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Cheonmunka

Joined: 04 Jun 2004

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 12:45 pm Post subject:

Okay, let's get rid of the philosophy and into facts. My wife's family can actually go back on their family register many hundreds of years. Their name, written in hanja, or Mandarin character also can pinpoint their earlier origins. Her family once came from the center-north of China, and emigrated here, like so many others. 'Oh' is common surname. But, it originated in China. She said many Lee people have origins in a more southerly part of China. Go figure, most Lees I meet have yellower skin, and thinner frames than the northerly-originated slantier-eyed and pronounced foreheaded, Mongolian, Ohs. BS: Korea is one race or blood? What a croc of shit. This is the one cause of all the Xenaphobia of this place. The one thing that makes living here as a 'foreigner' unbearable. One race maybe. One race of one mixed bag of people shaken up from deeper parts of the continent. Koreans also didn't learn historical migration patterns well at school. I have an old geography schoolbook that shows some clearly disproved migration routes. Question: Are you a 'foreigner' if your parents are caucasian yet you were born here and lived all your life here and are now 40 years old? Are you still a foreigner, a 외국사람? Is Koreaness skin deep? Does it not really in the end come down to the color of your skin?

SPINOZA

Joined: 10 Jun 2005
Location: $eoul

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 4:10 pm Post subject:

Cheonmunka wrote:

Question: Are you a 'foreigner' if your parents are caucasian yet you were born here and lived all your life here and are now 40 years old? Are you still a foreigner, a 외국사람?
Is Koreaness skin deep? Does it not really in the end come down to the color of your skin?

The answer to this I think is that - yes- simply because of Caucasian features, a caucasian person born in Korea, raised in Korea, lived in Korea all their life would still be considered non-Korean, because racial heredity is so central to Koreanness (by contrast, racial heredity is peripheral to being a Dutchman or an American). Mind you, what about gyopos? They are also non-Koreans, despite being ethnically Korean. Personally, I find the Korean/Gyopo distinction reasonable, since it eliminates the possibility of something I dislike - Britons/Americans rejecting their Americanness/Britishness in favor of a foreign nationality (a country not of their birth and education). People of 100% Korean ethnicity born in, for example, Britain seeking to reject their Britishness and be 'Koreans' are in for a nasty shock because of Koreans' Korean/Gyopo distinction. I tell you what though - I know gyopo teachers in Korea (usually Korean-Americans) and the concept of a 100% ethnically Korean person being an American baffles Korean children. They're like...."no - he must be half-blood". The term 한국계 미국인 makes an appearance here, a crystal clear concept, an American of Korean parentage.

Let's compare the Korean situation with Britain. Unlike Korea, Britain has a huge number of Britons of other ethnicities - people born, bred in Britain, considered Britons, but perhaps ethnically Chinese or Indian/Pakistani. These people are considered - and hopefully consider themselves - Britons but ethnically ______. I don't see any benefit to overthrowing this. If someone wants to be a 100% Briton despite having an non-indigenous ethncity, that's absolutely fine in our book, but the most common scenario is "I'm British but ethnically ______". I know a Korean boy (born, bred, never left the ROK) with a white American father. He's not considered a Korean in the same way he'd be considered either (a) a Briton or (b) a Briton of Korean ethnicity in my country. I'm happy to add though that this boy, although it's difficult not being completely accepted and always deemed a "half-blood", is very popular and Koreans of foreign ethnicity (albeit a strong preference for white) enjoy celebrity status.

I must say, whilst we don't like the Korean views on race and Koreanness, they do at least appear internally coherent.

nateium

Joined: 21 Aug 2006
Location: Seoul

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 4:49 pm Post subject:

chriswylson wrote:

There are plenty of obvious and well-documented differences between races.

If they are well documented, then please share these documents with us.

Ok, I'll do it for you...

(the professor uses the word "race" only in the common sense of the word)
http://www.uic.edu/classes/osci/osci590/10_10Notes%20for%20Week%2010.htm

Quote:

Heat Tolerance (Harrison et al p 451)

There are two kinds of sweat glands (Overfield p 16):

* �Eccrine sweat glands cover the human body; they discharge mostly water with small quantities of electrolytes.
* �Apocrine glands excrete significant amounts of fats and and proteins along with water. They are common in other species.

.....

We are excluding here the sebaceous glands which open into the hair follicles. The sebaceous glands secrete an oily substance. The glands are poorly developed in small children. They become much more active at pubescence. Sebaceous glands are under endocrine control. (Poirier et al p 566)

The number of active sweat glands seems to be greater in persons exposed as youth to high heat loads. Sweat glands seem to be more active in darkly pigmented people. Sweat glands are under control of the autonomic nervous system. (Poirier et al p 566)

Apocrine and eccrine sweat glands vary in different groups, but sebaceous glands do not vary in different groups. (appocrine Gr = away plus Gr krinein = to separate; Gr ec = outside of; eccrine = producing a secretion without a loss of cytoplasm.

Appocrine glands become functional only after puberty (which explains the lack of underarm sweating and body odor in children.

There are fewer apocrine glands in Orientals and Native American Indians than in Blacks and Whites. Apocrine glands excrete fat and protein along with water (Poirier et al p 567).

Apocrine glands function to produce a characteristic odor. They develope close to the hair follicles. Interestingly, they appear everywhere on the body of the fetus at the 5th month IU, but then most appocrine glands regress except for the axilla, nipple, navel, anogenital area and the external canal of the ear. Wet, sticky earwax is more common in hot, moist environments (Overfield, p 17).

Apocrine glands respond to stress and sexual stimulation. In humans, the apocrine and eccrine glands work synergistically with bacteria to produce what you call body odor. We share the two glands of the armpit (the axillary organ) with the gorilla and chimpanzee. (My comment: odors are important in many primates for sexual attraction, marking territory and in lumurs--for 'stink fights'. Extracellular chemicals are extremely ancient--ranging from natural antibiotics to hormones and neurotransmitters.)

.....

The eccrine sweat glands are distributed all over the human body. In dogs, cats, and some other animals, eccrine glands are found on the digital pads and serve to enhance friction (we discussed that adaptation in our unit on dermatoglyphics.) They are most widespread in us where they have been modified for cooling. (Poirier et al p 568)

Inuits seem to show an adaptation since they sweat less on their trunks and extremities but more on their faces. (This is advantageous to traditional Eskimo where moisture in clothing is a hazard.)

The amount of chloride excreted by sweat glands varies by race: Blacks have more chloride in sweat than do whites. Acclimatized Whites excrete less chloride than unacclimatized whites-- a useful adaptation (text 452). Water loss can be considerable: in extreme temperatures young males can loose 4 liters per hour. Thus, human ancestors in tropics must have always had ready access to water (see Overfield for many details).

They could not, like camels, store it for days. Fat persons will sweat significantly more than lean individuals. Hot dry climates produce total evaporation, but in hot wet climates, sweating of of little or no value. A lower air temperature therefore is important for cooling. Work in deep mines with saturated air requires frequent rest periods to cool off.

Sweat production acclimatizes in just a few days: sweating will increase and core temperature will stabilize at a lower temperature.

In extreme desert conditions, water loss to sweating exceeds water intake even if freely available. Dehyration is a risk without ample water or in extreme conditions. Other primates handle heat less well than we do. Our ability to cope with heat suggests our tropical evolutionary origins.

.....

The sweating response is much less effective in infants (Poirier et al). Children under two years sweat poorly and irregularly and are therefore unable to cope with heat as well as adults. Handling the heat is less effective in the elderly.

In World War II, death rates in heat were 9x more for persons just 10% overweight compared to persons of normal weight.

.....

Harrison et al says that various groups show major differences when first tested under hot working conditions, but these differences largely disappear after heat acclimatization. Typically, if individuals work in the heat for 7-10 days, the differences between them almost disappears. Heat acclimatization is a near universal capability.

During acclimatization, sweat rates rise and the sweat becomes less salty; body temperature rises less and strain on the cardiovascular system decreases. Acclimatization gives us more versatility in coping with various environments and may have resulted from our long history of mobility (Bunney p 4 Cool

In principle, a small body will improve heat tolerance because of the larger surface area per unit volume compared to a big body. Long extremities will also be advantageous as these increase conductive and radiative cooling. The extremely small bodies of the pygmies in tropical Africa may have arisen from such selection but there is no experimental proof of this. People adapt behaviorally to heat in many ways. The most extreme example is air conditioning. Some of us now think AC is an entitlement.

"The human species is remarkably adaptable, and in the fullness of time, as the weather goes...so goes man."

.....

