(October 7, 2010 at 12:06 am)Minimalist Wrote: Yeah - I usually trot it out when someone tells me that dark skin is an evolutionary trait because of the hot sun. I always ask if they thought it was that much hotter on the Nubian side of the border than it was on the Egyptian?
Ah well....once a wise-ass.......
And, yeah. Egypt is no longer what it was.
It's not the heat as much as it is the fact that areas between the tropical lines get direct sunlight. The theory is that darker skin is more resistant to sunlight, a need that people living in tropical areas would have. Lighter skin readily absorbs sunlight, which would be in scare supply close to the poles, particularly in heavily forested areas like Europe. The ancient Africans that settled in Europe lost their pigmentation as an adaptation to the climate.
Overall, the pattern seems to hold that the more tropical the environment, the darker the skin. We see this not just with Europeans and Africans but Asians and native Americans as well. Compare Eskimos to Incas.
I'm an African American as are all Americans. Some can just trace their ancestry there in fewer generations than others. Looking at race from a naturalist perspective, you can see that there's only one race, the human race. The only difference is adaptation to sunlight exposure.
Atheist Forums Hall of Shame:
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
