[r9etb]

Evolution operates by "survival of adequate reproductive success".

You're dancing, FRiend. Your term "adequate" implies that some sort of optimization is taking place -- you're saying that there is a threshold below which reproductive success becomes far less likely. You're essentially saying that evolution is a statistical process ... fine. But because evolution also optimizes, "fitness" is still in the picture, in the sense that certain traits improve the probability of successful reproduction.

How?

Evolutionary changes are often described in terms of "improvements" which better adapt offspring to a given environment. Thus, your term "adequate" might be replaced by the more commonly used, "better adapted to the environment, and thus more likely to survive to pass on one's genes."

I've seen racial theories along the following lines: that humans evolved as they spread out of Africa; and that they were evolved higher intelligence in response to challenging environments that called for, say, greater cooperation or planning abilities. As a result, some have said that the "darker races," being less evolved, were inferior to the more intelligent races.

And thus your "How" has beed addressed.

[Dimensio]

You're dancing, FRiend. Your term "adequate" implies that some sort of optimization is taking place -- you're saying that there is a threshold below which reproductive success becomes far less likely.

Incorrect. Reproductive success is a matter of a combination of physical traits relative to environmental conditions. There are multiple possible configurations for which success can occur, and what is successful in one environment may not be successful in another. Because there are multiple successful configurations and all such configurations are relatively successful based upon the environment, there is no defined "threshold".

Evolutionary changes are often described in terms of "improvements" which better adapt offspring to a given environment. Thus, your term "adequate" might be replaced by the more commonly used, "better adapted to the environment, and thus more likely to survive to pass on one's genes."

This still does not demonstrate the superiority of one race over another.

I've seen racial theories along the following lines: that humans evolved as they spread out of Africa; and that they were evolved higher intelligence in response to challenging environments that called for, say, greater cooperation or planning abilities. As a result, some have said that the "darker races," being less evolved, were inferior to the more intelligent races.

Does evidence exist to support the "greater intelligence" claim? If not, then it is purely conjecture? Also, what is meant by "greater intelligence"? Is this a measure of speed of acquistion of knowledge, ability to solve problems or is some other metric used?