Re: How did the people of the world gain their differences? (Explanation below)

Dear Tyler,

Thanks for your interesting questions. I'd like to try to give an answer in 3 parts.

First, I expect you know that we have almost finished sequencing the human genome - the DNA sequence that encodes all of our genes. We have looked at DNA from people all around the world and one interesting discovery is that in many ways, we are not very different at all! In fact, if we just looked at your genes, they would probably be as similar to the people in your classroom as they were to the genes of someone from another country. So one answer to your question is that we are not very different at all!

Nevertheless, you have observed quite rightly that there are some differences between people in regions of the world - for instance their hair or skin colour, the shape of their faces and the languages that they speak. We explain many of these differences using the theory of evolution. We believe that our ancestors originated in Africa, millions of years ago. At that time the population of early humans was quite small and they lived close together in the same type of environment, so they were all quite similar. Gradually, the population grew and humans began to move to new areas of the world. This exposed them to new environments. Now, because we all vary slightly (even though we are quite similar), some individuals would do better in those environments and others would do worse. Those that did better would survive longer and produce more offspring like themselves. So gradually over time, small groups of people in different areas would become distinct in some ways. An obvious example would be skin colour - people in equatorial regions tend to have darker skin because they produce more of a skin pigment called melanin, which was advantageous to their ancestors in places where the sun is more intense. This is less advantageous to peoples of the northern hemisphere where there is less sun - but we all have the genetic capacity to produce more melanin, as you know if you ever develop a suntan.

Things like language and food preferences are more complicated, as they arise from a mixture of genetic and cultural forces. It seems we all have the genetic capacity to learn language, but which one it is depends on what the people around us are saying. Presumably as human populations spread across the globe and became isolated from each other, populations began to communicate within their group in distinct ways, which are then passed on to other people in that area, so languages develop.

Now the last part of your question - "If there was Adam and Eve then the world started from there?" Well, my question to you is "what if there was not Adam and Eve and the world did not start from there? What if there is a different explanation?" Biologists who believe in evolution do not believe that humans began with Adam and Eve. They believe that all life on earth is related, that all species arise through natural selection and evolution and that all species ultimately arose much simpler life forms that appeared on earth a very long time ago - maybe 4 billion years. Biologists believe this because there is very good scientific evidence for this process. Other people, called creationists, believe that the Bible stories of how the universe and life were created are true. And boy, do creationists and biologists like to argue! You will have to decide for yourself what you believe, but I hope this website can help you:
http://www.talkorigins.org/