This weekly roundup thread is intended for all culture war posts. 'Culture war' is vaguely defined, but it basically means controversial issues that fall along set tribal lines. Arguments over culture war issues generate a lot of heat and little light, and few deeply entrenched people ever change their minds. This thread is for voicing opinions and analyzing the state of the discussion while trying to optimize for light over heat.
Optimistically, we think that engaging with people you disagree with is worth your time, and so is being nice! Pessimistically, there are many dynamics that can lead discussions on Culture War topics to become unproductive. There's a human tendency to divide along tribal lines, praising your ingroup and vilifying your outgroup - and if you think you find it easy to criticize your ingroup, then it may be that your outgroup is not who you think it is. Extremists with opposing positions can feed off each other, highlighting each other's worst points to justify their own angry rhetoric, which becomes in turn a new example of bad behavior for the other side to highlight.
We would like to avoid these negative dynamics. Accordingly, we ask that you do not use this thread for waging the Culture War. Examples of waging the Culture War:
-
Shaming.
-
Attempting to 'build consensus' or enforce ideological conformity.
-
Making sweeping generalizations to vilify a group you dislike.
-
Recruiting for a cause.
-
Posting links that could be summarized as 'Boo outgroup!' Basically, if your content is 'Can you believe what Those People did this week?' then you should either refrain from posting, or do some very patient work to contextualize and/or steel-man the relevant viewpoint.
In general, you should argue to understand, not to win. This thread is not territory to be claimed by one group or another; indeed, the aim is to have many different viewpoints represented here. Thus, we also ask that you follow some guidelines:
-
Speak plainly. Avoid sarcasm and mockery. When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.
-
Be as precise and charitable as you can. Don't paraphrase unflatteringly.
-
Don't imply that someone said something they did not say, even if you think it follows from what they said.
-
Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.
On an ad hoc basis, the mods will try to compile a list of the best posts/comments from the previous week, posted in Quality Contribution threads and archived at /r/TheThread. You may nominate a comment for this list by clicking on 'report' at the bottom of the post and typing 'Actually a quality contribution' as the report reason.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
I would argue that neither qualify as a large evolutionary change.
If humans did not have the ability to digest milk and recently acquired it, that would be amazing. What happened instead is that all viable humans in the ancestral environment had the genes for the ability to digest milk, but it was advantageous not to waste any energy on producing the enzymes after you were weaned. I suppose that in lactose tolerant humans, the configuration to turn off lactase was broken. (WP confirms that is it simply two single-nucleotide polymorphism -- exactly the opposite of a large evolutionary change!)
Skin color is the same. Almost all humans in the ancestral environment were able to produce melanin. Obviously the trade-offs between getting less skin cancer and producing less vitamin D depend on the amount of sunlight you are exposed to.
More interesting recent changes (though arguably also not a large one) might be the Ashkenazi intelligence gains, or perhaps the acclimation of some peoples to great heights. Still not on a 'new proteins' level, but a bit broader than just the two SNP changes of lactose tolerance or a few dialing down the melanin.
Not sure if the rate of gut related genetic inheritable syndromes and prevalence of neuroticism is worth it tbh.
I hadn't known about that. Now I do, and it explains a lot. Guess it's not parenting or alcohol or coffee, no, my issues are down to genetic predisposition! Who'd have guessed.
You might not think it is but it do, seriously take a look at random genetic disorders and corelate if they have anything to do with the gastrointestinal tract and population. It's crazy. You have Crohn's, Gaucher,Tay-Sachs,Cystic fibrosis, BRCA1/BRCA2 mutations (autosomal dominant, cancer predisposition): Carrier rate ~ 1 in 40 (vs. 1 in 400 in general pop).
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
If 1-2SD changes in intelligence don't require a "large" evolutionary change, then HBD can be true without requiring "large" evolutionary changes, and @magic9mushroom's skepticism of those is irrelevant.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link