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The Ādam Paradox Hypothesis 217
3. The Synchrony Problem
The problem grows deeper when we add genetics and demographics.
Genetics. Around this same window:
FOXP2, a gene tied to speech circuits, shows a selective sweep after
the split with Neanderthals (Enard et al., 2002).
HAR1, a regulatory RNA linked to cortical development, undergoes
rapid change (Pollard et al., 2006).
SRGAP2C, a duplication unique to humans, stabilizes synaptic
connections for higher-order thought (Dennis et al., 2012).
Demography. Population genetics shows effective population size surged
after ~70kya (Henn et al., 2012). Survival shifted from fragile sparks to
expanding networks.
Archaeology, genetics, and demographics converge — all within the same
window.
If each were independent, their overlap would be highly improbable. Imagine
rolling three dice: the odds of all landing on six are 1 in 216. Now imagine
rolling not dice but entire evolutionary processes. The improbability
compounds. Synchrony suggests coordination, not coincidence.