In Conclusion... (Adler\'s \"Difference of Man\" Book) (Humans)

by David Turell , Tuesday, December 08, 2009, 16:39 (5255 days ago) @ xeno6696

Here is a new book that supports Adler, but taking an exacting look on the scientific studies of the great apes,etc.
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> > http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/reviewofbooks_article/7087
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> > The jump in cognition from ape to human is one of the major reasons I think there is a greater power. -Finally finished Not a Chimp. The author carefully reviews th genetics and makes his own assesment on the difference. True that the total DNA bases are about 98% the same, but the genetic structure is much different. The human has many copy number variations (multiple gene copies) and segmental duplications (whole sections of DNA sequence, containing any thousands of bases) copied and re-inserted elsewhere, differeing from the chimp. (pg. 112) 6.4% of all human genes have no match in the chimp. Point mutation changes are less a driving force than the above mechanisms. In the immune system genes there is a 13% difference. His conclusion is that we changed rapidly in the 6 million years since the split, and he opines the chimps not much.-In a chapter called "Clever Corvids", a related group of crows, rooks, ravens, jackdaws, magpies and jays have been shown to be equal to or better at problem solving than chimps. Here he is attacking the fanciful allusion to chimps as intellectually equal to baby humans. In "Inside the Brain" he points to large anatomic differences between chimps and humans.- And his final conclusion on pg. 308 is that 'we are genuinely discontinous to other animals'. Strong support for Adler.