Does retardation and insanity confer evolutionary fitness? Dec. 26th, 2008 Jorma Jyrkkanen jormabio@hotmail.com

Does retardation and insanity confer evolutionary fitness? Dec. 26th, 2008 at 12:31 PM Why Retardation and Insanity is So Conservative in Human Populations is a Matter of Evolutionary Fitness. Related Tags : genetic, issues, mental health, society, environment It confers evolutionary fitness without competition. 26 Dec 2008 I have been pondering more reasons why retardation is expressed in so many genes on the X chromosome and why insanity is so widespread in our species and I have come up with some possibilities. As you are aware if you follow my blogs, my early reason was that suspicion enables detection of dangerous individuals before they can act. If it causes collateral damage to those that are not a threat, thats the price for the increased survival value of suspicion. But what else. Surely that only has value in war time and if someone is potentially going to run off with your mate or jobs or career or assets. It dawned on me this morning as I was driving along the highway. It creates competitor free space and circumvents the need to actively compete. People are afraid of irrational individuals and avoid them. They have the potential for sudden unprovoked violence. It enables them to occupy space without competition. This has enormous survival value. It also enables them to circumvent participation in normal work which is a drain on energy. It ensures that they will be taken care of without expending any effort and they can lounge about without working like royalty. Would you mess with a psychopath's lover? Never. It also excuses them from normal treatment by the criminal justice system. In schools, kids that are mentally challenged, do not have to expend the same energy for grades because they will be taken care of regardless of how well they do. They also get more personalized attention. All of these things make insanity a valuable asset for a portion of the population, who would clearly lose the struggle to fit in and carve a niche. It also creates opportunities for clever fakers. I believe that these considerations explain the why numerous insanity genes on the X chromosome are conservative. The headhunters of Borneo used to range through vast head-hunting areas searching for victims. As a result of this, vast areas were unpopulated from sheer terror thus available as hunting grounds. The insane capitalize on this basic fact and use it to make servants of society. Jormawankenobe Copyright 2008 J. Jyrkkanen Tags: genes insanity conservative mental fitne