of
"pure" races,
but
we have
seen
that
these are very narrow, essen-
tially incorrect criteria.
And
when
measured and plotted carefully,
visible traits are actually far less discontinuous than
is
usually
believed. Classification
based
on
continental origin could furnish a
first approximation
of
racial diviSion, until we realize that Asia
and
even Africa
and
the
Americas
are
very heterogeneous.
Even
in
Europe,
where
the
population is
much
more homogeneous, several
subdivisions have
been
proposed.
But
it
is immediately clear that all
systems lack clear and satisfactory criteria for
clasSifying.
The
more
we
pay
attention to questions
of
statistical adequacy, the
more
hope-
less
the
effort becomes.
It
is
true
that
strictly inherited characteris-
tics
are
more
satisfactory
than
anthropometric measurements
or
observations
of
colors
and
morphology.
But
above all it is
true
that
one
encounters
near
total genetic continuity between all regions
while attempting to select even
the
most homogeneous races.
The
observation has
been
made
that· almost any
human
group--
from a village in
the
Pyrenees
or
the
Alps, to a Pygmy camp
in
Africa--<lisplays almost
the
same average distance between individu-
als, although gene frequencies typically differ from village to village
by some small amount. Any small village typically contains about
the
same
amount
of
genetic variation
as
another village located
on
any
other
continent.
Each
population
is
a microcosm that recapitulates
the
entire
human
macrocosm even
if
the precise genetic composi-
tions
vary slightly. Naturally, a small village in the Alps,
or
a Pygmy
camp
of
30
people, is somewhat less heterogeneous genetically than
a large country, for example, China,
but
perhaps only by a factor
of
two.
On
average, these populations have a heterogeneity among indi-
viduals only slightly less
than
that
in
evidence in the whole world.
Regardless
of
the
type
of
genetic markers used (selected from a very
wide rangel,
the
variation
between
two random individuals within
anyone
population
is
85
percent
as large
as
that
between
two
individ-
uals randomly selected from
the
world's population.
It
seems
wise
to
me, therefore, to abandon any
attempt
at racial
classification along the traditional lines.
There
is, however,
one
prac-
tical reason for keeping
an
interest
in
genetic differences.
29