Page 208 - Flipping book The Adam Paradox Hypothesis - Second Edition.pdf

The Ādam Paradox Hypothesis 185
This aligns tightly with the ~70kya ignition window.
When a helpful genetic change appears, it takes time before it spreads
through the whole human population. Scientists can estimate this “fixation
time”
using population size (Ne) and how strongly the change helps
survival or reproduction (s).
If the population was about 5,000 people (Ne ~5000)
And the genetic advantage was moderate (s ~0.05)
Then the change would take about 60,000 years to spread fully.
This matches almost exactly the ~70,000 years ago window when the Adam
Paradox Hypothesis says the “ignition” of modern human cognition
happened.
Prediction: Genome-wide scans should reveal sweeps in these loci, absent
in Neanderthals/Denisovans but fixed in modern humans.
Retrotransposon/ERV Markers.
APH allows for editing-like events. If ERVs or transposons cluster near
cognition-related loci with timing ~70kya, this matches the “infusion”
metaphor.
Likelihood under APH: 70%–85%.
Likelihood under Gradualism: <10% (regulatory sweeps should be
scattered across >200k years if cognition were gradual).
Think of your genome like a giant library of books.
Transposons are like little “copy–paste” notes that can jump around the
pages.
ERVs (endogenous retroviruses) are like old viral inserts — scraps of
“foreign text” pasted into the books long ago.
Most of the time, these appear randomly across the library. But if we suddenly
find a cluster of these notes added at the same time — and right next to the
“chapters” about language, memory, or thinking — it looks less like random
scribbling and more like an intentional edit.