IQ Population Genetics: It’s not as Simple as You Think
A paper I came across while blog surfing. While the IQ stuff is interesting, what really caught my attention was the section on the out of Africa date.
Both genetic evidence (Ingman et al., 2000; Underhill et al., 2001; Zhivotovsky et al., 2003) and the fossil record (White et al., 2003) point to Africa as the likely homeland of our species. According to the most widely accepted scenario, one or more subgroups of early modern humans left Africa between 120,000 and 100,000 years ago to become the ancestors of the non- African populations
Which makes a pleasant change after reading an idiot paper earlier today that was hitting the 40k date. Again.
And something I didn’t know..
Genes, like drugs, have many side effects. This is called pleiotropy. For example, the average IQ of nearsighted people is 6 to 8 points higher than the average for normal-sighted people.
Although I am familiar with a medical condition called torsion dystonia that raises the IQ of the sufferer by an average of 10 points. An interesting read.
Mathilda's Anthropology Blog. 
“… the average IQ of nearsighted people is 6 to 8 points higher than the average for normal-sighted people”.
That can be because near-sightedness is a condition usually caused by reading a lot, which in turn is a tendency favored more by high IQ people than the rest.
That can be because near-sightedness is a condition usually caused by reading a lot, which in turn is a tendency favored more by high IQ people than the rest.
That occurred to me too so I checked. Apparently there is a more direct relationship than that.
http://www.iovs.org/cgi/content/full/45/9/2943
and
By the way Luis- you are not in my good books after I spotted you saying the only reason I was pro an Asian origin for Afro Asiatic was racism at Dienekes. My reasons are entirely logic based. I was quite happy with an African origin for PAA before I spent a few days studying the recons and basic linguistsics. The genetics associated with its spread and its recons are non supportive of an African origin, and you’ll find many of the points I make on the suject made by published linguists and other scholars.
You can find me following the ‘African AA’ line happily on older blog entries. If the reason was racism I would have rejected it out of hand.
…40k is the euro-glaciation starting the nomad
deer/mazatl(N) epoch. now, with the hominid
bone horizon of the zuang-xi cave living area being 8ook bc, the out of afrika date for southern littoral=litus=l/titl/tus(letra)=
titla/titlani(N)=between/messenger, =tidal
walkers, who avoided neander, can be pushed
back quite a bit. i found myself saying 15ok bc.
a while ago, and even if we clash with earlier
species there’s nothing that says several
prototypes didn’t live in the same time frame.
…racism=t/l/raza(sp)=tlaza(N)=t/lazy.
you can’t accuse matilda of being lazy.
The high IQ of near sighted people may be cause rather than effect. Experiments on animals adapt when reduction or enlargment lenses are place infront of there eyes. So nearsightedness is not necessarily a direct consequence of the genetics, but from to much reading or computer use during childhood which a curiouse personality tends to produce. So in a non literate enviroment high IQ genetics may not necesarilly lead to near sightedness.
The high IQ of near sighted people may be cause rather than effect
As I posted in the comments a while ago, I checked up the study for this, apparently there’s a link between the traits, although I’m pretty sure that close up work and excess high GI carbs also make myopia worse from reading I did in the past.
My younger brother who is the opposite hated books complaining of headaches until he was later diagnosed an optician. The only problem was that the diagnosis was too late, and his attitude towards reading never changed.