Sure, but that's not what the article says... The article says that these genes appeared to prevent humans from getting wasted - as in becoming less tolerant to

Sure, but that's not what the article says... The article says that these genes appeared to prevent humans from getting wasted - as in becoming less tolerant to alcohol. Unless there was an epidemic of people getting wasted - and dying from it - in the same decade as some other terrible event, the argument doesn't hold.