III. Cold Tolerance (Harrison p 457; see Overfield pp 137-142 for an excellent review)

A. Cold

Susceptibility to cold stress is influenced by the same factors as with heat stress--climactic experience, race, body build, physical fitness, age, and sex.

Without clothing, our cold tolerance is low, although subcutaneous fat does afford some insulation from the cold. A first defense is peripheral arterial vasoconstriction. A very heavy person can withstand more cooling than a thin one. In the inactive person, shivering begins as that person is chilled--it can increase the metabolic rate 100% above basal metabolism.

With prolonged exposure to cold, a reduction in brain temperature will lead to consciousness. Our acclimatization to cold is much less effective than it is to heat. There is some sensory acclimatization--after long exposure it bothers us less.

This is surprising since many human populations have a long history of exposure to cold. Modern humans lived in Europe and Asia during the last part of the Ice Age. Paleo-Siberians lived in some of the most extreme cold conditions; their successors persist as aboriginal peoples in Siberia and were predecessors to the Aleut-Eskimo peoples of the New World. They show some physical adaptation: flattened faces, fleshy cheeks, and epicanthic folds at the medial commissure of the eye.

Physically fit persons and ones with significant body fat do better with cold stress than the inactive and the very thin. Subcutaneous fat has low thermal conductivity and reduces loss of central body heat; the extent of protection is directly related to its thickness. Somewhat conflicting evidence indicates that fatter individuals, with more body insulation, conserve core temperature than thinner individuals. Both fat and thin persons experience similar subjective feelings of cold. There is no short term acclimatization to cold.

There is an inverse relationship between body weight and average annual temperature.

Fat is particularly beneficial in cold water. Successful swimmers of the English Channel (and more recently Cuba to Florida) tend to be women with thick fat layers.

Australian Aborigines can sleep without shelter or clothing at near freezing temperatures. This means that, while sleeping conditions cold enough to raise the metabolic heat production of Europeans by 15%, Australian Aborigines remain at basal metabolic levels. Their skin temperatures fall, too, thus decreasing heat loss.

B. Cold Adaptation (Overfield p 137)

Our first response to cold is behavior, such as putting on more clothing or a warm place.

If this is inadequate, peripheral blood vessels constrict to conserve heat. A curious phenomenon occurs: there is alternating vasodilation-vasoconstriction called variously the hunting reaction or the Lewis Curve. It is discussed in section IV below.

Shivering is the next line of defense against cold stress. It begins when skin temperature cools to 28 to 30 C. Shivering increases heat production through muscle contraction. When people are subjected to cold over several weeks, shivering decreases because a more efficient hunting reaction ensues.

.....

IV. Extremity Cooling (p 462)

When an adult immerses a finger in freezing water, there is an immediate stoppage of blood flow in that finger.

When only the hand or foot is exposed to severe cold, a phenomenon called the Lewis Wave (or Lewis Curve) is observed. There are cycles of alternating vasoconstriction and vasodilation.

This response is variable. For some, finger temperature drops and stays there.

Quote:

Men of African ancestry show much more cooling and less cycling. Europeans and Japanese have only an intermediate response. Eskimo and high altitude Peruvian American Indians have the best cold acclimatization.

With repeated exposures, the vasoconstriction response declines, rise in response to cold shock declines, and these responses are limited to the extremity exposed--all this is called habituation. Cold-acclimatized individuals develop efficient hunting reactions which protect surface tissues from cold injury, but prevent excessive heat loss from the body core.

Fisherman in Maine therefore maintain warmer hands in cold sea water than non-fishermen--a useful acclimitization. Repeated immersion in cold water diminishes the sensation of cold-induced pain.

.....

V. Population Differences in Response to Cold Stress, p 464. (also see Overfield)

(1) Total body cooling p 464.

With overnite exposure to cold, it seems that Australian Aborigines responded with lower skin temperatures, lower core temperatures, and lower metabolic rates. Other studies show that under some conditions resting metabolism and the metabolic response to cold stress may be increased. (My comment: studies of persons who have suffered extreme cultural isolation grow up insensitive to cold.)

Darkly pigmented skin, whether that of a human or some experimental animal appears to be more susceptible to frostbite than does lightly colored skin (Poirier et al p 564. Frostbite was more common in darker skinned soldiers than lighter skinned ones in both World Wars and the Korean War. Genetics seems to be the underlying factor.

.....

