Comments on: What if evolution works 15,000 times faster than we imagined?

By: Dan tdaxp

Dan tdaxp — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Michael,

I'm not aware of a similar study on chimpanzees, but its usefulness is clear. Good point bringing it up.

The original article examined European, African, Han Chinese, and Japanese populations. Most of the "accelerated selection Variants" (ASVs) are race-specific, -- while 1,800 genes appear to be ASVs, for example, only 509 are shared between Europeans and Africans, for example.

You can also find historically different rates of positive selection in the second and third chart from the article, which I included in the post.

But even if there are no group differences, Evolutionary Psychology assumes that the humans are adapted to the Pleistocene... perhaps, but the rapid increase in natural selection in the past 10,000 years argues that many adaptions may be specific to agricultural societies.

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

2 questions come to mind (bear in mind it's 1AM here and I don't know a huge amount about genetics):

1. Has anyone looked at the rates of genetic change in chimpanzees or other animals to see if they show similar acceleration?

2. Has this data been broken down by specific ethnicities, nationalities, Y or mitochondrial DNA lines? If not, could you explain what evidence against evolutionary psych I'm overlooking here?

Again, not intending to be cranky or superior here, just tired and puzzled.

By: PurpleSlog

PurpleSlog — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Fascinating! (Really, I have nothing to add…I just want to subscribe to any updates).

By: Rob Paterson

Rob Paterson — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Dan
I love the way your mind works - it's such fun reading your material. I worry about my home as I read this. On Prince Edward Island, the most adventurous people have left the Island for the last 150 years. With the collapse of local subsistence agriculture many of those that have stayed have been drawn into a culture of living on government hand outs.

So now we have the worst educational outcomes and the worst health outcomes of any province in Canada.

What do you think may be the risks of humans in certain social conditions going backwards?

By: Dan tdaxp

Dan tdaxp — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

PurpleSlog,

Thanks! :-)

I've been following p-ter over at gnxp [1]...

Rob,

"What do you think may be the risks of humans in certain social conditions going backwards?"

Certainly, it's possible for social forms to warp into something very different, and probably worse.

One example is sometimes known as a "female farming" societies. In these, adult males largely abandon economically productive activities, instead devoting themselves to violent, hierarchical, relationships and ostentatious displays of wealth. Such societies are widespread in Africa, North Korea, and in many urban areas in the United States.

[1] http://www.gnxp.com/blog/2007/12/more-notes-on-acceleration.php