A Simple Explanation On Why Racism Doesn’t Make Any Sense Shared By Bill Nye The Science Guy
Few have the talent to put complex things into simple words so that everyone could understand. Take Bill Nye the Science Guy as an example: he takes hardcore science with all of its facts, numbers, and figures and translates them into concepts and analogies that are not only accurate, but also much easier to grasp.
Last time, Bored Panda covered a TikTok video of him explaining the importance of wearing face masks and the differences between the various types of face coverings. He did so in response to the increasing number of people who refuse to wear face masks despite there being a global pandemic.
This time, Bill Nye came out with a video covering another important topic that needs to be discussed—the problem of racism. Throughout the video, he gives a scientific explanation as to why people have different colored skin and why being mean to each other about it doesn’t make any bit of sense.
Leave it to Bill Nye to use the power of science to explain just how much racism makes no sense
Image credits: billnye
Check out the 1-minute video of his explanation below to get the full rundown
@billnyeThe ##science of skin color. ##LearnOnTikTok ##TikTokPartner♬ original sound – billnye
Bill starts off by explaining how Earth is separated into zones of different UV light intensity
He proceeds to show how this affects our skin with an analogous single-colored map
Our skin color is largely dependent on how much sunlight it gets
So, it basically boils down to the difference in how much sun we got being the reason why people are treated differently, which makes absolutely no sense
Image credits: billnye
Bill starts off by explaining on his handy-dandy map how the Earth has zones with differing amounts of UV light landing in them, each represented in a color showing what’s hot and what’s not. This coincides with another map of his—a map of the same continents, except in just one color—the typical color of people’s skin in specific territories around the globe.
Now, as Bill explained, these are related because our skin makes vitamin D from the ultra-violet rays it gets from the sun. If there isn’t enough of it, the skin becomes brighter, and if there’s an abundance, it breaks down into folates and hence becomes darker. So, in other words, our skin changes color depending on how much sunlight we get.
Since the cradle of humankind is Africa, there’s significantly more sunlight throughout the year there, and so people’s skin is dark. As people moved away from this epicenter, over time their skin became brighter.
“And that’s it, everybody! That’s why we have different colored skin, but we’re all one species. But we’re not treating each other fairly—not everybody’s getting an even shake [of vitamin D]. So, it’s time to change things,” exclaimed Bill Nye in the conclusion of his video.
Bill concluded the video with a call for change
Image credits: billnye
Bill’s video points out how ridiculous racism actually is—someone at some point in history effectively decided that the amount of UV rays that a person gets dictates how they should be treated. Now, sure, they weren’t thinking in those terms, but that is what it essentially boils down to.
The video blew up on the internet. The video managed to get nearly 19 million views on TikTok with over 4.4 million likes and 74,000 comments.
One person shared the video with the caption “bill nye just ended racism” with many praising Bill for stepping up and pointing it out. There were, however, some who questioned how to explain the difference in hair texture and physical features and claimed that this is an oversimplification of the matter as there’s more than just sunlight involved.
Regardless, it doesn’t change Bill’s message that treating someone unfairly just because of the color of their skin is wrong and it doesn’t make sense as we’re all a part of humankind.
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comment section below.
123Kviews
Share on FacebookScandinavians try to maintain this Vitamin D balance by getting closer to the sun. That's why they're so tall. Disclaimer: I *might* not be a scientist.
It might have to do with not getting stuck in snow and climbing mountains.
Load More Replies...Even without the science racism is stupid. If im gonna hate someone it will be to their core and who they are as an individual not because they're white, black or brown. Get creative, hate with a purpose people
If people do cruel, harmful things hate them, and then take action to stop them because they will not stop. "The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing nothing." - Albert Einstein+
Load More Replies...I thought everyone knew that melanin is protection from UV rays. The more melanin you have, the greater the protection. Hence, as Bill said, people who are from areas with more intense UV exposure, the more melanin your skin will have (and be darker because of it).
