4 ms·

> But I believe health, beauty, EQ and IQ are all correlated. These traits all likely have some shared genetic components. Surely you do not mean that a single

by rixed 5y ago

> But I believe health, beauty, EQ and IQ are all correlated. These traits all likely have some shared genetic components. Surely you do not mean that a single gene influences all of this?

anchpop 5y ago
that would be ridiculous and it’s a fair interpretation of the grandparent comment, but there’s actually a coherent theory of “mutational load”, which basically says that 1. almost all mutations are bad 2. mutations come together (like if you’re born near chernobyl you’ll have a ton of mutations all over the place, also maybe if your parents are older or if they’re smokers and things like that) Mutations that make you less attractive could be completely different from mutations that make you less intelligent, but if mutations tend to come in packs then having a lot of mutations in sections of the genome related to attractiveness probably means you have lots of mutations in the sections related to intelligence.
- waterhouse 5y ago
  Also, I think there are plenty of mutations that do negatively affect all four areas. For example: Down syndrome, Williams syndrome, Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome. (The "beauty" is subjective, of course, but I expect people's sense of "beauty" to be optimized towards "avoiding potential mates with genetic defects".) I knew about the first two; I learned about the third by clicking on a few entries in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Syndromes_with_craniofacial_abnormalities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Syndromes_with_cranio... . I expect there are plenty more mutations that have a mild negative effect in all areas, but are sufficiently mild that they haven't been identified as "disorders".
istjohn 5y ago
I imagine that certain genes can effect two or more of those areas. For example, I would be quite surprised if there isn't a gene that effects both IQ and EQ. But no, I don't think there is some single "god gene" that entirely determines these outcomes. To be clear, I have no special knowledge or expertise in genetics or biology. This is all speculation on my part.
deepstack 5y ago
>Surely you do not mean that a single gene influences all of this? don't forget Epigenetics! The whole dogmatic way of genotype influencing phenotype view really need to readdressed. There are many other factors influencing what our trait.

by rixed 5y ago

> But I believe health, beauty, EQ and IQ are all correlated. These traits all likely have some shared genetic components. Surely you do not mean that a single gene influences all of this?

anchpop 5y ago

that would be ridiculous and it’s a fair interpretation of the grandparent comment, but there’s actually a coherent theory of “mutational load”, which basically says that 1. almost all mutations are bad 2. mutations come together (like if you’re born near chernobyl you’ll have a ton of mutations all over the place, also maybe if your parents are older or if they’re smokers and things like that) Mutations that make you less attractive could be completely different from mutations that make you less intelligent, but if mutations tend to come in packs then having a lot of mutations in sections of the genome related to attractiveness probably means you have lots of mutations in the sections related to intelligence.

waterhouse 5y ago
Also, I think there are plenty of mutations that do negatively affect all four areas. For example: Down syndrome, Williams syndrome, Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome. (The "beauty" is subjective, of course, but I expect people's sense of "beauty" to be optimized towards "avoiding potential mates with genetic defects".) I knew about the first two; I learned about the third by clicking on a few entries in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Syndromes_with_craniofacial_abnormalities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Syndromes_with_cranio... . I expect there are plenty more mutations that have a mild negative effect in all areas, but are sufficiently mild that they haven't been identified as "disorders".

istjohn 5y ago

I imagine that certain genes can effect two or more of those areas. For example, I would be quite surprised if there isn't a gene that effects both IQ and EQ. But no, I don't think there is some single "god gene" that entirely determines these outcomes. To be clear, I have no special knowledge or expertise in genetics or biology. This is all speculation on my part.

deepstack 5y ago

>Surely you do not mean that a single gene influences all of this? don't forget Epigenetics! The whole dogmatic way of genotype influencing phenotype view really need to readdressed. There are many other factors influencing what our trait.