tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post2205457620336578370..comments2024-01-13T18:57:18.243-05:00Comments on Information Processing: Fast evolution in QuebecSteve Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02428333897272913660noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-42382673405923828672011-10-10T12:49:08.412-04:002011-10-10T12:49:08.412-04:00And the Aran Islands men are called boys until 40....And the Aran Islands men are called boys until 40. Very late reproductive age on these islands off Ireland's west coast. How long have they been inhabited? Not long.MtMorunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-6145539035742093462011-10-08T03:01:38.700-04:002011-10-08T03:01:38.700-04:00I highly enjoy the precision of your definitions, ...I highly enjoy the precision of your definitions, Ben. <br /><br />But this is also why I encourage you to distinguish markedly between heritability, and Breeding Value. Heritability is a broad sense term, and includes all pathways, however indirect. It is possible, in this sense, to inherit a bag of gold, a religion, and a language. Breeding Value, however, is direct genetic pathways ONLY (!). LaurentMelchiorTelliernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-45164771333963027992011-10-08T02:54:26.303-04:002011-10-08T02:54:26.303-04:00Clarity of thinking makes it very obvious that sel...Clarity of thinking makes it very obvious that selection of genetic traits was unlikely to be a factor in Quebec.5371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-91375291693926053932011-10-07T18:40:45.444-04:002011-10-07T18:40:45.444-04:00The trait in question is receiving a bag of gold, ...The trait in question is receiving a bag of gold, not the bag itself. This trait is mainly environmental-- it's based on having been raised by you rather than having certain inherited characteristics. A twin study would find that being an identical twin doesn't make you much more similar for gold-receiving than if you were a dizygotic twin. An adoption study would find that your ben_gnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-83828064003263003712011-10-07T18:24:03.343-04:002011-10-07T18:24:03.343-04:00The fact that my son takes over my bag of gold whe...The fact that my son takes over my bag of gold when I die does not make my bag of gold a biologically heritable trait. I would have thought this pretty uncontroversial.5371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-79237908545053113822011-10-07T18:20:18.476-04:002011-10-07T18:20:18.476-04:00post hoc, non propter hocpost hoc, non propter hoc5371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-80699093207264523902011-10-07T17:38:56.868-04:002011-10-07T17:38:56.868-04:00Wealth is heritable. Age at first childbearing is...Wealth is heritable. Age at first childbearing is heritable. Nearly every trait you look at is significantly heritable. <br /><br />You don't seem to understand what heritable means. It simply means that genetic variation ultimately causes phenotypic variation in a given environment. In the most direct causal pathway, I have a gene which you don't so we get different proteins. In a ben_gnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-82209549986170438982011-10-07T10:24:28.639-04:002011-10-07T10:24:28.639-04:00I wish that were the case. Sadly, there was no ado...I wish that were the case. Sadly, there was no adoption control group, or even an apology for the lack of one. Their only nod towards controlling for environment/culture is to control for intra-sample homogeneity.LaurentMelchiorTelliernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-43932983302380503582011-10-07T04:17:07.640-04:002011-10-07T04:17:07.640-04:00Guppies don't need permission to reproduce. An...Guppies don't need permission to reproduce. And even in their case, there are plenty of explanations for those changes other than an alteration in gene frequencies. For instance, an improved environment during development may have effects on the adult phenotype that continue to increase for generations.5371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-7341946515488080072011-10-07T04:09:52.494-04:002011-10-07T04:09:52.494-04:00More likely they are no genes at all. Wealth (or m...More likely they are no genes at all. Wealth (or modest economic independence) is not a biologically heritable trait.5371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-81821446452041337952011-10-07T00:16:50.676-04:002011-10-07T00:16:50.676-04:00Between infant mortality, disease, violence and em...Between infant mortality, disease, violence and emigration, the effective number of offspring should be much lower. I'd estimate that dropping AFR from 26 to 22, assuming reduced fertility at 40 and menopause at 45, would increase the number of children surviving to maturity by about 25%.esmithnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-84894245872451081222011-10-05T16:05:56.773-04:002011-10-05T16:05:56.773-04:00Seems absurd, as if the authors had no idea that t...Seems absurd, as if the authors had no idea that these people came to Quebec from a radically different physical, social and economic environment.5371noreply@blogger.com