Glenn Morton wrote:
>
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Walter Hicks [mailto:wallyshoes@mindspring.com]
> >Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2002 3:11 PM
>
> >Sticking with the Y-chromosome: I see how genes in general can swap back
> >and forth and how any given gene would have an ancestor back in the past
> >somewhere. In the Y-chromosome it is easier to think about, if for no
> >other reason than that it passes only from father to son and also the
> >time scale seems so short!.
> >
> >Back some 100K years ago we have one man who has passed his
> >chromosome to the entire human race. I wonder about the other humans
> >who lived at that time. Certainly there were in the order of 100K men
> >who had a different Y-chromosome. What happened to them? Apparently
> >their descendents all died off. Would I expect that to be true? Heck no!
> >--- unless they were genetically inferior. It seems really weird for
> >that to have happened simply as a matter of course. In 100K years with
> >an generally expanding population, I would expect the human race to have
> >Y-chromosomes for many different sets of "Adams" back at that time in
> >the not-so-distant-past.
>
> Walter, no one can claim that all of the descendants of all those non-Adam's
> died off. All it means is that those lineages all lead eventually to
> daughters.
I understand that, but it is exactly what I meant, Glenn. I should have
more clearly said the direct male descendants (Y-chromosome only). I
have heard the argument that sooner or later all but one MUST die out. I
can buy it only if there is some reason why that one is very much better
than all the others. The argument that 99,999 out of 100,000 must
automatically die out (the male chain only) and at the same time say
that the 1 remaining produces a lineage of 1,000,000,00 men certainly
has to look a bit fishy. I know zip about genetic details but I usually
am fair at logic, math and probabilities.
One cannot argue with the data, so it must have happened. Why it
happened, seems to require more that a simple example of how one
randomly selected line can die out. I can generate examples where each
line should increase without limit, unless some competition exists with
limited resources ---- then it is easy.
Walt
===================================
Walt Hicks <wallyshoes@mindspring.com>
In any consistent theory, there must
exist true but not provable statements.
(Godel's Theorem)
You can only find the truth with logic
If you have already found the truth
without it. (G.K. Chesterton)
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