nate33 wrote:...Blacks ARE more athletic, or rather, the bell curve distribution of quick-twitch athleticism is shifted further to the right for those of West African descent than for whites.
No doubt about the "or rather" version of that, nate. For that matter
East Africans dominate long distance running, especially Kenyans, and in particular "The Kalenjins of the Great Rift Valley adjacent to Lake Victoria, a tribe of half a million people, win 40 percent of top international distance running honors" (vis.
http://run-down.com/guests/je_black_athletes_p2.php ) which is kind of mind-blowing!
Moreover, there are distributions across other ethnic groups as well that indicate most are better at one kind of muscular activity than another.
At the same time, I think it's important to note that the statement "the bell curve distribution of quick-twitch athleticism is shifted further to the right for those of West African descent than for whites." is of a pretty different nature than the statement "Blacks ARE more athletic (i.e. than whites)."
For one thing it has far more specific meaning than the generalized statement. E.g. a bell curve for fast twitch muscle fiber as tested globally across all people called black vs. the curve as tested in current West Africans, vs. one for people globally who have some West African ancestors, and so on, would all look different from one another.
OTOH, "blacks are more athletic" suppresses those differences. "Blacks" is a far fuzzier, more complex, less well-defined term (e.g. American blacks are significantly inter-bred w/ whites -- like most immigrant ethnic groups that have been somewhere for multiple generations). Not to mention that the term is freighted with all kinds of associations in a way that "West Africans" isn't -- that phrase is a far simpler pointer.
And "more athletic" grafts a single more-less measure on an inherently complex phrase in a way that (obviously) "bell curve distribution of quick-twitch athleticism is shifted further to the right" doesn't. That phrase communicates a fact that explains something; the other one makes a judgment and in this context delivers praise (a same-form phrase would deliver blame in the same way, in a different context, e.g. if one said "more violent").
As you point out...
nate33 wrote:I'm sure culture and socio-economic status issues play a role as well, but they don't explain it all.
As does character...
nate33 wrote:There are lazy, gifted athletes...and hard working, smart overachievers"
in every ethnic group, national origin, etc. And, obviously, that goes for more than athletes!
As I'm sure is obvious to you, I bring this up in re: the political thread, and maybe it should go there. But I don't bring it up to argue; rather to appreciate the distinction you made in writing your post between 2 kinds of statements and the way it mattered to you.
)
). He loses it over politics -- which is true of a lot of people, so once the election is over and I no longer feel I have to participate in the politics thread, I'm going to ditch all previous stuff and he and I will be fine.
