[Chucklefiend]

(Original post by Torpedo Fish)
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(Original post by -starlight-)
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You two are more similar than you would ever admit lol. You both have blinkered perceptions of reality and you both quite arrogantly, aggressively and stubbornly try to foist your views on each other, seemingly oblivious of the fact that you are essentially two sides of the same coin.

As somebody who grew up in several different countries, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Norway and the UK included, I can tell you that there is diversity everywhere. I don't find it any easier or harder to recognise where people are from in Europe to Asia or visa versa. Obviously, if you grew up in one particular place you get used to recognising the subtle variations in facial structure in people from that particular location. It's similar to recognising regional accents, if you moved to China from England (or the other way around) you would not be able to distinguish between them. But live there long enough and you'll begin to recognise the differences.

Now kiss and make up.

[No Man]

(Original post by darkxangel)


south-east-asians:bigger skin colour difference, bigger eyes/more likely to be double lidded, much curvier, taller by a little, hairier, less flat nose





south-european: darker hair, slightly darker skin, darker eye-colour, shorter, hairier, thicker hair, not much difference in features,




I think genes determining features are more important (in genetic variety) than the colour of people (since light just means lack of melanin). so my point still stands. If i'm wrong please correct me.

You were reinforcing your original point that I already said I agreed with (i.e south east Asians and north east Asians have bigger differences separating each other than northern and southern Europeans)

However, if you compared the range of physical differences between south east Asians and Europeans as individuals and north east Asians and Europeans as individuals it is clear that Europeans would have the broadest range of obvious differences/features separating each other.

[Torpedo Fish]

(Original post by No Man)
You were reinforcing your original point that I already said I agreed with (i.e south east Asians and north east Asians have bigger differences separating each other than northern and southern Europeans)

However, if you compared the range of physical differences between south east Asians as individuals, north east Asians as individuals and Europeans as individuals it is clear that Europeans would have the broadest range of differences separating each other.

I agree.

For example, Koreans are well known to be one of the most genetically homogenous human populations on the planet. So whilst there may be a greater difference between Koreans and the Chinese than there is between the English and the Italians, the differences between individuals within the populations is likely to be higher in the European nations.

I realise I've basically just paraphrased what you've already said, but just thought I'd lend my support.

[darkxangel]

(Original post by No Man)
You were reinforcing your original point that I already said I agreed with (i.e south east Asians and north east Asians have bigger differences separating each other than northern and southern Europeans)

However, if you compared the range of physical differences between south east Asians and Europeans as individuals and north east Asians and Europeans as individuals it is clear that Europeans would have the broadest range of obvious differences/features separating each other.

Ohh yh between individuals you are perhaps right (compared to east asians).

But south-asians look more different to each other than europeans (indviduals)-they have the most diversity since they aren't a 'proper' race so to say, and africans as well (both kind).

[uob]

(Original post by Dragonfly07)
In hotter countries there seems to be a trend of dark hair and dark skin, so I assume that's where we all started. When migration started to colder countries, skin pigmentation wasn't as necessary, so they became paler.

If you notice, the colder the country the lighter the hair colour/eye colour, like in Russia and east europe. That is because pigmentation is no longer needed, so it is removed. In other countries, like England and France, where it isn't as hot as Africa/Asia, but not as cold as Russia, you see people with all hair/eye colours. I'm assuming that's because all hair/eye colour types are equally advantageous for that particular climate.

This isn't too related to this topic, but I find the relationship between skin pigmentation and ultraviolet rays quite interesting. There's been suggestions that we didn't lose darker pigmentation because it wasn't needed, but it actually favoured us to do so nearer the polar regions. It ensured a good production of vitamin D in our skin, which is vital for bones and our immune system.

I remember this lecture which basically described how UVB rays, required for the production of vitamin D, are less prevalent as you move towards the poles. So lighter pigmentation evolved to ensure we received enough of it, whereas darker pigmentation continued to allow healthy doses of UVB when in equatorial regions.

