Loppan Torkel
Deity
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2004
- Messages
- 4,756
Why black belly-buttons make people run faster
- Thread starter Loppan Torkel
- Start date
Belly-bottom?
amadeus
Bishop of Bio-Dome
I originally didn't see the second "y" in the title and was very, very confused.
Mise
isle of lucy
Wow, that's very interesting.
Also, belly-bottom?
Also, belly-bottom?
azzaman333
meh
It's longer legs, not the belly button.
AL_DA_GREAT
amour absinthe révolution
This excerpt from a professor Rushtons book race evolution and behavior explains differences in sports preformance:
White men can't jump. Asian men can’t either. But according to Jon Entine’s new book, Taboo:
Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We Are Afraid to Talk About It, Black men — and women
— sure can. The usual reason given for Black athletic success is that Blacks have little chance to get
ahead elsewhere. But Entine’s new book shows that in sports, Blacks have a genetic edge.
The physical facts Entine reviews are quite well known. Compared to Whites, Blacks have
narrower hips which gives them a more efficient stride. They have a shorter sitting height which provides
a higher center of gravity and a better balance. They have wider shoulders, less body fat, and more
muscle. Their muscles include more fast twitch muscles which produce power. Blacks have from 3 to
19% more of the sex hormone testosterone than Whites or East Asians. The testosterone translates
into more explosive energy.
Entine points out that these physical advantages give Blacks the edge in sports like boxing,
basketball, football, and sprinting. However, some of these race differences pose a problem for Black
swimmers. Heavier skeletons and smaller chest cavities limit their performance.
Race differences show up early in life. Black babies are born a week earlier than White babies,
yet they are more mature as measured by bone development. By age five or six, Black children excel in
the dash, the long jump, and the high jump, all of which require a short burst of power. By the teenage
years, Blacks have faster reflexes, as in the famous knee-jerk response.
East Asians run even less well than Whites. The same narrow hips, longer legs, more muscle, and
more testosterone that give Blacks an advantage over Whites, give Whites an advantage over East Asians.
But admitting these genetic race differences in sports leads to the greater taboo area — race differences in
brain size and crime. That is why it is taboo to even say that Blacks are better at many sports.
White men can't jump. Asian men can’t either. But according to Jon Entine’s new book, Taboo:
Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We Are Afraid to Talk About It, Black men — and women
— sure can. The usual reason given for Black athletic success is that Blacks have little chance to get
ahead elsewhere. But Entine’s new book shows that in sports, Blacks have a genetic edge.
The physical facts Entine reviews are quite well known. Compared to Whites, Blacks have
narrower hips which gives them a more efficient stride. They have a shorter sitting height which provides
a higher center of gravity and a better balance. They have wider shoulders, less body fat, and more
muscle. Their muscles include more fast twitch muscles which produce power. Blacks have from 3 to
19% more of the sex hormone testosterone than Whites or East Asians. The testosterone translates
into more explosive energy.
Entine points out that these physical advantages give Blacks the edge in sports like boxing,
basketball, football, and sprinting. However, some of these race differences pose a problem for Black
swimmers. Heavier skeletons and smaller chest cavities limit their performance.
Race differences show up early in life. Black babies are born a week earlier than White babies,
yet they are more mature as measured by bone development. By age five or six, Black children excel in
the dash, the long jump, and the high jump, all of which require a short burst of power. By the teenage
years, Blacks have faster reflexes, as in the famous knee-jerk response.
East Asians run even less well than Whites. The same narrow hips, longer legs, more muscle, and
more testosterone that give Blacks an advantage over Whites, give Whites an advantage over East Asians.
But admitting these genetic race differences in sports leads to the greater taboo area — race differences in
brain size and crime. That is why it is taboo to even say that Blacks are better at many sports.
GoodSarmatian
Jokerfied Western Male
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2006
- Messages
- 9,408
Belly ? Really? I thougth I read a couple of years ago it's ther sinews that let them run more efficiently.
"and mass that falls from a higher altitude, falls faster," - Galileo would turn in his grave if he heard this.
A quick google search does seem to indicate the center of gravity of a human is (close to) the belly-button.
Still, I don't take this research very convincing.
A quick google search does seem to indicate the center of gravity of a human is (close to) the belly-button.
Still, I don't take this research very convincing.