(2) Extremity cold stress p 466. (see Overfield pp 137-142)

When just a single extremity is chilled, vasoconstriction and rewarming was less in Blacks. In Korea, the incidence and severity of frostbite was much greater for Blacks.

Native Americans tend to maintain a higher hand or foot temperature during cold exposure than do Europeans. The Inuit maintain the highest peripheral skin temperture than any group tested. Is this a genetic adaptation? There is no clear answer.

Concluding remarks: adaptation to cold is less than it is for heat. (My note: except for cultural adaptation, our biological defenses against cold are limited.)

.....

(3) Growth and Development (see Overfield)

Does a cold climate make a difference? We said earlier it didn't in rats. There are apparently some permanent modifications in children exposed to cold. This cold response developes throughout childhood. The hunting reaction becomes more efficient. Children may increase their metabolic rates in response to cold stress more than adults.

.....

(4) Sex Differences (Overfield)

Most studies have been done on males. The few comparative studies suggest that under cold stress, women experience cooler skin differences. Strangely, over age 60, men die more frequently of excessive cold than do women over 60 years. This may result from more homelessness in older men.

(5) Maladaptation to Cold Stress (Overfield)

Frostbite and hypothermia are he severe consequences of cold exposure. Chilblains and immersion to (trenchfoot) are less severe consequences. Other short-term effects of exposure to cold include diuresis, loss of manual dexterity, loss of muscle power and speed, and extremity pain.

.....

VI. Cultural Adaptations to Cold and Biological Adaptability (see Harrison et al p 470)

The most basic material cultural adaptations are fire, shelter, and clothing. (My comment: we have a clear mindset to modify our environment, a product of our exploitive world view.)

Of all aboriginals, the Inuit were the most creative in devising clothing to cope with extreme cold.

.....

VII. Altitude Tolerance (see Harrison et al p 471)

At higher altitudes, air temperature and water vapor decline in linear fashion; radiation increases and air pressure declines. The decline in oxygen is especially stressful for humans. At 15,000 feet the pressure is much less than at sea level. The reduced level of oxygen is the main culprit causing stress to people.

Remarkably, some 25 million people live in high altitude zones in Ethiopia, South America and Tibet. There is some evidence to suggest that historically, Tibetans and Ethiopians have had a much longer exposure to high altitude.

(1) Lack of Oxygen/hypoxia Harrison et al p 472) Rapid ascent is especially stressful for lowlanders. Vigorous exercise has serious consequences with fluid accumulation in the lungs.

While red blood cell numbers increase in high altitude, it is believed to be more of a stress response than anything else. There is no evidence that a red-cell count increase increases aerobic capacity.

For those from low altitudes, the immediate response is more rapid breathing and an increased heart rate. Symptoms of distress tend to disappear with acclimatization.

The ability to cope with sustained work load is reduced in high altitude. That reduced capacity recovers with a return to low altitude.

Growing up at a high altitude seems to be critical for acquiring high altitude work capacity at sea level values. When the Olympics were in Mexico City (altitude 7,000 feet), sprints got faster but long endurance events required more time. Some athletes tried injections of red blood cells prior to events to boost their blood oxygenation effectiveness (see Poirier et al Ch 27). Muscle metabolism apparently increases in efficiency after acclimatization to high altitude (Overfield p 143).

A short-term adaptation to high altitude is hyperventilation. If this is excessive, it alters the blood chemistry with more CO2 lost than normal. The blood becomes more alkaline. Haven't you experienced lightheadedness when you hyperventilate?

.....

(2) High-altitude People (see Harrison et al p 475)

The author of the text seems to minimize body change in response to altitude; other writers are very emphatic about it.

High altitude doesn't seem to increase-or decrease life expectancy.

Pregnancy at high altitude seems to result in lower birth weights (Overfield p 47 and pp 142-143). At high altitudes, male and female birth weights are about the same. At low altitudes, males weigh more than females. Thus, altitude has less affect on female birth weight.

While birth weights decline, the weight of the placenta increases. High altitude results in lower birth rates in all races. (My note: when I visited Cuzco, Peru in May, 1998, the guide mentioned that Spanish women who came with the conquest experienced reduced fertility, frequent stillbirths, and viable babies with low birth weights.) Chronic mountain sickness is more common in men than women (Overfield p 145). Smokers suffer more than non-smokeres.

Newborns at high altitude are shorter and have smaller head diameters. Tibetan newborns seem to weigh more resulting from many generations of selection. Himalayan groups have lived at high altitudes for over 25,000 years, while Andeans have been there less than 10,000 years.

