FoodBanter.com - View Single Post - Seriously...do people eat Pizza Hut in real life?

Mr C

wrote:
> Dana Carpender wrote:
>
>
> > Actually, skeletal evidence shows that when hunter-gatherers became
> > farmers, they got shorter, with weak bones and bad teeth, probably due
> > to the fact that grain phytates bind up minerals. Doesn't sound like
> > thriving, really.
>
>
> People today are much taller on average than people were just a couple
> hundred years ago. If people are shorter because of grains, then why we
> are taller now, as we eat more grains than ever before?
>
Well, greater availability and sophistication of health care, better
nutrition (a broad understanding of body chemistry and all body
functions that did not exist a couple hundred years ago), and more of
everything because of the advantages of civilization.

> I suspect the people getting shorter in the past was for a different
> reason.
>
> Also, I would point out that we evolution isn't as slow as you think.
> Just considering the short time that we have been homo sapien, we have
> adapted to various conditions. Take a look around you. While the world
> has become a smaller place and people are now migrated and spread out
> everywhere, you can still tell where a person's ancestors came from
> because of some characteristics.
>
How is that supposed to show that evolution is fast? If anything, it
shows that some traits at least are slow to "evolve away". Which is
the opposite of your point, I think.

> People from colder climates tend to have smaller noses with with small
> nostrils to keep out the cold. Skin color - we got all these diffferent
> skin tones from various levels of exposure to the sun. Some people
> needed more natural protection than others.
>
> We may all be mixed up now. But back when people were sequestered in
> various groupings, the people adapted as a group to their particular
> evironment. It didn't take 50,000 years to produce people of various
> skin tones or different styles of noses.
>
Wanna take that back?

> You can also see "evolution" in domestic animals as we intentionally
> (and sometimes accidentally) breed changes in the pets. It doesn't take
> 1,000 years to take one breed and get a new breed. For example, the
> Siamese cat has been around for while, and sometimes there would be a
> mutation of one gene to produce long hair. It didn't take long to
> create a new breed called a Balinese that is exactly the same as a
> siamese except it has long hair. And it breeds true. All you had to do
> was breed the carriers of the mutated gene or those with the mutated
> gene, and you got more of them. I actually have a Balinese that came
> from two siamese. We owned both parents with short hair and were quite
> surprised to have a kitten with long hair. Once a gene mutates like
> this and reproduces, you have a change in the genes and that is
> basically what evolution is.
>
Right, assuming you understand the difference between natural selection
and enforced selection, and the compressed time frame of generations
that brings with it. Which still supports the exact opposite point
than you are arguing.

> Characteristics like size, nose, facial shape, ears, etc can change
> very quickly. I read an article awhile back showing 4 breeds and how
> they have changed in 40 years. The author obviously like the
> "improvements" in the breed. I didn't. They had photos of champion cats
> today and champion cats of the same breeds 40 years ago, and I liked
> the older photos much better. But the point was obvious. The breeds
> have changed a LOT in 40 years.

And that's about 60 enforced generations, or 12,000 human years for
cats, a little less for dogs. Though I'd like to see the photos and
info on the species, since I doubt the specs for breeds have changed
much, when it comes to the whole pet beauty contest gig.

And anyway, if breeders are able to have such dramatic impact on a
breed (not even a species), and a mongrel remains a mongrel no matter
the place or time, doesn't that further erode your argument of rapid
*natural* selection?

Mr C