Yes but as we came from high melanin concentrations in the skin, why didn't we just stay that way? (so it actually is the other way around; we didn't become darker, we became lighter) And the reason for becoming lighter is that vitamin D is less well absorbed in darker skin. If you are have dark skin and you live in Norway for example. The advice is to take extra vitamin D. The disadvantages of becoming lighter is becoming more susceptible to skin cancer
Load More Replies...Humans are humans. We're all the same. I don't think we need any science to clarify that. Imagine if we were all blind! We would be forced to only relate to one another by speaking and touch. Then what? Then people would easily be able to gather around those whom they relate to, not based on appearance, but rather character. I think too many people overuse their eyes and ignore the heart.
I remember saying this to my mom when I was in my teens. I'm 63. But it was demonstrated so beautifully at the end of the movie: https://youtu.be/IrztuqIUCPA
Load More Replies...'Racism' is truly ridiculous, but the map doesn't reflect his explanation. People from Ecuador, for example, aren't as dark as many Africans. Those in South Africa aren't especially lighter and Australian aborigines are amongst the darkest skinned people.
We are dark, however we also have a recessive gene, so we are very white now. (from an Australian First Nations)
Load More Replies...Perfect. I knew this but it's always good to have it spelt out to people like they're 5 years old.
i dont judge you by the color of your skin but the content of your character. whats that? blm are rioting, burning s**t to the ground and hurting/killing people? well, im just judging them by their character. them being black doesnt have s**t to do with them being c***s
DNA shows that there was a bottleneck about 72,000 years ago when we nearly went extinct and there were just a handful - anywhere from a few thousand to a few hundred - modern humans left, mostly in what is not South Africa. We are all descended from that handful, every last one of the 7+ billion people on earth today. It's why we have less genetic diversity than chimpanzees.
Where's the app to match my skin shade with the optimum latitude? (But, probably not a good idea to encourage calls of "Go back to the latitude ya came from!")
It woudn't work. I'm french, white and my skin goes to "transparent" on the face to "pretty dark", and i'm always a bit dark everywhere. When my skin sees winter, she's turning transparent. To get a lot of vit D. Which i lack in winter so the doctors told me after a blood test. So i don't want to have my head and my hands in a latitude and my whole body in another one, my body will be really glad to stay in Morocco, maybe they could meet in summer?
Load More Replies...Now that the kiddie class is over, maybe we can discuss what evolutionary role "racism" plays - and let's be frank, it's not about skin colour - so as we can see clearly what benefits are gained as well as the disadvantages, and then maybe we can actually deal with an actual real thing in terms of how it might need to be dealt with, rather than this idiocy. He's not a science guy. Bill Nye is an Engineering Guy, not a Science Guy.
All our ancestors came in the same spaceship and landed in north Africa.
I don't anyone seriously is concerned with actual skin color. It's merely a convenient signifier for cultural differences - that's what people disagree on.
Skin color is not the only physical determinant. Physical strength and dominance play into the fear that drives racism in The States. That's why white supremacists tend to be gun fetishists.
Load More Replies...If one forgets the principals of evolution, then Bill is correct. But, yeah, racism sucks.
Here is the dirty secret with this theory: it can be used easily to justify racism, as you are saying that any color other than black evolved to adapt to their surroundings. Black people had no need to evolve, as they were perfectly adapted for their environment. This means that you can easily make a case that pretty much any race outside of Africa is "advanced", "superior" as the progression of evolution would not have solely come with an adaptation for skin. Much like how desirable traits with dogs are almost impossible to separate from the undesirable when breeding for a trait.
Also, when breeding dogs, traits like intelligence and psychological/emotional stability are associated with different breeds.