Child growth rate is decreased at high altitude during infancy and adolescence. Interestingly, their growth period can be extended into their early twenties (adult stature is attained by age 20 in females and age 22 in males. Skeletal age is significantly delayed. (Poirier et al p 612. This extended maturation enables many children to eventually achieve heights of their low altitude cousins. Menarche is delayed by about a year among Peruvian Indians, but this apparently is not so for Tibetans.

Hemoglobin values increase at high altitude. Cerebral blood flow is disturbed at high altitudes. Acute mountain sickness and pulmonary edema are two syndromes of altitude exposure. The text suggests that malnutrition may contribute to growth depression sometimes ascribed to high altitude(see Overfield for a nice section p 144).

It has long been observed that lung capacity and chest size are greater in persons living at high altitudes. (McElroy & Townsend pp 92-94) In the Andes, lifelong residents tend to be short legged, to grow slowly, and to have a large thoracic volume. They also have more red bone marrow. The more viscous blood due to more red blood cells leads to an enlarged heart.

Above 14,750 feet, a non-native cannot achieve the functional work limits that the native-born can achieve.

Andean Indians have increased muscularization of the arterioles, a response to hypoxia.

High altitude people have more red blood cells with a possible increase in blood viscosity. High altitude people seem to be well adapted compared to the experiences of short term visitors. Highland Peruvian Indians have unusually large chests and lungs (see McElroy & Townsend).

Here are some remarks on the 'high altitude phenotype' from Poirier et al, p 608: The high altitude native has the typical altitude thorax-barrel chested with relatively short stature. The enlargement accomodates expanded lung capacity. The lungs are large within extremely large capillary bed; the diaphragm is large and powerful.

The symptoms of 'mountain sickness' are nausea, shortness of breath and headaches. (My note: I experienced this in Cuzco, Peru in May, 1998.) Some people acclimatize well and others do not. The best candidates to climb Mt. Everest may be those persons from high altitude regions of the earth.

Physiological plasticity and the evolution of culture has greatly extended our ability to adapt to diverse climates--even to those of a space station such as Mir.

.....

A curious cultural adaptation in the high Andies is chewing leaves of the coca plant. The leaves are not addictive and users do not experience withdrawal. Men use it more than women. It was a religious plant in Inca precontact days. The plant aleviates fatigue, hunger and cold. It produces vasoconstriction, which conserves core body heat (McElroy and Townsend pp 229-230).

.....

(3) Monge's disease (see Poirier p 612)

One oddity not mentioned often is that some--not all--some natives in high altitude seem to lose their adaptation in adulthood. These symptoms are seen as an overadaptation of adaptive mechanisms. The red blood cell count goes astronomically high. Arterial blood pressure is twice normal value with the result that hemorrhages can be seen under the fingernails. The right ventricular hypertrophy that characterizes the native is pronounced. Often, both ventricles become enlarged. The patient becomes cyanotic. There are neuromuscular disorders that affect the thoracic cage, deformities of the spine, and emphasema. (My note: as I prepare this unit, I am reminded of Selye's general adaptation syndrome where a long period of resistance is followed by physiological collapse. Does extreme adaaptation have a price?) Who is Monge? He was a prominent Peruvian researcher earlier in this century.

.....

VIII. Other Stressors (Harrison et al p 478)

There is exposure to many other stressors in the environment. Nutrition and infectious disease affects every one of us. Smoking and its health consequences is in the news frequently. The influence of electrical transmission lines of people is an ongoing debate. Others could be cited and certainly merit concern such air pollution, preservatives in food, human crowding in large urban centers--something utterly unknown in human history prior to the rise of cities five millenia ago.

Nothing in our evolutionary past has prepared us for living in dense, crowded yet lonely urban environments.

..... CJ'99

Resources

Bunney, S. ed The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Ev0ution. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994.

Garbarino, M. and Sasso, R. Native American Heritage 3rd ed. Prospect Heights: Waveland Press, Inc., 1994.

Jamison, C. Bioanthropology B200: Bioanthropology. a learning guide. Bloomington: Indiana University Study Program, 1992.

McElroy, A. and Townsend, P. Medical Anthropology in Ecological Perspective 3rd ed. Boulder: Westview Press, 1996.

Mascie-Taylor, C. and Bogin, B. Human Variability and Plasticity. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995.