Found it. Some intriguing implications: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/nin...kin_color.html

[No Man]

(Original post by darkxangel)
Ohh yh between individuals you are perhaps right (compared to east asians).

But south-asians look more different to each other than europeans (indviduals)-they have the most diversity since they aren't a 'proper' race so to say, and africans as well (both kind).

Yes.
Although I would disagree with East Africans i.e you'd find a lot more differences within the white French and Greek population than you would with the Somali and Ethiopian population.

Basically, if you can easily picture what your stereotypical person from *insert nationality* would look like, it's not that diverse, and it's pretty easy to do regarding Somalians/Ethiopians but not so easy if you do it with Europeans (taking into account all the regions) or South Asians..

[Freier._.lance]

(Original post by Chucklefiend)
You two are more similar than you would ever admit lol. You both have blinkered perceptions of reality and you both quite arrogantly, aggressively and stubbornly try to foist your views on each other, seemingly oblivious of the fact that you are essentially two sides of the same coin.

As somebody who grew up in several different countries, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Norway and the UK included, I can tell you that there is diversity everywhere. I don't find it any easier or harder to recognise where people are from in Europe to Asia or visa versa. Obviously, if you grew up in one particular place you get used to recognising the subtle variations in facial structure in people from that particular location. It's similar to recognising regional accents, if you moved to China from England (or the other way around) you would not be able to distinguish between them. But live there long enough and you'll begin to recognise the differences.

Now kiss and make up.

Excellent post! The only one in this thread making any sense.

People are trained to recognise differences in appearances in those people they've been around all their lives. So living in Europe all your life can give the mistaken impression that Europeans are more diverse in appearance, simply because you've been around them all your lives. If only more people understood this simple fact!

[uob]

(Original post by Freier._.lance)
Excellent post! The only one in this thread making any sense.

People are trained to recognise differences in appearances in those people they've been around all their lives. So living in Europe all your life can give the mistaken impression that Europeans are more diverse in appearance, simply because you've been around them all your lives. If only more people understood this simple fact!

The underlying theme in this topic, and what has just been described is the cross-race effect. There's also been evidence to suggest it applies in a similar way to people of your own age group, leading to better recognition and differentiation of this group.

[Dragonfly07]

(Original post by uob)
This isn't too related to this topic, but I find the relationship between skin pigmentation and ultraviolet rays quite interesting. There's been suggestions that we didn't lose darker pigmentation because it wasn't needed, but it actually favoured us to do so nearer the polar regions. It ensured a good production of vitamin D in our skin, which is vital for bones and our immune system.

I remember this lecture which basically described how UVB rays, required for the production of vitamin D, are less prevalent as you move towards the poles. So lighter pigmentation evolved to ensure we received enough of it, whereas darker pigmentation continued to allow healthy doses of UVB when in equatorial regions.

Found it. Some intriguing implications: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/nin...kin_color.html

that was a very interesting watch thank you very much.

[darkxangel]

(Original post by No Man)
Yes.
Although I would disagree with East Africans i.e you'd find a lot more differences within the white French and Greek population than you would with the Somali and Ethiopian population.

Basically, if you can easily picture what your stereotypical person from *insert nationality* would look like, it's not that diverse, and it's pretty easy to do regarding Somalians/Ethiopians but not so easy if you do it with Europeans (taking into account all the regions) or South Asians..

no i meant between west-africans and east africans, not just between east-african countries. Besides you would find more differences between the somalian and Ethiopian community/population than the french and the belgian one. Greece is very far away from france. Somalia is right next to Ethiopia.

[No Man]

(Original post by darkxangel)
no i meant between west-africans and east africans, not just between east-african countries. Besides you would find more differences between the somalian and Ethiopian community/population than the french and the belgian one. Greece is very far away from france. Somalia is right next to Ethiopia.

Yes, but comparing West africans and East Africans to northern and southern Europeans isn't a fair comparison because of the huge distance apart between east Africa and west Africa.

