Posted on 08/02/2014 7:42:18 PM PDT by Citizen Zed
Throughout history man has undergone many changes, both physical and behavior. Over the years man became gentler and cooperative. According to a new study published in this month’s issue of Current Anthropology, changes in testosterone helped develop the modern society. Robert Cieri, lead author and graduate student from the University of Utah, says the transition of man into modern society, which occurred about 50 thousand years ago, was influenced by reduction in testosterone levels. The lowering of testosterone coincided with emergence of traits such as arts and use of tools such as fishing equipment and projectile weapons.
The researchers examined about 1,400 modern and ancient skulls for features such as volume, brow ridge and facial shape, they realized approximately 50,000 years ago rounder heads became common. This marked the beginning the use of advanced tools and emergence of symbolic artifacts which are the characteristics of the modern humans whose testosterone levels are lower. According to Cieri, fossils of humans after the emergence of modern behaviors have female-like faces. The difference between the old and young fossils had differences similar to the differences observed in people with lower and higher testosterone levels. Less aggression in man, cooperation and social tolerance in animals are traits associated with lower levels of the hormone. The increasing human population and the need to cooperate meant that people must be less aggressive. “If prehistoric people began living closer together and passing down new technologies, they’d have to be tolerant of each other,” Cieri said Though it’s not clear what led to decrease in testosterone levels, Cieri says that the decline enabled people to work and learn from each other which led to cultural and technological innovations. Modern-man traits began to be seen when humans had become more cooperative, which means that reduction in testosterone levels helped shape modern civilization, added Cieri.
wever come a long way baby....
all the way to having guys willingly be De Testosteroned
yep thats evolution for ya alright
Interesting things happen when selective breeding focuses on different behavioral traits. There’s the famous case of a Russian exile in Siberia who started breeding foxes by selecting the most compliant and docile personalities.
He ended up with some mellow-tempered dogs ... but they didn’t have the valuable fox pelts. Those fur genes were somehow connected with the aggressive temperament.
So, society will reach the pinnacle when all of the men are happy?
“Cieri said Though it’s not clear what led to decrease in testosterone levels, Cieri says that the decline enabled people to work and learn from each other which led to cultural and technological innovations.”
I’m going to go with bicycle helmets, no playing in the school yard and the elimination of dodge ball.
I’ll add to that the election of liberal women (aka feminazis) to positions of power, where their sole purpose was to emasculate men in the name of the cause.
Now the bitch and moan they can’t find a guy anywhere,
it is idiotic to assume that from skulls.
the older you get, the brow ridges get bigger and more pronounced. there are features of the skull that continue to get larger regardless of more or less testosterone. older’women too.
LOL. Seen the one with the purse photo shopped in?
No M-80's, no BB gunz, no mumblety-peg in elementary school.
NO, society will reach the pinnacle when all of the men cease to be men.
This is obviously another study designed to establish as evil that which makes men; men
Yes, that was a critical study in the life cycle of canines.
And it took less than most people think, I think after 8 generations or so, the animals were almost completely tame.
And it was genetically tested what made them tame. Turns out, it was related to, if not caused by a decrease in resting levels of adrenaline.
“happy == “gay”
“says the transition of man into modern society, which occurred about 50 thousand years ago”
How I do miss my Middle Paleolithic Era Dodge.
One of Robert Harris’s characters comes out of Soviet prison after 15 years and thinks things have changed while he was away: the boys look like girls and the girls look like whores.
Alan Alda shall inherit the Earth.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm
That would be blood chemistry testing, but they might have done further experiments since the advent of DNA analysis. It's not like it would be difficult to duplicate the study. (Ah, real science ... replicable experiments!)
The original breeder was shown in old black-and-white film in (iirc) the "Nova" documentary on dogs. Quite fascinating, the way it demonstrated both how quickly selective breeding can effect major changes, as you mentioned, and how little idea we have of the outcome when we engage in these breeding programs.
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