Overfield, T. Biologic Variation in Health and Illness 2nd ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 1995.

Poirier, F., Stini, W., and Wreden, L. In Search of Ourselves 5th ed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1994.

Relethford, J. The Human Species 3rd ed. Mountain View: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1996.

Sinclair, D. Human Growth after Birth 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985.

A Swede looks very different from an African Pygmy, and a Yorkshire Terrier looks very different from a Saint Bernard. The fact remains that upon closer structural and genetic examination, all existent human population groups fit neatly into Homo sapiens, and all dog breeds into Canis lupis.

"Race" can only be defined in purely superficial non-scientific terms. Some population groups have apparent minor adaptations, but no human group is superior or more "evolved" than another, because every group is equally and specifically adapted to it's environment.

There are limited examples of functional differences between population groups, but they do not necessitate a sub-species/species categorization.

Epicanthic folds

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicanthic_fold
http://waynesword.palomar.edu/lmexer6.htm

Quote:

Some genetic differences in populations are a result of natural selection working on favorable genetic combinations. For example, the adaptive advantage of darker skin pigmentation (more melanin) in racially distinct human populations of equatorial regions has been clearly demonstrated. The epicanthic fold of skin over the corners of the eyes in Asian people is an interesting racial characteristic that may have provided an adaptive advantage among ancestors of present-day Asian populations. It has been suggested that the fat-lined fold of skin above the eyelid may have protected the eye in bitterly cold weather of Mongolia.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=00055DC8-3BAA-1FA8-BBAA83414B7F0000&sc=I100322

Quote:

The Human Race
Given that people can be sorted broadly into groups using genetic data, do common notions of race correspond to underlying genetic differences among populations? In some cases they do, but often they do not. For instance, skin color or facial features--traits influenced by natural selection--are routinely used to divide people into races. But groups with similar physical characteristics as a result of selection can be quite different genetically. Individuals from sub-Saharan Africa and Australian Aborigines might have similar skin pigmentation (because of adapting to strong sun), but genetically they are quite dissimilar.

In contrast, two groups that are genetically similar to each other might be exposed to different selective forces. In this case, natural selection can exaggerate some of the differences between groups, making them appear more dissimilar on the surface than they are underneath. Because traits such as skin color have been strongly affected by natural selection, they do not necessarily reflect the population processes that have shaped the distribution of neutral polymorphisms such as Alus or short tandem repeats. Therefore, traits or polymorphisms affected by natural selection may be poor predictors of group membership and may imply genetic relatedness where, in fact, little exists.

Interestingly enough, Hitlers proposed superior "Aryan race" was most readily identifiable using traits (blond hair and blue eyes) that may not provide any survival advantage (environmental adaptation) at all!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blond
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_selection

Quote:

Canadian anthropologist Peter Frost, under the aegis of University of St Andrews, published a study in March 2006 in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior that says blond hair evolved very quickly at the end of the last Ice Age by means of sexual selection.[4] According to the study, the appearance of blond hair and blue eyes in some northern European women made them stand out from their rivals at a time of fierce competition for scarce males. The study argues that blond hair was produced higher in the Protonordic-Cro-Magnoid type (Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal interbred) descended population of the European region because of food shortages 10,000-11,000 BC. Almost the only sustenance in northern Europe came from roaming herds of mammoths, reindeer, bison and horses and finding them required long, arduous hunting trips in which numerous males died (extinct both Neanderthals and original Cro-Magnons in Europe), leading to a high ratio of surviving women to men, then a lot of women born with blond hair and blue eyes, and only big blond-haired blue-eyed young men are alive (a lot of males dead). This hypothesis argues that women with blond hair posed an alternative that helped them mate and thus increased the number of blondes.

According to the authors of The History and Geography of Human Genes (1994), blond hair became predominant in Northern Europe until about 3000 BC among the recently arrived Proto-Indo-European settlers though the trait spread quickly through sexual selection into Scandinavia when that area was settled because men found women with blond hair attractive.[5][6]

samd

Joined: 03 Jan 2007

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 1:59 am Post subject:

Great thread! Apart from Chriswylson...

mj roach

Joined: 16 Mar 2003

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 8:38 pm Post subject:

Given that Chimp/Human share a high % of DNA when this topic comes up - a simple reminder that it's a full time job just to be human similarities are greater than differences topic usually goes flat and changes however, Koreans need to believe something

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