Text 1266, 119 rader
Skriven 2004-12-31 10:55:00 av Deowll (1:278/230)
Ärende: Re: Human Evolution is Ca
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"EKurtz99" <EKurtz99@TwilightZone.com> wrote in message 
news:cqthlt$hs9$1@darwin.ediacara.org...
> "Jim McGinn" <jimmcginn@yahoo.com> wrote
>> University of Chicago researchers now concur that human evolution is
>> categorically distinct:
>
> You mean they have finally come to their senses and agreed with you?
>
>> http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-12/uocm-uoc122304.php
>
>> University of Chicago researchers discovered that humans are a
>> 'privileged' evolutionary lineage
>
> snip
>
>> "Humans evolved their cognitive abilities not due to a few accidental
>> mutations, but rather, from an enormous number of mutations acquired
>> though exceptionally intense selection favoring more complex cognitive
>> abilities," said lead scientist Bruce Lahn, an assistant professor of
>> human genetics at the University of Chicago and an investigator at the
>> Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
>
> Who believes otherwise?
>
>>From a genetic point of view, some scientists thought that human
>> evolution might be a recapitulation of the typical molecular
>> evolutionary process, he said. For example, the evolution of the larger
>> brain might be due to the same processes that led to the evolution of a
>> larger antler or a longer tusk.
>
> Who believes such nonsense?
>
>> "We've proven that there is a big distinction. Human evolution is, in
>> fact, a privileged process because it involves a large number of
>> mutations in a large number of genes," Lahn said. "To accomplish so
>> much in so little evolutionary time - a few tens of millions of years
>> - requires a selective process that is perhaps categorically
>> different from the typical processes of acquiring new biological
>> traits."
>
> snip
>
>> According to Lahn, data from the Cell paper secures humans' privileged
>> position in the evolutionary tree. "Human brain evolution required a
>> major overhaul of the genetic blueprint -- perhaps much more so than
>> the evolution of other biological traits," he said.
>
> Maybe, maybe not. Do we know whether the same intensity of adaptive 
> mutation
> was involved in the development of the senses and stealth of the cat? No, 
> we
> don't. In the toughness and stamina of the wolf? No, we don't. In the 
> flight
> control of the hummingbird or the kingfisher? No, again.
>
>> But how did human ancestors encounter an environment where selection
>> for better brains suddenly became such a prominent force? Lahn suggests
>> that because humans have become a progressively more social species,
>> greater cognitive abilities have become more of an advantage.
>>
>> "As humans become more social, differences in intelligence will
>> translate into much greater differences in fitness," he said, "because
>> you can manipulate your social structure to your advantage.
>
> Ah, a "Just So" story. So the driving force was social. But Homo erectus 
> was
> social, and was around for 2 million years with no dramatic increase in
> encephalization.

The above statement is false. The most dramatic increase in encephalization 
began before erectus and ended with the emergance of AMH or even a slightly 
before. Please don't take my word for it. The studies are in the lit. I was 
looking at chart on it just last night. Even moderately well read people 
will know you are wrong.

>
>> "Even devoid of the social context, as humans become more intelligent,
>> it might create a situation where being a little smarter matters a lot.
>
> Ah, another story; this time it's individual cognitive advantage distinct
> from social advantage. So why the previous explanation? Because Lahn, like
> everyone else on the planet, has no idea where human cognitive abilities
> came from.
>
>> "The making of the large human brain is not just the neurological
>> equivalent of making a large antler.
>
> Again - who believes that big brains are the human equivalent of big
> antlers?
>
>> Rather, it required a level of
>> selection that's unprecedented,"
>
> ...unprecedented when you compare it to rats and mice.
>
>> Lahn said. "Our study offers the first
>> genetic evidence that humans occupy a unique position in the tree of
>> life. Simply put, evolution has been working very hard to produce us
>> humans."
>
> There is no such person as evolution.
> If you wish to make the case for human exceptionalism (and I would), you
> have to do it by looking at the behavioral phenotypes that set us apart -
> cognitive ability, curiosity, response to art, complexity of language,
> ability to create complex civilizations.
>
>
>
>
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