Loppan Torkel
Deity
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2004
- Messages
- 4,756
sorry, not sure what I was thinking about... thought it was a strange word.Could a mod change the title?!
Also, I'm not very convinced by this study.
edit: Thanks!
Quackers
The Frog
They just have more fast-twitch muscle fibres...
Disgustipated
Deity
isn't this a bit racist? Aren't all races equal? 
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
It also means that, since they have longer legs, they can run faster, you dumbass
Disgustipated
Deity
a study I'd really like to see is if certain races are smarter. But we all know no one would have the balls to do such a study.
Well, that's true, since it allows for a longer period of acceleration.
Nor do I.
Oh the studies have been done. There's nothing to it. Let me quote from our resident neuroscience professor
Okay I guess I will take the time to try to explain some of this insidious "scientific" racism that is actually a view that is held by some very accomplished people, like Harvard professors. As some of you know I am a neuroscience professor who also happens to use genetics to study learning and memory. So let's start with a few things. The underlying assumption in these questions is that there may be genetic differences between races affecting different cognitive or behavioral traits that lead to success differences in a modern society. Let me say it is quite possible that something like this would exist, but it has been looked at and by and large does not seem to be the case.
So let's start with the simple genetics that people seem to understand. It is quite possible for particular alleles (variants of a gene) to become fixed in a population and this is quite well characterized for particular diseases. For example, Ashkenazi Jews and Tay-Sachs, Northern Europeans and cystic fibrosis. These are examples of highly penetrant (producing a strong effect) genetic differences between groups that you might consider races (I don't really want to get into how you define race, but let's just assume it's a genetically somewhat isolated population).
These genetic differences are quite rare and are fixed in different populations due to historical founder effects. Now is it possible that there was a single gene that was in fact common in a particular race, perhaps even defining that race, that caused a cognitive alteration? Sure it's possible, but in fact has not been demonstrated to occur. Also, it is something that would likely have been found by now given the state of genetic research. It is the combination of the observed socioeconomic differences in recognizable groups in society combined with this cursory understanding of genetics that leads "smart people" to phrase questions as in the OP.
Now some other people here say oh we're all human, we're all the same genetically;this is somewhat right but also somewhat wrong. As discussed above there are certain recognizable genetic differences statistically in certain populations. Also, within individuals there are profound genetic effects on most any trait you'd like to try to measure. The reason that they are somewhat correct is that it seems that most of the genetic effects on the things we're talking about here are complex. That is, large numbers of subtle genetic differences each contributing statistically a very small proportion of the variance in the trait are what account for them. Most of these common alleles are quite old and are not fixed at different ratios in any particular population. So take for example a fairly common mental pathology, schizophrenia. The frequency of this disease is about 1% in all populations that have been examined. It clearly affects mental function, it clearly is genetic to some extent (50% concordance in identical twins), but when you look at the genetics you find that it is the result of additive risk caused by 50 or so different genetic variations that are common in all populations/races.
I've mostly discuss diseases because this is where most of the research is been focused however IQ, which many racists like to think is lower in particular populations for genetic reasons, seems to behave similarly to schizophrenia as far as the genetics goes. So while it is possible for there to be statistical genetic differences between races in what we consider important cognitive/behavioral traits for success, it has never been seen and would likely have been detected by now so barring new data it can be discarded as a hypothesis, unless of course you have another agenda.
Moderator Action: This is an interesting question. We greatly discourage such discussion on CFC, however. The discussion attracts racist trolls like moths to a flame. This leads to too many breakings of CFC rules.
isn't this a bit racist? Aren't all races equal?
Not necessarily. And I'm not talking from a rights standpoint, but rather an evolutionary one. Our ancestors over time all adapted to their geographical surroundings....
Syterion
Voodoo Economist
Basic physics says you're wrong. If you have a higher center of gravity, your moment of inertia with respect to a pivot on the ground is larger, so you rotate slower and can therefore balance easier.
In terms of running biomechanics, I fail to see how a higher center of gravity would help during top speed sprint. However, during the start, a higher center of gravity I can see allowing you a more powerful acceleration phase. Perhaps this is where the advantage lies.
Longer legs only increases your speed to a point. It in general makes you accelerate more slowly but have a faster top speed. Usain Bolt is a complete anomaly at his height for a 100-200 sprinter. Most are shorter because they accelerate faster. Tall people dominate the 400 and 800.
