A Riddle -- How many big men were born in New York City?

Answer 1

babies are born not big men

Answer 2

3

Answer 3

In my discussions on "race", I often encounter the following objection to the concept of race.

Races don't exist, because one cannot determine where race A begins and where it ends, being replaced by race B

An equivalent to the problem is the distribution of mountains and plains on the land surface of the Earth. One cannot really determine the cutoff point between a "mountain" and a "plain". Where does one draw the line? This is clearly an arbitrary decision without "scientific" justification. "Mountains" and "plains" are abstractions that carry useful meaning for most people, even if we cannot in reality separate the two in a scientific manner.

Is the problem of racial classification any different? Clearly, for most people Europe is inhabited by "Caucasoids" and China is inhabited by "Mongoloids" and the border between the two races is somewhere between Europe and China. Clearly, one cannot establish the border precisely. Does that mean that one ought to abandon classification altogether because it is not precise?

One of the reasons why I think people are reluctant to accept the classification of the land surface of the earth into mountains and plains but are unwilling to do the same thing with race is the perception that acceptance of the race concept is equivalent to acceptance of racism.

A second reason is encompassed in the argument that:

Most people agree on what "mountains" and "plains" are, but they don't agree on what the races are, how many of them there are, etc.

This is in some sense, a valid objection but only up to a point. Clearly, it DOES imply that racial classification systems beyond some level of detail are arbitrary, although most people will tend to agree in the classification of the major racial groups. However, almost all attempts at classification are similarly arbitrary. As an example, I think that the notion of "hill", "mountain" and "plain" are different for the inhabitants of the Himalayas and for those of Amsterdam and that Eskimoes have different notions of "white" and "cold" than most people. Hence, classification systems may be subjective, but that does not mean that we ought to abandon them altogether.

Answer 4

None...'cause no one is born a big man. We are all born as babies.

Answer 5

I don't know. How many big men were born in New York City? Please tell me.

Answer 6

none cuz u are born a baby, not a big man

Answer 7

None, only babys were born there.

Answer 8

1, Rich Aurilia, 3b SF GIANTS - born in Brooklyn?

Answer 9

None, only babies are born in NYC.

Answer 10

Men cant be born....