Racial classification?

[Dustin Kesselberg]

I've been looking at this messageboard called "skadi". It's basically some German Nationalist message board.

Anyway...On the board they have "Anthropology and Taxonomy" areas where they discuss the variations of races and variations within various races. They have an area where members can post pictures of themselves or moviestars and other members classify them according to their race based on their physical features. Features such as skintone,Height,Eye shape,Head shape,Nose shape,Forehead size..ect


I find this to be extremly absurd. Mostly for the reason that things like Headshape and Forehead size aren't limited to any specific race. There exist more variation WITHIN a specific 'race' for headshape than there exist between the various races. Meaning I as a caucasian am more likely to have a headshape similar to someone of another race than I am with someone within my own race.

For instance classifying George Bush to a specific subrace of the caucasian race just based on his physical features. Not knowing anything about his family history. Seems alot like pseudo science and guesswork to me.

What does everyone else think?

 

[Lonewulf]

I'd have to test it out, and see how accurately they can identify certain individual's genetics...

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Genetic research has shown our concepts of race and classification of humans to be incorrect. While there are genes one inherits and family lines of genetic traits, there are no "races". There are no unique genetic traits all blacks or all caucasians have in common for example. No human group has been isolated from the others long enough to have developed a distinct race.

More blacks might have sickle cell trait than whites, but sickle cell trait doesn't define the black race. You might have a gene that gives you light or dark complexion but not all people with light or dark complexion have the same genes to get their complexion. Essentially, we are all "out of Africa".

Am.Ass.Physical Anthropologists Statement on Biological Aspects of Race

All humans living today belong to a single species, Homo sapiens, and share a common descent. Although there are differences of opinion regarding how and where different human groups diverged or fused to form new ones from a common ancestral group, all living populations in each of the earth's geographic areas have evolved from that ancestral group over the same amount of time. Much of the biological variation among populations involves modest degrees of variation in the frequency of shared traits. Human populations have at times been isolated, but have never genetically diverged enough to produce any biological barriers to mating between members of different populations.

Race, The power of an Illusion

The Myth of Race: America's Original Science Fiction

On the Concept of Biological Race and Its Applicability to Humans

Evidence for Gradients of Human Genetic Diversity Within and Among Continents

Our results show that when individuals are sampled homogeneously from around the globe, the pattern seen is one of gradients of allele frequencies that extend over the entire world, rather than discrete clusters. Therefore, there is no reason to assume that major genetic discontinuities exist between different continents or "races."

Whatever this board is about, my guess is it isn't about science.