Load More Replies...I will be more impressed with him if he could take his presentation Nd stand before Antifa,BLM,Isis Nd other radical group Nd show them that
Logic and scientific explanation is of no significance in politics, people vote on sentiment
Bill is, naturally 100% right about skin color. Now tell us the one about how mentalities differ, depending on where you live, Bill.
in the US, some people don't like immigrants. This is hypocritical & wrong because everyone in the US and the Americas is an immigrant. Even the native Americans are immigrants since they moved in 15,000 years ago.
... the old vitamin D vs sunburn trade-off ... he left out a minor thing (that doesn't add any to his point), the native very-north americans who eat a lot of fish get enough Vit D from that source, so they could remain pretty dark. And, anyway - thanks, Bill! We need more celebrities standing up for science, truth, humanity.
The very nortg native americans are dark because not enough time passed for them to evolve that much(14000 years isn't a lot). And the vitamin D you get from food needs the body to be exposed to sunrays to be catalized into useful vitamin D that the body use.
Load More Replies...We are all descended from the same people, therefore racism exists and the terrible white people have to change. - Bill Nye the Illogical Guy.
Personally I am a equal opportunity hater. I hate everyone except for those I hate even more then usual
A fellow student in my sociology class on race defined himself as an Earthican - and now that is what everybody is =0]
Load More Replies...Well I saw his show with this exact explanation over 30 yrs ago and he helped a lot of little black kids find a sense of worth. So shove it.
Load More Replies...Lmao ummm no. You're gravely incorrect. Can you cite where you're getting your information?
Load More Replies..."Zero scientific credentials" you mean besides the fact that he's ceo of the planetary society created by Carl Sagan and that engineering is literally defined as "the branch of science and technology concerned with the design, building, and use of engines, machines, and structures"
Load More Replies...Scandinavians try to maintain this Vitamin D balance by getting closer to the sun. That's why they're so tall. Disclaimer: I *might* not be a scientist.
It might have to do with not getting stuck in snow and climbing mountains.
Load More Replies...Even without the science racism is stupid. If im gonna hate someone it will be to their core and who they are as an individual not because they're white, black or brown. Get creative, hate with a purpose people
If people do cruel, harmful things hate them, and then take action to stop them because they will not stop. "The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing nothing." - Albert Einstein+
Load More Replies...I thought everyone knew that melanin is protection from UV rays. The more melanin you have, the greater the protection. Hence, as Bill said, people who are from areas with more intense UV exposure, the more melanin your skin will have (and be darker because of it).
Yes but as we came from high melanin concentrations in the skin, why didn't we just stay that way? (so it actually is the other way around; we didn't become darker, we became lighter) And the reason for becoming lighter is that vitamin D is less well absorbed in darker skin. If you are have dark skin and you live in Norway for example. The advice is to take extra vitamin D. The disadvantages of becoming lighter is becoming more susceptible to skin cancer
Load More Replies...Humans are humans. We're all the same. I don't think we need any science to clarify that. Imagine if we were all blind! We would be forced to only relate to one another by speaking and touch. Then what? Then people would easily be able to gather around those whom they relate to, not based on appearance, but rather character. I think too many people overuse their eyes and ignore the heart.
I remember saying this to my mom when I was in my teens. I'm 63. But it was demonstrated so beautifully at the end of the movie: https://youtu.be/IrztuqIUCPA
Load More Replies...'Racism' is truly ridiculous, but the map doesn't reflect his explanation. People from Ecuador, for example, aren't as dark as many Africans. Those in South Africa aren't especially lighter and Australian aborigines are amongst the darkest skinned people.
We are dark, however we also have a recessive gene, so we are very white now. (from an Australian First Nations)
Load More Replies...Perfect. I knew this but it's always good to have it spelt out to people like they're 5 years old.
i dont judge you by the color of your skin but the content of your character. whats that? blm are rioting, burning s**t to the ground and hurting/killing people? well, im just judging them by their character. them being black doesnt have s**t to do with them being c***s
DNA shows that there was a bottleneck about 72,000 years ago when we nearly went extinct and there were just a handful - anywhere from a few thousand to a few hundred - modern humans left, mostly in what is not South Africa. We are all descended from that handful, every last one of the 7+ billion people on earth today. It's why we have less genetic diversity than chimpanzees.
