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07/14/2007: "Culture and values change brought genetic change"

The correlation of [blonde hair, blue eyes, lactose tolerance in adulthood] around the Baltic sea and their likely recent provenance contemporaneous with the agricultural revolution implies to me that cultural change was a necessary precursor to biological change. It is a cliche that our species has cultural evolution, which has marginalized biological evolution, but the reality is that likely our rapid fire and massive shifts in lifestyles have simply cranked up the genetic machine, even if it is a lagging indicator.

[ Wasn't this always obvious? Some people chose to challenge themselves, and they became different, which is why they went to the north: to escape the crowd and to create a new society, even if one in adversity. This has happened worldwide on every continent with the groups in each society that wanted to get away from the rest and do their own thing, despite it being less comfortable and convenient. ]

http://scienceblogs.com/gnxp/2007/07/blue_eyes_came_late_too.php