a race is a population of individuals with a widely shared set of physical traits inherited from common heredity. how is that for a definition? it doesn't matter if there is a large amount of variety within that portion of the population or not, what matters is that there is a much higher probability of a complex combination of traits than in the larger population and that this higher probability is due to heredity. the definition is useful in that it allows one to recognize trends of that subset of the population, such as vulnerability to disease or common genetic defects, knowing someone is black can help in making diagnoses of heart disease stroke and everyone's favorite genetic disorder sickle cell anemia.
Just wanted to point out, Bobbau, that if you actually go into the population genetics -- as described in that article -- this
does not occur.There is no 'much higher probability of a complex combination of traits' occuring in the subpopulation as compared to a larger population.
You really can't make a firm statistical, genetic, or biological argument for race. If the human race is a big pool of paint, you can say 'hmm, this zone is particularly blue, but it bleeds smoothly into this red zone, so I can't find any boundary.'
You can point to an individual and say 'ah, he is a black man' easily enough; but if you start going through all his pedigrees you'll have a tough time deciding whether his relatives, ancestors, and descendants are black too, or where to draw the line.
I think you're worried that ignoring race is simply a politically correct delusion, when in fact it's not; it's a scientific issue, in that no one can figure out exactly what a race is.
yes, people who have a common localized set of traits actually don't, black people aren't black asian people aren't asian, its all just a white man conspiracy.
The issue is, again, that there are no common localized sets of traits; there's more in common between locations than there is within locations.
Asia is a particularly good example, because the diversity within the racial group 'Asian' is huge.
Just read the article, it's cool!