Science and The Hunter Vs. Farmer Hypothesis
The hunter vs. farmer hypothesis proposes that the high frequency of ADHD in contemporary settings "represents otherwise normal behavioral strategies that become maladaptive in such evolutionarily novel environments as the formal school classroom." An important view, with considerable genetic backing, is that some of these genetic variants may have value in certain kinds of social groups, such as those that have migrated. Genetic variants conferring susceptibility to ADHD are very frequent—implying that the trait had provided selective advantage in the past.
A 2008 New Scientist article by Tim Callaway reports that research of ADHD and related traits in different cultures offers some support for the hunter vs. farmer hypothesis. According to evolutionary anthropologist Ben Campbell of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, studies of the Ariaal, an isolated nomadic group in Kenya, suggest that hyperactivity and impulsivity—key traits of ADHD—have distinct advantages to nomadic peoples. Additionally, nomadic Ariaal have high rates of a genetic mutation linked to ADHD, while more settled Ariaal populations have lower rates of this mutation. Henry Harpending of the University of Utah reports that with this genetic mutation, "You probably do better in a context of aggressive competition."
Read more about this topic: Hunter Vs. Farmer Hypothesis
Famous quotes containing the words science and the, science and, science, hunter, farmer and/or hypothesis:
“There does not exist a category of science to which one can give the name applied science. There are science and the applications of science, bound together as the fruit of the tree which bears it.”
—Louis Pasteur (1822–1895)
“The most useful and honorable science and occupation for a woman is the science of housekeeping. I know some that are miserly, very few that are good managers.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
“Man lives for science as well as bread.”
—William James (1842–1910)
“I don’t see black people as victims even though we are exploited. Victims are flat, one- dimensional characters, someone rolled over by a steamroller so you have a cardboard person. We are far more resilient and more rounded than that. I will go on showing there’s more to us than our being victimized. Victims are dead.”
—Kristin Hunter (b. 1931)
“Many young girls are ... becoming trained nurses, whose gentle ministrations in the sick-room, skilled touch, patient watchfulness and unwearied vigils, are as great factors in the care of the sick, as are the professional physicians.”
—Lydia Hoyt Farmer (1842–1903)
“The great tragedy of science—the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)