Nina Jablonski and "Skin"

There are some videos of lectures by an anthropologist named Nina Jablonski on the web.  Ted talks, etc.  Essentially she argues that skin pigmentation is a result of evolutionary pressures based on ultraviolet radiation.  Total bullshit of course, but, people eat that shit up without thinking about it.

"survival of the fittest"!  In reality, evolution is determined by reproductive fitness.

Survival of the fittest is defined as:- a nineteenth century concept that the strongest survive. Often called "Social Darwinism." "Survival of the fittest" misrepresents the process of natural selection. The mechanism of natural selection is reproductive fitness, those who produce offspring. Social Darwinism refers to being the most powerful, which is not the mechanism for natural selection.

Natural selection is the evolution works.  Mutations in species which contribute to the ability of an individual to survive and reproduce become predominant in a species.  The key here is surviving to reproduce.

The age of reproduction is about 13 in human beings.  If skin pigmentation offered an evolutionary advantage based on geographic location we would see children living in the wrong geographic location die.  Black children would die in Europe.  White children would die in Africa.  Both would die where evolution selected brown people, places like the Middle East and the Arctic circle.

What amazes me is that a so obviously flawed hypothesis is so eagerly accepted by academics who are supposed to understand the theory of reproductive fitness.

What a bunch of ignorant bullshit.  Dr. Jablonski tells us, in one of her video lectures, that her team worked for 15 years on this "theory" and no one ever explained reproductive fitness and natural selection to her.

Un frickin believable.