In the highly esteemed journal Nature this week was a report of recent research indicating that men have evolved more rapidly than women*. The study compared the Y chromosomes (the bit that makes a man male, (you know XY instead of XX) of chimps and humans.
Chimps are our nearest living relatives and over the last six million years our genetic codes have only diverged about two percent. Except the Y chromosome which is some thirty percent different. That’s a big change in a relatively short period of time.
There are several possible explanations for the Y being “such an evolutionary powerhouse”. One is that since the Y is a loner and not part of a pair like all of the rest and thus can mutate more easily. Another has to do with the randy attitude of female chimps in heat. Since they seek out many partners, there is huge evolutionary pressure on the males to produce the most and best sperm…
I probably should support my own team and heckle the laggard other, but while reading the piece a George Carlin routine came to mind. “Know how stupid the average guy is? Just think – half of them are stupider!” For proof, just check out the Darwin awards which are given annually to the nuttiest manner by which people have removed themselves from the gene pool during the previous twelve months.
A woman has only won first prize once. A random perusal of the site** turned up the story of a drunk twenty year old Californian dude who caught a rattlesnake. Snake slithered its tongue to whiff the environment and get its bearings. (Snakes’ tongues are involved in their olfactory process) Genius stuck out his tongue in response into which snake sunk its fangs. Tongue swelled up choking the poor dumb guy to death***.
Or take the first words the masterpiece of the great French poet Charles Baudelaire: Les Fleurs du Mal (Flowers of Evil):
Stupidity, delusion, selfishness, and lust torment our bodies and possess our minds, and we sustain our affable remorse the way a beggar nourishes his liceNow, I certainly don’t feel that way all of the time and am dang glad I don’t have to go to hen parties, but will admit that I am an easy and logical target for regular self deprecation. Wife agrees.
*http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature08700.html
**http://www.darwinawards.com/
***If this reminds you of anything you’ve previously read in this space, please don’t tell anyone. (7/7/09)
****cf post of October 9, 2009
