And they belong to which race? (And by “race,” I’m expecting you to provide the name of some genetically homogenuous, distinct group identifiable solely by their genome.)
Yes. Irrelevant. Do you think I’m an idiot and such trivial observations can not be dealt with? Do the search I suggested, read the discussions on the genetics of this all, including, just for the novelty value, citations and links to original literature. Or go to GD and review our most recent restatements for grienspace. I’m not going to repeat myself for the willfully lazy and ignorant.
Its environment, not genetics. Why do so many black guys pursue the NBA? B/c its what they’ve been taught to pursue and what society expects them to pursue.
Its about upbringing and the culture/environment you’re brought up in. Look at any urban black community in America and basketball will be king. And the reason is because its the only way for black kids to escape and to “make it.” Athletes are the only “role models” blacks kids see and identify with growing up, and so they perceive basketball as their sole means of achieving success, to get out of the ghetto…if you will. While Little Johnny from the Northshore of Chicago [upper middle class neighborhoods] dreams of being a doctor, engineer, or lawyer [though kids today don’t want to be lawyers nowadays :)), 10 other Johnnys from the West Side dream of being a basketball star like Michael Jordan. Its what the kids have been conditioned growing up. They don’t know any real black doctors like we see in E.R., or black attorneys or engineers. What they do see, though, are pushers, entertainers, and atheletes. Those are their career role models.
What? You think Eddie from the Southside thinks that he’ll just stumble upon the money to go to college? Heck no. He thinks the only way to pay for it would be on a basketball scholarship…and Eddie’s parents think that too…and so they encourage Eddie to master ball in the hopes that a college scout will offer him a chance/or better yet…an NBA scout will sign him up. The same goes for football and boxing.
An excellent movie that explores this is Hoop Dreams (if you haven’t seen this yet, check it out).
But the argument that blacks must be genetically better suited to play basketball is just plain nonsense.
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- Gosh, all, I am just the total idiot.
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- Why are Chinese people’s eyes slanty? - MC
Why are Chinese people’s eyes “slanty” : because of whatever complex of alleles regulating that particular trait. Quite irrelevant to the question at hand.
Given Gaspode and Edwino have just finished a discussion of this very issues, albeit using the example of kinky hair and dark skin, why don’t you go to Great Debates and look for the thread on Blacks and sports rather than wasting any more electrons here.
As I said, I see no reason for us to repeat ourselves for the willfully lazy and ignorant.
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- But, suppose that there was some activity where having slanty eyes was an advantage, maybe.
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- And suppose that it was observed, that though anyone was free to try it, that Chinese people were overrepresented in it to the expense of other non-slanty-eyed ethnic groups.
- Would you say that Chinese people had, in that case, a genetic advantage, or would you suppose their mommas brought them good luck by burning tea leaves under the full moon? - MC
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- Or, to put it more bluntly, suppose a guy named Joe was born with no arms or legs, but Joe wants to play for the NBA. What do you think Joe’s chances are?
(for this example we may disregard Joe’s skin color)
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-If someone can be genetically disadvantaged for a given task, then why is the opposite not possible? - MC
- Or, to put it more bluntly, suppose a guy named Joe was born with no arms or legs, but Joe wants to play for the NBA. What do you think Joe’s chances are?
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Remember the Negro race was created as a curse. This is well documented in the Bible, where a drunken nekkid Noah was watched by his sons. The curse, therefore, was to make Cush and all his descendants black. This, of course, created some problems. Humans, being diurnal critters, stood out like a sore thumb on the gleaming sands, as the result of now being cloaked in much darker skin. So. . . as lions, tigers, and bears had a much easier time spotting their prey, that meant that only the most athletic would survive–those who could run faster, jump higher, etc. After so many generations, you end up with a race that is just genetically physically superior to those not having had to deal with those events.
. . . tick . . . tick . . . tick . . .
Ignorance is one thing, willful stupidity and racism are quite another. It’s a new millennium; give it a rest.
I assume Mjollnir was attempting satire.
In re MC: as I said, we’ve already dealt with ludicrously stupid but ifs and other supposed objections barely worthy of the name in the other thread. Please do not kid yourself into thinking these “objections” or “examples” are either interesting or novel.
If you feel an immense need to play the role of Mipsman or someone equally willfull in their avoidance of knowledge and science, you should feel free to read the other threads pretending to be Mispman. You will find everything you are likely to think of has been covered in everything ranging from technical language to layman’s explanations.
( I will note in an aside that anyone with an elementary understanding of genetics can point out the difference between an individual handicap or advantage --your second “example”-- and drawing conclusions by group. Your confusion here is duly noted, and I once more advise you to do the recommended searches rather than wasting further electrons. Or you can join the GD thread currently open.)
It looked like a successful attempt to me. The Canadian judge gives Mjollnir a 9.6 while the British(?) judge looks baffled.
Hey! Who are you calling diurnal?
Dems fightin’ words 
Anyways… if you could take a look outside my window you would see that a few young guys have already showed up to play a little shinny on a cold Sunday morning, it sure beats going to church and for some it is like religion. “Shinny” for the uninitiated is the pick up hockey you play on the outdoor rink.
All these kids are white but then again, the majority of my neighbours are white. The population of Canada is mostly white so Canadian hockey players are… you guessed it… mostly white. Canada can get really cold. We have great ice. Most neighbourhoods have an outdoor rink. People make rinks in their backyards. Our fathers and grandfathers played hockey, I play and my kids play. Most kids have a favourite team and favourite players. Guys will ask you who your team is. It can seem like a national obsession.
This obsession has produced some of the greatest hockey players the game has ever seen and have produced THE greatest hockey player of all time. Wayne Gretzky is arguably the greatest athlete to ever play in any professional sport. The fact that he’s white means little. What matters is that he started playing hockey in a backyard rink his dad made when he was just a tyke. The tyke grew up to be a pretty good hockey player. There might be another little Canadian tyke playing in his backyard right now and he might be other than white. He could be the one to break all of Gretzky’s records.
Then again, maybe the melanin challenged Canadians are genetically predisposed to play hockey and other sports that involve cold, snow, and ice. It makes as much sense as saying that the melanin gifted are better suited to play basketball.
Yeah, right.
Unfortunately, experience so far dealing with this topic (genetics, groups and sports and race) has led me to never overestimate, it seems to bring out the stupidity in people. I’m happy of course if I’m wrong.
Y’know, this thread is just getting too ugly. There’ve been plenty of reference to the GD thread (which, oddly enough, also started off here), so I’ll close this one and let you all continue your discussion it it.