What is the most accepted classification of the different races?

pivoxa15

This question may be best posted here.

What is the most accepted classification of the different races of the entire world?

I am after the classification according to physical features only.

russ_watters

"Accepted" how and by whom? Ie, you are correct to post this in social sciences, since race is not a biologically sound concept.

glondor

I think there is 1 class. Human.

DaveC426913

I don't know but I think there are three:

African
Asian
Indo-European (Middle Eastern is also included in this group)

I am not sure if Polynesian is considered separate or if it's part of Asian. If separate, it split a long time ago.

pivoxa15

I was after the classification accepted by the majority of scientists like biologists who are pro race classificationists, if there is such a classification.

pivoxa15

I just can't help but notice that people from one particular area (country) look much different to another. However they look alike amongst themselves hence a need for race classification.

pivoxa15

What does the indo stand for?

Moridin

"Race" is not a biological or scientific term, because there is no objective biological criteria for distinguishing between these so called races. Species can be objectively defined (at least at any given time) as reproductively isolated communities.

Looks can be deceiving. Most variation is within communities, not between.

RACE - The Power of an Illusion

I don't know

- Yellow labradors and black labradors also look different, but they're still the same race.

Like Moridin pointed out, there really isn't a rigid, consistent, systematic way to divide between races - so at least to me, especially in such a hot topic as this is, the question becomes "what's the use?" - to which the answer seems to me to be something like "not much - in fact it might be kind of dangerous, seeing the way many people see science and scientific categories"

But honestly, I don't know more about biology than the average person.

- Not really - for example; there are cases where A can reproduce with B, B can reproduce with C, but A can't reproduce with C. What then?

DaveC426913

Eastern Indians and Europeans are part of the same race.

pivoxa15

The indians originally in America? They look more like Asians?

DaveC426913

No! Eastern indian! India, Pakistan. etc. They are the same race as Europeans.

And yes, native N. Americans are originally Asian (or is it Polynesian?).

plutoisacomet

Your information about human migration patterns seems very middle school like!!!!!!! I hope you guys don't teach Biology or for that matter, Anthropology . These comments are "Watson" like from "Watson & Crick" fame. Shame on you Anglos!!!

DaveC426913

Care to elaborate? I don't recall anyone talking about migration.

pivoxa15

RIght, that makes much more sense. I did suspect they were very close to Europeans. In fact for me, Eastern Indians seems to be the best resemblance of the whole population of the earth for they have characteristics from all three major races, Asians, Europeans and Africans.

pivoxa15

How about more of a distinction:

Europeans (i.e whites)
East Asians
Middle East / West Asia (Indo-Europeans)
Native Americans
Oceanian
African

DaveC426913

Because we can trace East Indians and Europeans back to a common ancestry and we can trace native NA'cans back to either Asian or Oceanian ancestry (I forget which).

By definition then, they're the same race.

It is less clear if the four primaries have common ancestry. Many argue that modern man was born simultaneously in these places.