Nine year olds appear to be more intelligent than older people. I've been thinking, intelligence is more about finding out relations rather than confirming them which appears to be the bane of adulthood!

So, I should be one of the nine year olds for that matter!

Yaani this is one occassion where we were having a grown up / intelligent discussion and you had to ruin it with your childishness


If you want to show people that you are a grown up adult then tell me specifically what you disagree with and we can discuss. Otherwise hiyo yako ni utoto

There is what you are coded to be - 'genotype' i.e. your DNA
There is what you are the 'phenotype' - a product of your 'genotype' and environment.

the thing is - biologically you can only pass your genotype! if you lost a leg you and had kids - your kids would not have 1 leg. So in order to end up with a population with predominantly X trait
0) you start with a population without X
1) one individual through the crap shoot of genetics acquires X
2) that individual grows up and finds a mate that is "willing" to carry that trait
3) if this trait gives them some form of advantage in that environment their kids inherit this advantage
4) they are more able to get mates to pass on these genes.

Here is an example from Africa - actually 2
1) The Pygmies of Congo
I cannot remember where I read this - they are really short and this is because of a lack (low levels) of a growth hormone produced by the pitituary. the mutation that made the pitituary do this also gives them some resistance to parasites in that place and so it's give and take. So if you started with a population of normal people living in the forest and one got this mutation - they would seem unpleasant to begin with but would outlive others and get multiple chances of passing on their genes as the 'normal' people kinda died more often than them. and pretty soon you end up with shorter people.
if this mutation was to occur in a place such as Europe - where there this parasites are not present 'normal' humans would still breed and the 'advantage' this gene gave the pygmy would not be 'applicable' in that geography and the more visible flipside i.e. the height would act as a disadvantage socially and the person may not mate and pass on their genes. the mutation would die there.

2) Sickle Cell Anemia
to get sickle cell anemia - you need to have 2 alleles on the hemoglobin beta gene. but it's a recessive gene in that to get sickle cell disease you need to get both alleles from your parents - however the allele on it's own gives a person malaria resistance as parasites that cause this disease are killed inside sickle-shaped blood cells. in an area where malaria is prevalent and kills people... the allele becomes more prominent as it gives an advantage to the people who have it and they can breed more than the rest of the people who don't and have to fight for their life while still seeking out mates. so you would find that malaria prone areas such as west africa or even Kisumu area have this allele and highland areas or even places away from the tropics don't have it so much.

So kwa ufupi - mutations occur all over but can fall into 3 categories
1) useless or pointless (like the blindspot in our eyes)
2) useful in a certain environment like lack of melanin production in the northern regions of the world. or even the chinese like eyes during long periods of cold like the ice age
3) disadvantageous mutations like lack of melanin production in the tropics

but these only occur during conception when the father and mother genes are fusing and it's a crap shoot! it's a rare thing but over large periods of time and environmental factors their product is seen... at least that is the theory

We admitted long time ago that you are the epitome of everything good 'utu uzima', knowledge. How dare anyone question you not unless they're thick and full of utoto?

BTW, you were supporting Egypt?

Can we say that this is evidence of evolution? Apparently these Turkana natives can only have 2 teeth in their sunset years, and they do not grow hair. Interesting!!