Topic: Something rather controversial . . .

[FastGuppy]

Okay every day I hear white men can't jump. It's almost an accepted fact. I don't want to believe it, but it seems like there is more proof out there that suggests that different races seem to have different genetic talents. Yes, white people absorb vitamin D, black people block out harmful UV rays. When whites died off like flies from malaria blacks survived quite well, and of course, as Steve said, Asians are used to white rice.

However, my argument is could it be a cultural and historical reason? African cultures have often been oppressed by "civilized" countries for hundreds of years. hundreds of years later, there seem to be more African-Americans outside playing basketball or working out than whites or other races.

If different races had different genetic talents that would elevate bigotry. This is something I'm not too fond of because most of my friends are African-American. I grew up with mainly African-Americans.

[ZacharyCohn]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwr5NdxVoZs

White man can jump, you just have to practice.

[Chris Salvato]

I am tempted to move this to the Socialize board.  What is your fitness question or concern?

[Steven Low]

Practice + strength

In general, black people (from americas) have higher proportions of fast twitch fibers than normal (because they were the best/biggest slaves) and the people from west africa have higher proportions of slow switch because of the surrounding geography. This is true.

Does having superior genetics for sports/athleticism make someone superior? No.

Basically do the best with what you're born with.

[FastGuppy]

I am tempted to move this to the Socialize board.  What is your fitness question or concern?

I was kind of thinking that as well. I don't know how much of it is really fitness, but I was curious of the scientific part of it. If we had any evidence that different races are more genetically superior to others.

edit:
IRT Steve

In general, black people (from americas) have higher proportions of fast twitch fibers than normal (because they were the best/biggest slaves) and the people from west africa have higher proportions of slow switch because of the surrounding geography. This is true.

But it seems that the hard labor would be different than strength/power training. Maybe my history lacks, but what happened that they got them so strong/fast? I have always thought that many were malnourished and overworked. There have been plenty of instances  and attempts of other atrocities and genocides where millions of men, women and children were worked hard yet there was no phenomenal athletes that came from it. There are also plenty of warriors in history that have worked out for years.

[FastGuppy]

I looked a bit more into it. In some of my classwork for next semseter.

The term for genetically superior races is Biological Determinism, if anyone is interested I found this page on google.

http://library.thinkquest.org/C004367/ph6.shtml

[Hazim Salem]

My hypothesis stems from Le Methode Naturelle. Black people in the Americas where generally tribesmen. Living in Africa for a very long time, according to MN, will make them "superior" and ideal on the physical, athletic side. On the other side, the Europeans for thousands of years lived in more urbanized settings. They did work the farm and lift heavy stuff, but their environment was less natural. Even if some lived in small villages, the ones who immigrated to America were city folks.
My point is, in America, Black people had less generations exposed to urban environments, so they kind of retained their potential physical abilities. Europeans, however, were long living in close to urban settings, so they lost some degree of athletic ability. So if a white couple go "adam and eve" in some Tropical spot and their descendants manage to survive, you got a really strong "race". This is my hypothesis, nothing proven with any real evidence.

[Chris [.5gibbon] Stevenson!]

this might be total bs, but i have heard that black people generally produce more testosterone than other races. this would increase muscle gain, athleticism, and explain why some brothas are so jacked if it is correct. 

[KC Parsons]

From what I've been exposed to, it seems like some of the influence might be environmental and cultural as well. Parental stress on athletics and activity may be more predominant in African-American families than in Caucasian families.

As far as the malnutrition and overworked slaves, those were [most likely] the ones that died, so their genes weren't passed on to a next generation. Or, if they had reproduced before death, their children still ran the same risk of not surviving through the harsh treatment. Perhaps high recoverability is what helps contribute to their perceived natural level of athleticism.

Anywho, this is all just our spitballin', nothing for sure.

[FastGuppy]

I answered my own question I guess finding my information. I confirmed my belief that races don't have different talents.

[Chris Salvato]

I hear elves are naturally light-footed and good with a bow.

[FastGuppy]

I hear elves are naturally light-footed and good with a bow.

Different species than man, although middle-earth and elves do exist.

[Spencer B]

I heard sedentary, untrained Dwarves can squat 2x their BW right of the bat! 

[Hazim Salem]

Hobbits are alcoholic by nature. But that's probably genetic.

[tentonbrick]

here's an article I have on my computer that relates. No clue where it's from.

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Are whites smarter than blacks? Are men better than women at science? Those are the stereotypes. But now psychologists say, wait a second, you don't understand the power of a stereotype. One study showed that women who watched commercials with stereotypical ditzy females before taking a math test scored 38 percent lower than women who didn't see the ads. The Kaplan Education and Test Prep company helped us run similar tests. And sure enough: Even in our unscientific test, the women who viewed the sexist commercials did worse. This stereotype effect has been found in study after study, said New York University psychology professor Joshua Aronson "We found that just reminding the women that they were college students at a selective college overcame the gender gap. However, when we reminded them that they were women, the gap widens," Aronson said. Aronson said that when he reminds Asians that Asians do well in math, their scores go up. Then what does the stereotype that blacks test poorly do to a black person about to take a test? "The situation of taking an IQ test for a black kid is so loaded that it's not a direct measure of their intelligence," Aronson said. He found he could change blacks' scores simply by what he told them before the test. "Tell people taking that test that this isn't a test at all, that it's a puzzle, and the black students' scores jump dramatically," Aronson said. Proof, according to Aronson, that mind-set matters. That was also found in golf experiments done by Jeff Stone at the University of Arizona. The test is designed to measure the personal factors that correlate with your natural athletic ability. First, black and white students are told that the miniature golf game they are about to play will be a test of athletic ability. After hearing that, blacks performed better than whites. Blacks, after all, have heard plenty about blacks being natural athletes. But, when students are told the golf game is a test of intelligence, his study found the black scores were 18 percent worse.
So in conclusion; Kill your television.

[Hazim Salem]

Wow, that's awesome. There ya go

[Tanner O'Donnell]

i can't jump my standing precision is 5 foot, but i am 11 so. . .

[tentonbrick]

i can't jump my standing precision is 5 foot, but i am 11 so. . .

HAH, then dude your fine!

[FastGuppy]

black, white, mixed, asian, and blackness eleven year olds can't jump. Period.

[Tanner O'Donnell]

thanks