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An article in Scientific American relates research that concludes culture has sped up human evolution in the last ten thousand years, "a host of changes to everything from digestion to bones has been taking place", attributed to the increasing complexity of society and the increase in the population.
A striking note is also raised with respect to Africans, for whom it is reported that the rate of evolutionary change has been slower, due to the fact that the population has not had to undergo the more dramatic adaptations that those who migrated to Europe and Asia had to undergo in their new climates:
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An article in Scientific American relates research that concludes culture has sped up human evolution in the last ten thousand years, "a host of changes to everything from digestion to bones has been taking place", attributed to the increasing complexity of society and the increase in the population.
A striking note is also raised with respect to Africans, for whom it is reported that the rate of evolutionary change has been slower, due to the fact that the population has not had to undergo the more dramatic adaptations that those who migrated to Europe and Asia had to undergo in their new climates:
Not all populations show the same evolutionary speed. For example, Africans show a slightly lower mutation rate. "Africans haven't had to adapt to a fundamentally new climate," because modern humanity evolved where they live, Cochran says. "Europeans and East Asians, living in environments very different from those of their African ancestors and early adopters of agriculture, were more maladapted, less fitted to their environments."One cannot help drawing an association to the recent debate on race and IQ. However, if there is a connection, the overall thrust of these findings is positive, in that our differences are more about culture rather than something innate, and hence malleable and progressive.
