Is any race more intellectually and/or physically endowed than the others?

Answer 1

Try reading "The Bell Curve" that came out a few years ago, but realize that it is very controversial.

Aloha

Answer 2

I don't think so, certainly not intellectually. The brain is very plastic, so although people show variation in intellectual ability (things like understanding concepts of number), it's entirely a cultural construct, there is nothing inherently different about people's brains and abilities at birth, but they develop in different ways.
People do vary quite a lot physically, based on geographic location you see adaptations to deal with features of the physical environment. Skin colour is a part of that, as are things like lung capacity, stature, body composition. Generally though when talking about race, people seem to only consider skin colour, which is not a particularly good way to categorise the world or explain variation. I also don't think you can say that any one type of people are *more* adapted, since they are all adapted to live in different environments.

I just don't think that race is a meaningful concept for anthropology these days (certainly not biological anthropology), it's not a useful criterion to consider when thinking about people and variation, because it's so arbitrary.

Answer 3

Some 10 years ago there was a much disputed and very controversial survey by American scientists which stated that in general Asians show the best results in Math, followed by Caucasians and Africans (who were said to perform best physically). This survey viewed the situation at a certain time and relied on data from testing various groups.
At about the same time there was another survey (by British scholars) showing that the human population as a whole is almost entirely genetically identical, i.e. we are all brothers and sisters, and descending from the same genetic line. This survey viewed things historically and explained the racial variations with adaptation to specific climatic, environmental and social conditions.
As there is no a universally accepted definition of intellect and physical performance is also questionable in terms of strength or stamina, I would rather accept that we cannot stigmatise races or groups in the same way as we cannot say whether men or women do better in life.
We carry within our genes a wealth of opportunities and who can say what would work best in a certain situation? That's the beauty of it.

Answer 4

Nope, of course not. Any variation is more a result of the culture, not the physiology. For instance, Orthodox Jews tend to place a very high premium on learning. Does that make them smarter than, say, the average American? No. It just means that the average American is not expected to spend hours studying while growing up, but a Jewish boy might be.

As for the physically endowed thing, if you mean strength-wise, I think that again there's not much difference. If you are referring to a certain part of the male anatomy, studies are inconclusive.

Answer 5

Race is a cultural construction not a scientific category, and therefore not within the scope of the discipline of physical anthropology. From a biological point of view, what we find are not distinct races but dispersions and concentrations of various traits across populations, such as blood type, skin tone, height, hair shape, body type. Studies which purport to demonstrate the existence of discrete races and the superiority of one population over another have been discredited time after time.

Answer 6

Yep. But any difference in any respect would be one of small degrees because all humans are very similar genetically.

Saying that all human races (which is a silly term but I'm using it to mean any classification style) are equal is bad logic. Take for example an apple orchard. Pick 100 apples at random and place them in two baskets, 50 each. It's impossible to get the two baskets truly equal in quality. One will always be -- however slightly -- better. So no matter how you classify people, by nationality, race, hair color, political opinion, one category will always be "better" in some respect.

But again, it's of small degrees and irrelevant to real life considering all the things that influence people aside from their genetics.

Answer 7

"No because we are all one race" this is not true, in Africa there are over 100 races or man. A race is a creature that can mate with a different race of the same species.

This is "racist" and any comment that suggests inferiority of one over another is, however in my experience most races "domesticated ands socialised" over time do tend to act differently from ones less domesticated ands socialised over time. however this is not so much race but culture. still 9 out of 10 muggings in London are done by black people, black and other ethnic minority's who don't know all there children will live still have Much larger family's where as the white population isn't growing anymore.

There are more Chinese than any other race on earth, they are superior in that respect. White race holds the most power in the world influentially and economically (USA and Europe)

Yet the most genetically advanced humans are ones with parents from 2 different races, a good variance and mix in the gene pool.
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Since the England has the most, and best sex in the world (studies suggest) I would have to say The English. (I also believe this lol)

Answer 8

First of all, define, and enumerate the "races" for your question.

i'll answer regarding of groups of genetic characteristics, that define what we called the "genetic distance" between two animal individuals. you can apply this to what YOU call race.

we are certainly different, intellectually and physically. we have different skills, and we live in different environments.

we can measure in any scale the develop of those skills.

what is absolutely stupid is to consider "endowed" as a universal concept, capable to be applied for absolute comparison.

Answer 9

The Great North Run get's a massive turnout for what is, essentially, just a fun-run..

However, over the past few years it has taken its toll on many and there have been some serious casualties (4 fatalities in 2005)....

Answer 10

no because we are all one race... the human race. Homo Sapiens!

Whatever your creed or colour, we are all born with the same genetic make up to understand our surrounding. it is our surroundings that dictate the kind of people we become. not the race itself.

Think of it this way. a baby born in china, with chinese parents, that lives in china will adopt the chinese language, culture and way of life.

that same baby born in China, but raised in the UK, with english parents. would be a totally different child, than the first example.

this is an impossible question to answer, and by asking it you are provoking debate tather than a simple yes or no answer. remember that these sorts of questions and possible answers can lead to disiplinary action.

hope my answer was interesting. xx

Answer 11

You will here a lot of opinion on this here. The truth is that science is not that sure here and we would not want to confuse equality of opportunity with equality of identity. If any thing is true it is not the fact of it, but how humans can unjustly interpret it.