Orientals share a common ancestor who walked out of Africa why have the Africans who remained singularly failed to match that evolution?

Is it because the ones who didn't walk out were somehow less evolved and therefore failed to develop (surely the search for food would have been the driver and therefore consistent across both groups), or is climate the driver, and finding cooler climates somehow triggered a development phase

Sorry to burst your bubble of ignorance but genetically there's virtually no difference. In fact it's quite likely two 'white' people can have a greater genetic difference than a white/black person.

You're confusing cultural issues with genetic issues, which all leads invariably to that rather dangerous road Hitler walked down (Superiority of certain races over others etc).

Rewind the European clock several hundred years an you'd have struggled to call Europeans 'evolved'. Biggest factors in our cultural evolution can be laid at things such as climate, resources, environmental influences etc.

We're on top just now but that already appears to be waning and in 1000 years who's to say some African nation won't be the big cheeses of the day and look on us with the contempt that's a wee bit evident here.

[DimPrawn]

Humans are genetically closer to Apes than Indian Elephants are to African Elephants.

[Spartacus]

So why is it then that blacks have such good rhythm, but can't swim for toffee?

[Gold Dalek]

Sorry to burst your bubble of ignorance but genetically there's virtually no difference. In fact it's quite likely two 'white' people can have a greater genetic difference than a white/black person.

You're confusing cultural issues with genetic issues, which all leads invariably to that rather dangerous road Hitler walked down (Superiority of certain races over others etc).

Rewind the European clock several hundred years an you'd have struggled to call Europeans 'evolved'. Biggest factors in our cultural evolution can be laid at things such as climate, resources, environmental influences etc.

We're on top just now but that already appears to be waning and in 1000 years who's to say some African nation won't be the big cheeses of the day and look on us with the contempt that's a wee bit evident here.

Genetically we share 98.5% of our DNA with Chimpanzees, a small but significant difference would you not agree?

If you accept the theory that all the worlds population walked out of Africa, displaced the neatherdals, established all the centres of civilisation, then you have to wonder why those that did not walk out of Africa failed to advance as much.

You can call it ignorance to have posed the question in the first place, but you then go on to propose theories such as climate, resources, environment etc. as possible causes; so you at least appear to be conceding the point- and if so why did other tribes/races on comparable latitudes within the tropics achieve more

It would be interesting to see if your 1000 years actually made a difference – is Africa now comparable to Europe 1000 A.D.?

[The Lone Gunman]

but can't swim for toffee?

Bone structure and density so I am told. It appears that bone structure and density make their bodies negatively bouyant which means although they can swim they expend much more energy in staying afloat than making progress.

I dont know if that is true but it is what I was told by a black swimming instructor. He might have been taking the piss.

[DimPrawn]

It's not politically correct to talk about race or genetics.

[sasguru]

Sorry to burst your bubble of ignorance but genetically there's virtually no difference. In fact it's quite likely two 'white' people can have a greater genetic difference than a white/black person.

You're confusing cultural issues with genetic issues, which all leads invariably to that rather dangerous road Hitler walked down (Superiority of certain races over others etc).

Rewind the European clock several hundred years an you'd have struggled to call Europeans 'evolved'. Biggest factors in our cultural evolution can be laid at things such as climate, resources, environmental influences etc.

We're on top just now but that already appears to be waning and in 1000 years who's to say some African nation won't be the big cheeses of the day and look on us with the contempt that's a wee bit evident here.

It is indeed true that decoding the human genome has shown that there is more genetic variation within races than between them.
I believe the current superiority of the West is due to the acceptance of one crucial idea during the renaissance: empiricism and the scientific method. However as we are now abandoning this crucial idea with ideas like post-modernism and new-age thinking, the West's superiority will decline.

[snaw]

Genetically we share 98.5% of our DNA with Chimpanzees, a small but significant difference would you not agree?

If you accept the theory that all the worlds population walked out of Africa, displaced the neatherdals, established all the centres of civilisation, then you have to wonder why those that did not walk out of Africa failed to advance as much.

You can call it ignorance to have posed the question in the first place, but you then go on to propose theories such as climate, resources, environment etc. as possible causes; so you at least appear to be conceding the point- and if so why did other tribes/races on comparable latitudes within the tropics achieve more

It would be interesting to see if your 1000 years actually made a difference – is Africa now comparable to Europe 1000 A.D.?

I think you misinterpreted me (Or maybe I didn't say it correcty). There is no genetic reason for Europe being more advanced than Africa - we essentially share the same genes, and quite possibly have more diversified genes between two 'white' people then white/black. To suggest that Africans are genetically inferior which the original question implies is what I was debating.

Why is Europe so advanced. All anyone can propose is theories, but you it's a pretty good one to state that environment, climate and resources have a pretty major development in how a culture evolves.

In the UK we were once a backwater island on the outskirts of Europe inhabited by unspohisticated barbarians. We pretty much stayed there until the Americas were found and deep sea going ships came along, then our location (An island next to a big ocean) became an advantage. The world's trade patterns changed forever and we were in a prime position to exploit it. The Middle East for long the crossroads of world trade can trace it's decline to the same time - are they genetically inferior? During the roman times ethiopia was considered a world power with an emire that stretched back into antiquity. Genetically inferior or were they superior then?

It's all about perspective.

[Mailman]

If you accept the theory that all the worlds population walked out of Africa, displaced the neatherdals, established all the centres of civilisation, then you have to wonder why those that did not walk out of Africa failed to advance as much.

What the feck are you talking about? Them darkies (including those darkies in the middle east and asia) had civilisations a heck of a lot more advanced than them whities in Europe in the same historical period.

And lets not forget the simple fact that people advance to fill the skills required to survive in their environments. Obviously if you are a darkie bushman knowing how to supply an army of half a million mad frenchmen isnt going to be high up your list of "things to do" today is it!

BTW, I hear the brownshirts are looking for new recruits too

Mailman

[Mailman]

In the UK we were once a backwater island on the outskirts of Europe inhabited by unspohisticated barbarians.

This is only partly true. The correct version should now read;

"In the UK we were once a backwater island on the outskirts of Europe inhabited by unspohisticated barbarians kept afloat by arrivals from the colonies in the Southern Sea's."

Mailman