Where's the app to match my skin shade with the optimum latitude? (But, probably not a good idea to encourage calls of "Go back to the latitude ya came from!")
It woudn't work. I'm french, white and my skin goes to "transparent" on the face to "pretty dark", and i'm always a bit dark everywhere. When my skin sees winter, she's turning transparent. To get a lot of vit D. Which i lack in winter so the doctors told me after a blood test. So i don't want to have my head and my hands in a latitude and my whole body in another one, my body will be really glad to stay in Morocco, maybe they could meet in summer?
Load More Replies...Now that the kiddie class is over, maybe we can discuss what evolutionary role "racism" plays - and let's be frank, it's not about skin colour - so as we can see clearly what benefits are gained as well as the disadvantages, and then maybe we can actually deal with an actual real thing in terms of how it might need to be dealt with, rather than this idiocy. He's not a science guy. Bill Nye is an Engineering Guy, not a Science Guy.
All our ancestors came in the same spaceship and landed in north Africa.
I don't anyone seriously is concerned with actual skin color. It's merely a convenient signifier for cultural differences - that's what people disagree on.
Skin color is not the only physical determinant. Physical strength and dominance play into the fear that drives racism in The States. That's why white supremacists tend to be gun fetishists.
Load More Replies...If one forgets the principals of evolution, then Bill is correct. But, yeah, racism sucks.
Here is the dirty secret with this theory: it can be used easily to justify racism, as you are saying that any color other than black evolved to adapt to their surroundings. Black people had no need to evolve, as they were perfectly adapted for their environment. This means that you can easily make a case that pretty much any race outside of Africa is "advanced", "superior" as the progression of evolution would not have solely come with an adaptation for skin. Much like how desirable traits with dogs are almost impossible to separate from the undesirable when breeding for a trait.
Also, when breeding dogs, traits like intelligence and psychological/emotional stability are associated with different breeds.
Load More Replies...I will be more impressed with him if he could take his presentation Nd stand before Antifa,BLM,Isis Nd other radical group Nd show them that
Logic and scientific explanation is of no significance in politics, people vote on sentiment
Bill is, naturally 100% right about skin color. Now tell us the one about how mentalities differ, depending on where you live, Bill.
in the US, some people don't like immigrants. This is hypocritical & wrong because everyone in the US and the Americas is an immigrant. Even the native Americans are immigrants since they moved in 15,000 years ago.
... the old vitamin D vs sunburn trade-off ... he left out a minor thing (that doesn't add any to his point), the native very-north americans who eat a lot of fish get enough Vit D from that source, so they could remain pretty dark. And, anyway - thanks, Bill! We need more celebrities standing up for science, truth, humanity.
The very nortg native americans are dark because not enough time passed for them to evolve that much(14000 years isn't a lot). And the vitamin D you get from food needs the body to be exposed to sunrays to be catalized into useful vitamin D that the body use.
Load More Replies...We are all descended from the same people, therefore racism exists and the terrible white people have to change. - Bill Nye the Illogical Guy.
Personally I am a equal opportunity hater. I hate everyone except for those I hate even more then usual
A fellow student in my sociology class on race defined himself as an Earthican - and now that is what everybody is =0]
Load More Replies...Well I saw his show with this exact explanation over 30 yrs ago and he helped a lot of little black kids find a sense of worth. So shove it.
Load More Replies...Lmao ummm no. You're gravely incorrect. Can you cite where you're getting your information?
Load More Replies..."Zero scientific credentials" you mean besides the fact that he's ceo of the planetary society created by Carl Sagan and that engineering is literally defined as "the branch of science and technology concerned with the design, building, and use of engines, machines, and structures"
Load More Replies...
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