Question Details	Asked By	Asked On
racial theories	aime-cinema	06/24/06
Is it true than "Mongoloids" are the highest on the human chain whereas "Negroids" are the lowest on the human chain? Why is it that Africans still live in tribes today and have not invented anything? I am not talking about African-Americans but Africans in Africa. I don't even think Africans have developed writing yet.
Clarification/Follow-up by aime-cinema on 06/25/06 2:23 am: Hi rsalier, But I don't quite understand why even in Alaska where there is lots of snow and ice the native eskimos do not have blue eyes, why is that? And also in Japan it snows but yet everyone there has black hair and black eyes? Why don't they have blonde hair and blue eyes? So the reason why some Africans still live in tribal situations is because their environment calls for it? I don't quite understand.
Answered By		Answered On
rsalier		06/25/06
The Eskimos as a people may not have had as many physical changes for several reasons. First of all the Eskimos have not lived in the Arctic for more then a few thousand years and for environmental changes to occur, it takes a longer time. They also arise from the Asian Phenotype which may not have the same adaptive genetic base as the Europeans due to early cultural selection. In other words the early genetic split between Europeans and Asians may have been in part the loss of this adpative genetic base. However, there are many adaptive changes among t he eskimo, for instance they have very thick eye lashes and heavy cheek bones. They have larger and deeper sinus cavities and larger lungs. These adaptations help in being able to see in a white landscape by deflecting some of the glare from the snow. The larger sinus cavities allows for the pre-warming and improved humidity of the cold air flowing to the lungs and the larger lungs are able to supply more oxigenated blood to help highly active people in this kind of environment. It also aids in the warming of the air as it contacts the lung tissues. This helps prevent cold air induced hypothermia. They are also shorter in stature which helps to conserve heat in their core. So even though they carry the Asian Phenotype, they have had many adaptations other then skin color and hair. Africans who live in the bush have survival skills to live there. They do not have access to modern medicine, housing, "clean water" or the corner grocery store. Those things that we would view as modern conviniences. Thus, living in tribal cultures where people continue to support each other and live and work in the environment to gather food, find shelter and care for children etc... they live a better standard of living by living tribally. The transition to modern society breaks down tribal cultures, belief systems and this sense of mutual assistance. When this occurs, these cultures fall apart and true poverty sets in. There is nothing wrong with tribal societies and in fact all human societies lived in this way for many generations and thousands of years including the cultures of Asia. Even today there are tribal peoples living in Asia such as the Humong Tribes of Laos and the Islamic tribes of Western China.

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