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7/3/2025, 2:57:16 PM
I got cancelled from academia due to this very topic so here is my answer even though I don’t think anyone from this thread is ready to accept, not at least in this generation. Let me give you a generic answer (answering most of the misconceptions in this thread) and if it gains interest I will provide more information.
Humans are in fact 99.8% similar in regards to our DNA. Genetic differences among individuals account for 93 to 95% of genetic variation. Differences among major groups account for just 3-5%.
Subspecies sharing the overwhelming majority of genetic variation and only a few percent of the variation accounted for by between group differences is the standard for every single species on the planet. 3-5% of the total genetic variation being accounted for by intergroup differences is standard when comparing different subspecies let alone race. To say humans are "99.9% genetically similar" without context is a specifically misleading statement within biology. Humans share about 50% of our DNA with bananas and 99% with Neanderthals. A 0.001% could be important depending on the kind of genes. 30-40% of our genome affects brain development and the idea than any two groups with any distance at all will independently evolve identical group average capacities is ludicrous.
Despite the fact the "lines" between racial(subspecies) groups at their genetic borders is somewhat fuzzy due to introgression and hybridization, this does not invalidate the main groups existence as a valid and useful category just as the few percent of Neanderthal DNA present in Caucasians and Asians does not mean that the species Homosapiens as a group doesn't exist. Introgression and hybrid speciation is common in nature, such as wolf subspecies hybridization and introgression with domestic dogs.
(cont)
Humans are in fact 99.8% similar in regards to our DNA. Genetic differences among individuals account for 93 to 95% of genetic variation. Differences among major groups account for just 3-5%.
Subspecies sharing the overwhelming majority of genetic variation and only a few percent of the variation accounted for by between group differences is the standard for every single species on the planet. 3-5% of the total genetic variation being accounted for by intergroup differences is standard when comparing different subspecies let alone race. To say humans are "99.9% genetically similar" without context is a specifically misleading statement within biology. Humans share about 50% of our DNA with bananas and 99% with Neanderthals. A 0.001% could be important depending on the kind of genes. 30-40% of our genome affects brain development and the idea than any two groups with any distance at all will independently evolve identical group average capacities is ludicrous.
Despite the fact the "lines" between racial(subspecies) groups at their genetic borders is somewhat fuzzy due to introgression and hybridization, this does not invalidate the main groups existence as a valid and useful category just as the few percent of Neanderthal DNA present in Caucasians and Asians does not mean that the species Homosapiens as a group doesn't exist. Introgression and hybrid speciation is common in nature, such as wolf subspecies hybridization and introgression with domestic dogs.
(cont)
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