[ExI] People are the same?

[Dan]

I actually got my milk example from Wade's book, which I read a few years ago. I think he goes a little too far in some of his claims, but it's good popular-level look at the state of the art from a few years ago.
 
And, yes, there are two different genes for milk digestion in adults, but it's a relatively recent innovation and there's nothing weighing against there being some evolution just because it's not at the species level, but only at the subspecies level.
 
Regards,
 
Dan
From: Stefano Vaj <stefano.vaj at gmail.com>
To: Dan <dan_ust at yahoo.com>; ExI chat list <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
Sent: Friday, July 29, 2011 1:07 PM
Subject: Re: [ExI] People are the same?/was Re: No Moon Bases Needed


2011/7/29 Dan <dan_ust at yahoo.com>:
> Whilst I don't see much evidence for rapid evolution happening amongst human
> in the last few centuries, it does seem to be the case that there was some
> amount of evolution from fifty thousand years ago. In particular, it seems
> that the ability to digest milk in adulthood arose and spread to most of the
> species. Also, blondness seems to have arisen in the last six thousand years
> ago. Granted, these are minor changes, but there are probably others that
> just haven't been uncovered as of yet.

Yes for the general picture, but I would object to a few details.

- Ability to digest comfortably lactose in adulthood seem only concern some 90%+ of Europoids and 50% of some populations of East Africa (because of entirely different mutations!) so it is far from generalised in our species.

- Fair pigmentation (blond or red hair, blue or gray eyes) is a recessive feature which but for albinism exists only in the Europoid race for our species (it would appear that Neanderthals were red-headed), and should come out from the genetic drift which affected the small groups of Sapiens which survived the last Great Ice Age, sometime around 10-12000 bC

- It seems on the other hand that some mutation arisen in 6000 bC has spread in our species, against from Europe, which may offer cognitive improvement dividends. 

See, inter alia, Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors by Nicholas Wade.

-- 
Stefano Vaj
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