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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2010 10:48:44 GMT
What do you all think of this. i have to say it kind of agrees with what i thought about adhd in the first place. www.evolution-rx.com/?p=28
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2010 20:15:04 GMT
Imagine Meerkats - if one is looking the other way then a danger may be spotted.
The same works for humans, we flourish because we can exploit novel situations. If we were all 'stay at homes' then we'd still be in Africa, if we were all ADHD we'd have died out, like the dodo, from lack or awareness (or falling off cliffs, into fires, poking sabre toothed tigers etc etc).
A spread of attributes is helpful, sometimes being a stay at home is best and sometimes the adventurous explore new niches for the stay at homes to call home later.
Why do you think the USA is chock full of ADHDers?
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Post by andy12345 on Feb 7, 2010 17:09:04 GMT
Hypervigilance?
Hence the website borntoexplore.org and farmer or hunter theory on wikipedia.
ADHD is not a negative thing as long as the person can cope, otherwise argh..... Then again, if medication resolves some/most/all of the worst parts then who is to say that genetics - 28000 genes approx at the last count in the human genome - is not the cause.
I mean, everyone is different are they not? Anyway, I'm sure it will be all worked out in 50 years or so, unless planet earth is super char grilled by then.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2010 11:07:19 GMT
Mmm... i wonder why only 5% -10% approx of the population have ADHD? 10,000 years ago we were all still tribal even if the groups were getting larger and larger. 10,000 years is a blink of the eye in evolutionary terms. ??
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2010 11:09:15 GMT
Also, yes, I can see it makes sense that some members of a group have ADHD and some do not, but evolution doesn't work on selecting groups of people, it works on individuals survival and reproduction. All very interesting...
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Post by roland on Feb 11, 2010 11:30:44 GMT
That doctor forgot about hyperfocus! I can picture me being so focused on scraping honey out of a hole in a tree trunk that I don't see the leopard licking its chops on the branch above my head! Roland, sweetened with honey, is on the menu for dinner
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2010 12:49:14 GMT
Okay! So that's why there isn't more ADHD in the population!! I probably wouldn't have survived childhood, would have tried to jump across a ravine or something...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2010 13:08:18 GMT
Also, yes, I can see it makes sense that some members of a group have ADHD and some do not, but evolution doesn't work on selecting groups of people, it works on individuals survival and reproduction. All very interesting... I disagree with your 'individual' premise. Firstly ADHD individuals can flourish and breed - an ADHDer doesn't need to be a basket case. We see many severly impacted individuals here but there are many more borderline cases who do quite well thank you very much whilst still having useful ADHD characteristics. Secondly humans are social animals and are only useful in groups. Even a non breeding individual contributes to the survival of the group (and therefore the DNA of ADHD through blood relations that carry the gene but are not 'impaired'). The <10% ratio is the best sign of social evolution. It's a bit 'goldilocks'. Too many ADHDers and the society will be unstable, too few and it will lose the adaptive advantages that ADHD brings and atrophy whilst the better balanced <10% ADHD society exploits new opportunities. I think ADHD is an integral part of human evolution and thus an enduring stable genetic variation. Some of us are suffering from our personal variation being a bit too much for our environment and we'd be better off finding new outlets for our 'wayward' minds.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2010 13:21:24 GMT
Okay! So that's why there isn't more ADHD in the population!! I probably wouldn't have survived childhood, would have tried to jump across a ravine or something... I'm 48 and have survived a pretty hefty case of ADHD so far. The casualty rate in ADHDers is going to be higher than average but I'm old enough to have raised a full brood of ADHD carrying kids so my effective evolutionary life is 'over'. And I did jump ravines/fall out of trees/start my own business/took various risks etc.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2010 15:47:01 GMT
Planet Dave Senior God, Sorry, I didn't mean to cause offence. I just read my posts again and still can't see how I have caused offence. I am 39. I have just been diagnosed with ADHD and Aspergers. I have struggled and struggled and struggled too for 39 years. I have two kids and it looks like my youngest has it too. Sorry, didn't know you was talking about some group theory of evolution, which has been discredited by all of the most distinguished biologists!!! (in fact I don't know of any that advocate group theory anymore) we have common ground, i am woman but still jump stuff when out with the kids! I had my own business pre kids, then started one after the kids (failed) but so what, I don't get your point? ??
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2010 16:19:25 GMT
No offence taken by me at all I like a scientific approach - and if you prove me wrong then I'm wrong and I'll shift my view. Apologies if I came across as confrontational. It's a debate across a cuppa and some nice bikkies
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2010 17:29:39 GMT
Sorry!! I seem to have to apologise often. I am confused.com regularly I could do with learning how to put a disclaimer at the bottom of my posts saying "no offence intended" My first post was to question why there is not more ADHD in the population, because I wonder that it may have been very useful before humans got organised and structured with agriculture and the division of labour?? Thats all. (ADHDers are very useful in immediate consequence situations, I would think??) When you were talking about the proportion of ADHDers in the population it reminded me of an "evolutionary stable strategy", do you know about the question of "cheaters" to "suckers" and how the ratios of each dictate how successful each will be? Anyway, sorry again. It's probably me, I think it usually is.
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