Do some races have inherent traits that are superior to other races?

Question

Whether those traits are playing basketball, managing money, doing math, or having ingenuity. Of course genetics only determines risk not destiny, but are some races genetically superior in certain tasks than other races? Thus the stereotypes?

Answer 1

Of course. Present day africans are stronger thats why the rest of us got our *** kicked out of Africa. But we have adapted and so now we may have the upper hand. But for how long I dont know.

For all you morons who keep insisting that there is only fleeting differences with the races, you need to open your eyes and take a better look. Freaking morons.

Answer 2

I think the certain races have superiority in different ways due to environment and diet. Black people from Africa have stronger bones because of what they ate they also got lots of sun. Asian people aren't prone to many cancers because of the antioxidant rich diet, they also i high IQ because of the omega 3 acids found in fish. I think all races have genetic traits iq is based on a test so all people are of the same intellignece isnt exactly true but its close diet rich in fish helps but its not everything. Athletisim is related to testosterone that could be due to high protein diet.

Answer 3

I think in general - yes. But I could be wrong.

I don't see hardly anyone of  European descent sprint in the finals at the world track meets. Is it because they are not as motivated to win in sprint races? I truely wonder. I have heard coaches say "quickness is not taught."  

And would like to say that stating an honest observation is not being racist.

Answer 4

Sure.  I can process more sunlight to create vitamin D than a darker skinned person, while they're less likely to get melanoma when repeatedly exposed to the sun.  I can process lactose, unlike people in many other races.  However, I can't survive on as little water as Australian aboriginals can.

But you're asking about more complicated traits than I am, and there's no scientific evidence that there are any racial differences.  Of course some peoples tend to be taller than others, although that's no absolute.  However, there are so many other things that go into a great basketball player- grace, strength, endurance, hand-eye coordination, spacial reasoning skills, to name just a few- that having a leg up in that one trait may very well not do you any good at all.  In general, too, while there may be huge differences in different kinds of intelligence (another thing that depends on numerous traits) or personality between individuals, there is no evidence that there are differences between the average in populations.  Believe me, the social Darwinists tried and failed to find them.

The stereotypes more likely come from attempts to explain or justify the status quo.  Your average slave owner of 200 years ago felt quite justified in making slaves of what he saw as stupid, vile, beastlike people who needed nothing more than to be worked hard and whipped.  He probably would have had a lot more trouble with the concept of enslaving people who were just as intelligent and caring and gentle as he and his family could be.  And who could commit mass murder against people respected as much as yourself?  But if you're just trying to wipe out vermin so that God-fearing, hard-working folk can make a life for themselves, then it's okay.

Answer 5

Yes, some do inherit genes that enhance their abilities to perform specific tasks.  One has to approach this carefully to avoid stereotyping Chinese basket ball players or African Mathematicians.  We do know some groups have a natural propensity to perform certain tasks better than other groups, but this has nothing to do with skin color which is used by the majority to classify people. West Africans produce far more sprinters than other groups & in a 40 meter dash, I'd bet a West African would beat the East African (all other factors being equal) but in a 10KM run I'd bet on the East African.

This is because the groups have been exposed to different evolutionary pressures.

Asia & Africa are such large continents that most people don't get enough exposure to the diversity to form an accurate opinion of the populations there.  Living around bushmen (pygmy populations) would give the illusion that Africans are all short people.

If one were more specific with the term "race" they would find some haplogroups inherit specific traits that give them an advantage in some fields (a probability scale.)  Because of the slave trade, most non Africans draw their view of Africans from West Africans (haplogroup L2).  African mitochondrial haplogroups are typically (oldest to newest) L0, L1, L2, L3, N & M.  I don't remember all the Y chromosomes haplogroups but they start with A.

To answer the question... yeah, to some degree, but it isn't cast in stone.

Answer 6

Sure the race known as pre-dispostion to cancer is known to be poor smokers.

Or do you mean skin color, becaus that's bunk.

Answer 7

Some blacks do have a higher ratio of fast twitch muscles and are faster runners.  For evidence, watch the Olympics.  Of course they tend to be superior in certain races.  pardon the pun.  

Stereotypes don't work well for individuals that are not at the extreme.  They tend to overlap.  Mental powers should not be included because they are likely largely driven by culture so it is hard to know what is due to race.

Answer 8

Yes, I think the human race is very superior to oh .. say.. slugs.  :-)

Answer 9

some traits are adaptive traits. For instance jumping favors longer legs, while swimming favors less dense bones and a bigger chest cavity.

Answer 10

I think you can say that the races exhibit differences -- whether some are superior or not depends on context, and who is doing the judging. For example, being 6'3" and 200 pounds is good in a fistfight, but bad slogging through the Southeast Asian heat where being 5'6" and 130 pounds gives you the evolutionary edge. So which is superior?

Stereotypes are dangerous. Because people use them as a lazy shortcut for understanding others.

But that is not your question. Which is an interesting one. The problem is separating race and culture -- nature or nurture. I don't know, but I think there is far more to nurture, and individual ability, than the stereotypes allow for.

(Who ever thought that an Asian man would play in the NBA?)