This is a dumb argument admittedly, but for its size, I think India has the most diversity since when you look at it like that. there's undoubtedly more racial/ethnic diversity in India than there is in East Africa or any other region in the world that is the size of India, but that's probably because India is a cross section between lots of regions and has a large variety of climates.

And like someone else said, the cross-race effect makes it difficult to distinguish between people of a different race that look similar, so they all look the same for the most part.

The best judgement regarding which human sub-ethnicity has the most diversity within it (when you split it into all of them such as European, East African, the various individual ethnicities in India, south east asians, etc) would probably be from some intelligent being from outer space, since they wouldn't be familiar with seeing any of us.

[darkxangel]

(Original post by No Man)
Yes, but comparing West africans and East Africans to northern and southern Europeans isn't a fair comparison because of the huge distance apart between east Africa and west Africa.

This is a dumb argument admittedly, but for its size, I think India has the most diversity when you look at it like that. (and there's undoubtedly more diversity in India than there is in East Africa, but that's probably because it is a cross section between lots of regions.

true, but if you include russia, wouldn't europe and africa be roughly the same size? and forget eastern africa and western africa, even someone from uganda/kenya is going to look a lot more different to someone from somalia/ethiopia and they are quite close to each other. But you're right it's stupid arguement and i don't know why people really care or comment on this.

[The Racist Dragon]

Mmmm, nordic guys...


I always get confused with a friend of mine who is a black girl, I always wonder if its her in the distance when it's not, and when it is her, I hesitate to smile/say hello incase it isn't her. :/ Same goes for a chinese guy I know.

Do people of other races get confused with whites in that way sometimes aswell? (assuming they have the same hair colour )
My theory is that if you are not as used to seeing one race of person as another, then you are not as good as seeing the more subtle differences, i.e- with white people (barring hair colour) I probably notice the subtleties instantly whereas with oriental people I don't, making me believe that people of other races look really similar...?

[No Man]

(Original post by darkxangel)
true, but if you include russia, wouldn't europe and africa be roughly the same size? and forget eastern africa and western africa, even someone from uganda/kenya is going to look a lot more different to someone from somalia/ethiopia and they are quite close to each other. But you're right it's stupid arguement and i don't know why people really care or comment on this.

I don't think so.

People always make Africa look smaller than it really is. That's a map that makes Africa look even bigger than the first one I posted.

[darkxangel]

(Original post by No Man)
I don't think so.

People always make Africa look smaller than it really is. That's a map that makes Africa look even bigger than the first one I posted.

hmm, that's interesting. :P

nevermind- according to wikipedia, africa is around 30,221,532 km2, russia is around 17075200 km² and europe is around 10,180,000 square kilometres- so the total of it would be around 23000000 i you take into account that some of russia is in europe-so roughly it's quite similar? i'm gonna stop now....(russia is bigger than europe )

[No Man]

(Original post by darkxangel)
hmm, that's interesting. :P

nevermind- according to wikipedia, africa is around 30,221,532 km2, russia is around 17075200 km² and europe is around 10,180,000 square kilometres- so the total of it would be around 23000000 i you take into account that some of russia is in europe-so roughly it's quite similar? i'm gonna stop now....(russia is bigger than europe )

7,000,000 km² is about the size of Australia, which is a pretty big chunk of extra land if you ask me

[darkxangel]

(Original post by No Man)
7,000,000 km² is about the size of Australia, which is a pretty big chunk of extra land if you ask me

ohh, nevermind then

[sweeter than a cherry pie]

(Original post by Chumbaniya)
in fact, if you introduce a young child to the faces of a number of different chimpanzees, they learn to distinguish between animals that to us look near identical

This isn't pertinent to the thread, but language works the same way. Young children can distinguish between foreign sounds which to adults seem the same, but as they grow older, they focus solely on the sounds of their mother tongue and everything else kind of blends together.

[natchina]

Imagine if the extremists who want humanity to mix get their way. Everybody would look grey and exactly the same. Like those grey aliens.