Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

40k years is between 1000 and 2000 generations. Why would it be unreasonable to think there could be significant genetic drift over that many iterations?

We have bred entirely new strains of dogs or other livestock that are almost unrecognizable from the starting population in a fraction of that time.

What we have done to plants through relatively unsophisticated selection pressure is even more illuminating.

Why humanity would be immune from similar processes, I cannot understand.



>We have bred entirely new strains of dogs or other livestock that are almost unrecognizable from the starting population in a fraction of that time.

But we specifically set out to do that. Random variance is going to mostly balance out unless it gives a competitive advantage.


> 40k years is between 1000 and 2000 generations. Why would it be unreasonable to think there could be significant genetic drift over that many iterations?

Sure, it looks like there "could be". So what is interesting is the evidence I presented that there hasn't been.

For why, maybe

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=dsfyu404ed

explains. Or, with plants and domestic animals, we managed the evolution with directions in mind, but for humans Darwin had less intense objectives.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: