The 10,000 year explosion
by Gregory Cochran · first published 2009
38% recommend63% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Argues that human evolution sped up over the last 10,000 years, tied to agriculture and population growth; an accessible starting point for readers interested in gene-culture evolution and population genetics.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Resistance to malaria. Blue eyes. Lactose tolerance. What do all of these traits have in common? Every one of them has emerged in the last 10,000 years. Scientists have long believed that the "great leap forward" that occurred some 40,000 to 50,000 years ago in Europe marked end of significant biological evolution in humans. In this stunningly original account of our evolutionary history, top scholars Gregory Cochran and Henry Harpending reject this conventional wisdom and reveal that the human species has undergone a storm of genetic change much more recently. Human evolution in fact accelera
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2007–2022The Third Chimpanzee
Jared Diamond
Recommended by 6 · mentioned by 116 recommend · 11 mention6 recommend · 116 recommend
2007–2026Guns, Germs, and Steel
Jared Diamond
Recommended by 214 · mentioned by 510214 recommend · 510 mention214 recommend · 510214 recommend
2011–2023Republic, lost
Lawrence Lessig
Recommended by 33 · mentioned by 4833 recommend · 48 mention33 recommend · 4833 recommend
2011–2026Why the West Rules - For Now
Ian Morris
Recommended by 20 · mentioned by 3420 recommend · 34 mention20 recommend · 3420 recommend
2008–2026Chaos
James Gleick
Recommended by 45 · mentioned by 6345 recommend · 63 mention45 recommend · 6345 recommend
2010–2026The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
William L. Shirer
Recommended by 37 · mentioned by 6737 recommend · 67 mention37 recommend · 6737 recommend
2011–2026The Information
James Gleick
Recommended by 61 · mentioned by 8161 recommend · 81 mention61 recommend · 8161 recommend
2008–2026Molecular Biology of the Cell
Bruce Alberts, Alexander Johnson, Julian Lewis, David O Morgan
Recommended by 49 · mentioned by 7749 recommend · 77 mention49 recommend · 7749 recommend
Don't. Read the 10,000 Year Explosion instead[1]. Criticism of Diamond [2]. [1]http://the10000yearexplosion.com/ [2]http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/08/03/ggs
on “Ask HN: The Primers on different subjects” ↗– Economics / sociology – A Farewell to Alms https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691141282/ Cartesian Economics https://www.amazon.com/dp/1616407395/ The 10,000 Year Explosion https://www.amazon.com/dp/0465020429/ The Righteous Mind https://www.amazon.com/dp/0307455777/ Mindstorms https://www.amazon.com/dp/0465046746/ – Philosophy – Tao Te Ching https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060812451/…
on “Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?” ↗…suffering from Gell-Mann amnesia. Rated it 4/5 on Goodreads when I was finished. I found Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond to be perhaps a better book of similar nature overall, and would add in The 10,000 Year Explosion by Cochran and Harpending as another good one for those who liked Sapiens.
on “Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?” ↗…last 5000 years) than in the preceding 500,000. This is tied to the change in environment (hunter-gather to agriculture) and the expansion in the population size. An accessible book on this topic is the 10,000 Year Explosion [0]. It is a little dated (it is before all the amazing data that has come from sequencing ancient homo DNA), but what it does have is a very good overview of the topic. 0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_10,000_Year_Explosion
on “Why things might have taken so long” ↗…paternal investment, might favor different traits to those where there is State control, monogamy and greater paternal investment. I'd recommend that you read some posts by Steve Hsu, Peter Frost, or 'The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution'.
on “Geeks for Monarchy: The Rise of the Neoreactionaries” ↗I used to think that as well. This book recently made me think again: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_10,000_Year_Explosion
on “Notes from Tired Egyptian Whose Job Is Explaining That Humans Built the Pyramids” ↗People’s brains were actually biologically less functional fifty thousand years ago. This is correct; there's been a huge amount of brain evolution in the past 50K years. See for example "The 10,000 Year Explosion" (Cochran).
on “Why things might have taken so long” ↗Greg Cochran, an expert geneticist who wrote 'The 10,000 Year Explosion' has a different view. 1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3310KWlDXg (especially the Q&A which is dominated by epigenetics). 2) This explains it in text -> https://westhunt.wordpress.com/2012/10/26/epigenetics/
on “Heredity Beyond the Gene” ↗A recent book on this and various other topics related to recent human evolution is "The 10,000 Year Explosion" by Cochran and Harpending.
on “Last speaker of ancient language of Bo dies” ↗I think this book is somewhat related to this article: The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution (Hardcover) http://www.amazon.com/000-Year-Explosion-Civilization-Accele...
on “Humans: Why They Triumphed” ↗I believe that Chua was talking about the Ashkenazi Jews. I was convinced of the "scientific racism" explanation for their achievement based on the evidence presented in the book the 10,000 The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution Paperback by Gregory Cochran and Henry Harpending. Nicholas Wade, a long time writer for the New York Times also made the same arguments in his book A Troublesome…
Heavy. There is a scientific book discussing these topics. Centered around our 'neanderthal within': "The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution", https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465020429/
on “Roblox hits 100M monthly active users, bigger than Minecraft” ↗It's speculated in [1], that agriculture selected evolved humanity towards both long term planning and docility [1]Cochran, Gregory, and Henry Harpending. The 10,000 year explosion: How civilization accelerated human evolution. Basic Books, 2009.
on “The gene drive dilemma: we can alter entire species, but should we?” ↗…significant evolution has occurred within the human species after the civilisation started, most likely in response to the changing selective pressures brought on by civilisation itself. The book 'The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution' makes this case.
on “You will live for longer than 1% of the entire history of human civilization.” ↗…nations defends the institutions of a country play an important role and they can be independent of geography. There's a sequence to this book: The narrow corridor that further defends this thesis. A 10,000 year explosion makes the case genes are also important. For example being able to digest milk made the people that could wealthy and powerful and allowed them to terrorize their neighbors.
on “How did Europe become the richest part of the world?” ↗