[QUOTE=Shalmanese]
On the face of it, this is absurd. The gene for blond hair is present in people outside of Africa yet not present for people in Africa.
[/QUOTE]
Acxtually, that is not true. The genes for blond hair are present in all populations. For some reason, a bit after the last ice age, the genes for blond hair began to be expressed more frequently among the proto-Europeans and eventually became a very prevalent color, but those same genes are still present in Africa and throughout the rest of the world.
[QUOTE=John Mace]
In speaking of race in the US, we usually mean Blacks and Whites, and we act as if there is a strict dichotomy-- you’re either White or Black. But that is far from what the genetic data would tell us. The main problem with “race” is that for it to have any real meaning, genetically, we’d have to define dozens of races that correspond to genetically similar ethnic groups around the globe, and even then there would be dozens of ways of slicing and dicing that data resulting in mnay different racial schemes. There isn’t any place where you can draw a line and say people on that side of the line are of race A and those on the other are race B, except in a completely arbitrary manner.
[/QUOTE]
Yes, the old “One Drop” rule. Race has social elements & the physical elements are definitely complex.
I think that our main problem in today’s world is people who DON’T develop all their intelligence–whether they are “ghetto youth” or fratboys.
[QUOTE=tomndebb]
For some reason, a bit after the last ice age, the genes for blond hair began to be expressed more frequently…
[/QUOTE]
Some reason? That’s a little vague. Maybe someone should at least wave their hands about and chant Copy Number Polymorphism here. While it may or may not explain the rise of blond hair, recent findings will likely have a major impact on future discussion of the bell curve.
[QUOTE=Squink]
Some reason? That’s a little vague.
[/QUOTE]
Barring actual conclusive evidence regarding that particular trait’s manifestation, “some reason” is sufficient to the point I made, which was that, in fact, “blond genes” appear in all human populations.
If someone wishes to promote the Straight Dope by providing the actual event (evolutionary selective pressure of whatever variety) that prompted blond hair to become a trait associated with European adults to nearly the exclusion of any other humans, that would be wonderful, but it is a sidebar to this discussion.