Quote:
Originally Posted by anrakushi
well if you want to get anal about it  we can say there are no races on earth because if the out of africa theory is to be believed then we all emigrated from Africa. where do you draw the line of a different race? you can't honestly believe that in all of East Asia (China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, etc) that they are the same race. |
OK... sorry to come across as being "anal". This is a topic that I actually have researched before (I wouldn't say I'm an expert as I'm not a biologist or anything, rather I've looked stuff up and am interested in the topic.). My position actually is influenced by the science (or lack of science as it's been discovered since around the 1970's) surrounding racial theory. You're right.... I don't believe all of Asia are the same race. However I don't believe any pure racial lines exist which coincide with national boundaries (and this is where science agrees with me for the most part... and I say for the most part because a few scientists actually disagree with the majority consensus. You might be convinced by their arguments but I'm not.) . Sure you might see some tendencies.
The fact is that race simply doesn't exist genetically. That there is as much genetic variation between race as there is within a race is the majority consensus amongst scientists (again there are dissenters to this conclusion). Race is convenient in medicine in which research has shown that certain regions of the world show certain tendencies with regard to illnesses. But it is only for convenience that they use "race". It is in the same regard that I hold race. Because we're isolating physical characteristics in this thread, I think it's safe and convenient to talk of "race". In the context of the world I'm sure you can see where the "racial lines" are drawn. However because I believe that the region of Far East Asia is too small a region for any "racial lines" to be drawn (at least based on area within the region. And area combined with language and very often but not always, culture is usually the core of what defines a particular nation within a geographic region.)
I have tried looking through the internet to find clearcut physical differences that have been proved between Japanese and Chinese. I can't find anything. The closest thing approaching the topic is that "alllooksthesame.com" which doesn't say anything conclusive. In fact I think the maker of the site (who is Asian) sort of implies that there isn't a difference too.
From his website-
Quote:
"In the US, publicly admitting that you cannot tell Asians apart, comes across sounding racist or prejudiced. But deep down, most people feel that. In other words, you feel it, but you are not allowed to admit it. For many people, this feeling has been subconsciously suppressed for a long time. But with this site, knowing that it was created by an Asian man, these people finally felt safe to admit what they had been feeling. It’s this release that makes this site funny for these people.
On the opposite end, we have people who have always believed that they can tell Asians apart no problem. They typically have certain preconceptions about how each nationality looks. For instance, there are people who think that any Asian who is fashionably dressed is Japanese. This probably comes from the media which frequently covers the modern Japanese culture, but not so much of China or Korea. Most people’s perception of Chinese, for instance, may be what you see in “Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon.” The problem here is that these people would see a fashionable Asian, without confirming it in any way, assumes they are right, and end up affirming their own convictions. This is also a form of prejudice, and for many of them, the test on this site made them realize how wrong they were. This humbling experience was quite funny for some of them."
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It is the second paragraph that I agree with completely. (The first paragraph sounds like he is talking about not being able to tell the difference when it comes to culture. Of course culturally these nations are quite distinct.)