Why did we get different races under Christianity.

[arahant]

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which God created to test our faith


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Which faith might that be?

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You don't get a lot of compliments on here, NR, so I'd like to make one.

I want you to know that from what I've seen, you are less dumb than Inso. At least you have the good sense to effectively dodge arguments you can't win.

[T50_Omaha8]

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The Inuit people of the American Subarctic are an exception. They have moderately heavy skin pigmentation despite the far northern latitude at which they live. While this is a disadvantage for vitamin D production, they apparently made up for it by eating fish and sea mammal blubber that are high in D. In addition, the Inuit have been in the far north for only about 5,000 years. This may not have been enough time for significantly lower melanin production to have been selected for by nature.

[/ QUOTE ] linky

[vhawk01]

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The Inuit people of the American Subarctic are an exception. They have moderately heavy skin pigmentation despite the far northern latitude at which they live. While this is a disadvantage for vitamin D production, they apparently made up for it by eating fish and sea mammal blubber that are high in D. In addition, the Inuit have been in the far north for only about 5,000 years. This may not have been enough time for significantly lower melanin production to have been selected for by nature.

[/ QUOTE ] linky

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We both win! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[NotReady]

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You don't get a lot of compliments on here, NR, so I'd like to make one


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You have a sick definition of compliment. What argument am I dodging? You forgot to call me a troll. Oh yeah, I'm intellectually dishonest, please remember that.

You people learn debate from Dawkins?

[MrMon]

That seems to be a really poor explanation for the Inuit. Given that they spend most of their time in an environment of snow and ice, even in summer, where the sun reflecting off the pure white can be blinding, it seems like they would develop dark skin for the same reason people near the equator do, protection against the sun. For the dark winter months, it makes no difference what color your skin is, it's dark! Hence, darker skin wins.

[vhawk01]

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You don't get a lot of compliments on here, NR, so I'd like to make one


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You have a sick definition of compliment. What argument am I dodging? You forgot to call me a troll. Oh yeah, I'm intellectually dishonest, please remember that.

You people learn debate from Dawkins?

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LOL irony.

[vhawk01]

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That seems to be a really poor explanation for the Inuit. Given that they spend most of their time in an environment of snow and ice, even in summer, where the sun reflecting off the pure white can be blinding, it seems like they would develop dark skin for the same reason people near the equator do, protection against the sun. For the dark winter months, it makes no difference what color your skin is, it's dark! Hence, darker skin wins.

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I think you have to understand what the actual selection pressures are, and why black people turned white in some areas. This is my understanding. Near the equator, people get enough sunlight to create enough vitamin D, even though the copious melanin in their skin blocks a significant portion of the UV radiation. They are at a balance, since this same UV also causes cellular damage. As you move to latitudes that receive less sunlight, and less direct sunlight, you get less UV, and thus less vitamin D production, eventually leading to rickets and other problems. So, it now confers a selective advantage to produce less melanin, and there isn't the countermanding negative pressure of cellular damage. So, people tend to get whiter as they move away. However, if you are getting a whole bunch of vitamin D (actually its ACTIVATED vitamin D) in your diet, there is no pressure to develop lighter skin. Since there is no disadvantage to having a bunch of melanin (besides a slight metabolic cost) and since you still have the (albeit lessened) risk of cellular damage from the UV radiation, it makes some sense that you would remain darker skinned.

[NotReady]

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You people learn debate from Dawkins?



LOL irony.


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I'll take that as a yes.

[MrMon]

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That seems to be a really poor explanation for the Inuit. Given that they spend most of their time in an environment of snow and ice, even in summer, where the sun reflecting off the pure white can be blinding, it seems like they would develop dark skin for the same reason people near the equator do, protection against the sun. For the dark winter months, it makes no difference what color your skin is, it's dark! Hence, darker skin wins.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you have to understand what the actual selection pressures are, and why black people turned white in some areas. This is my understanding. Near the equator, people get enough sunlight to create enough vitamin D, even though the copious melanin in their skin blocks a significant portion of the UV radiation. They are at a balance, since this same UV also causes cellular damage. As you move to latitudes that receive less sunlight, and less direct sunlight, you get less UV, and thus less vitamin D production, eventually leading to rickets and other problems. So, it now confers a selective advantage to produce less melanin, and there isn't the countermanding negative pressure of cellular damage. So, people tend to get whiter as they move away. However, if you are getting a whole bunch of vitamin D (actually its ACTIVATED vitamin D) in your diet, there is no pressure to develop lighter skin. Since there is no disadvantage to having a bunch of melanin (besides a slight metabolic cost) and since you still have the (albeit lessened) risk of cellular damage from the UV radiation, it makes some sense that you would remain darker skinned.

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This assumes the Inuit came from somewhere where they were dark skinned, zoomed up to the Arctic before their skin could lighten, and then quickly adopted a high Vitamin D diet so there was no pressure to lower melanin in their skin. Seems unlikely.

[Stan Loh]

Looks like the best answer I got is, The Tower Of Babel had something to do with this.