Jump to content

Gregory Cochran

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Bluethricecreamman (talk | contribs) at 21:42, 25 August 2024 (→Pathogenic hypothesis of homosexuality: stealing reff). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Gregory Cochran
Born
Gregory M. Cochran

1953 (age 70–71)
CitizenshipAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
Known forThe 10,000 Year Explosion
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics, Anthropology
InstitutionsUniversity of Utah

Gregory M. Cochran (born 1953) is an American anthropologist and author who argues that cultural innovation resulted in new and constantly shifting selection pressures for genetic change, thereby accelerating human evolution and divergence between human races. From 2004 to 2015, he was a research associate at the anthropology department at the University of Utah.[1] He is co-author of the book The 10,000 Year Explosion.

Human evolution

In opposition to what he sees as the conventional wisdom that civilization has been a static environment which imposed stabilizing selection on humans, Cochran, along with like-minded anthropologists such as John D. Hawks,[2] contends that haplotype and other data indicate the selection of genes has been strongest since the advent of farming and civilization.[3]

Ashkenazi Jewish intelligence

See also: Ashkenazi Jewish intelligence

Cochran and co-authors Jason Hardy and Henry Harpending suggest that the high average IQ of Ashkenazi Jews may be attributed to natural selection for intelligence during the Middle Ages and a low rate of genetic inflow. Cochran and his colleagues hypothesize that the occupational profile of the Jewish community in medieval Europe had resulted in selection pressure for mutations that increase intelligence, but can also result in hereditary neurological disorders.[4][5][6] Cochran was featured in an episode of the Norwegian television show Hjernevask ("Brainwash") in which he discusses race and intelligence, using Ashkenazi intelligence as compared to the rest of the Israeli Jewish population as an example of differences between groups.[7]

Pathogenic infections as a cause of disease

In 2000, Cochran and evolutionary biologist Paul W. Ewald co-authored a paper in which they proposed that most human diseases were the result of pathogenic infections (viruses, bacteria, parasites).[8] They argue that most fitness-reducing diseases would be eliminated through natural selection, but since germs can evolve faster than humans, they are a likely culprit. Cochran and Ewald point to stomach ulcers, which were once thought to be caused by a variety of environmental factors such as smoking, diet and drugs, but were later attributed to bacteria.[9]

Pathogenic hypothesis of homosexuality

In contrast to scientific mainstream explanations of sexual orientation, Cochran has argued that male homosexuality is caused by an unknown pathogen because it reduces or eliminates reproductive output. He argues it is unlikely to be explained by many popular theories, because natural selection should quickly eliminate an evolutionarily disadvantageous trait.[9][10][11][12][13] He does not suggest that the infectious agent that causes homosexuality is necessarily spread by homosexuals. One suggestion is that a widespread virus which infects everybody on the planet, only causes homosexuality in a few percent of people.[10][9]

In 1999, journalist Caleb Crain published an article in the gay magazine Out in which he spoke with Cochran and several sexual orientation researchers about the hypothesis.[10] Geneticist Dean Hamer, who had researched the genetics of homosexuality, called it "a very interesting idea" which would need to be tested by experimentation, but he was skeptical as homosexuality doesn't appear in clusters. An American psychologist who has researched causes of homosexuality, J. Michael Bailey, wanted to see evidence, but gave Cochran the "benefit of the doubt". Elaine F. Walker, who researched a pathogenic cause of schizophrenia during pregnancy, did not find it plausible.[10]

There is no one dominant scientific hypothesis for the cause of homosexuality, with genetics, hormones, and upbringing all being potential causes.[14][15][16] In contrast to Cochran's suggestions that homosexuality should be eliminated by natural selection, many scientific studies have identified potential evolutionary upsides of homosexuality.[17][18]

References

  1. ^ "Faculty profile". University of Utah. Archived from the original on 25 September 2017. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  2. ^ Phelan, Benjamin (October 2008). "How We Evolve". Seed Magazine. pp. 66–73. Archived from the original on 2015-09-12. Retrieved September 12, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ Gregory Cochran; Henry Harpending (2009). "Overview: Conventional Wisdom". The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution. Basic Books. pp. 1–25. ISBN 978-0-4650-0221-4.
  4. ^ Kaplan, Karen (April 18, 2009). "Jewish legacy inscribed on genes?". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2015-11-06. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
  5. ^ Cochran, Gregory; Hardy, Jason; Harpending, Henry (2005). "Natural History Of Ashkenazi Intelligence" (PDF). Journal of Biosocial Science. 38 (5): 659–93. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.163.3711. doi:10.1017/S0021932005027069. ISSN 0021-9320. PMID 16867211. S2CID 209856. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-09-11.
  6. ^ Wade, Nicholas (2005-06-03). "Researchers Say Intelligence and Diseases May Be Linked in Ashkenazic Genes". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  7. ^ Harald Eia, Ole-Martin Ihle (2010), Hjernevask (Brainwash) [English Subtitles] [Complete documentary], retrieved 2020-09-20
  8. ^ Cochran, Gregory (2000). "Infectious Causation of Disease: An Evolutionary Perspective" (PDF). Perspectives in Biology and Medicine. 43 (3): 406–448. doi:10.1353/pbm.2000.0016. PMID 10893730 – via ResearchGate.
  9. ^ a b c "A New Germ Theory - The Atlantic". The Atlantic. 2019-11-22. Archived from the original on 2019-11-22. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
  10. ^ a b c d Crain, Caleb (1999). Did a germ make you gay?. Out Magazine. pp. 46–49.
  11. ^ Cochran, Gregory. "An Evolutionary Look at Human Homosexuality". Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  12. ^ "Cause of Homosexuality: Gene or Virus?". 2005. Archived from the original on March 2, 2005. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  13. ^ Hopper, Judith (February 1998). "A New Germ Theory (Part Two)". The Atlantic Monthly. pp. 41–53. Archived from the original on 2015-09-15. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  14. ^ Frankowski BL (June 2004). "Sexual orientation and adolescents". Pediatrics. 113 (6): 1827–32. doi:10.1542/peds.113.6.1827. PMID 15173519.
  15. ^ Lamanna MA, Riedmann A, Stewart SD (2014). Marriages, Families, and Relationships: Making Choices in a Diverse Society. Cengage Learning. p. 82. ISBN 978-1305176898. Retrieved February 11, 2016. The reason some individuals develop a gay sexual identity has not been definitively established  – nor do we yet understand the development of heterosexuality. The American Psychological Association (APA) takes the position that a variety of factors impact a person's sexuality. The most recent literature from the APA says that sexual orientation is not a choice that can be changed at will, and that sexual orientation is most likely the result of a complex interaction of environmental, cognitive and biological factors...is shaped at an early age...[and evidence suggests] biological, including inborn hormonal factors which play a significant role in a person's sexuality (American Psychological Association 2010).
  16. ^ Stuart GW (2014). Principles and Practice of Psychiatric Nursing. Elsevier Health Sciences. p. 502. ISBN 978-0323294126. Retrieved February 11, 2016. No conclusive evidence supports any one specific cause of homosexuality; however, most researchers agree that biological and social factors influence the development of sexual orientation.
  17. ^ MacIntyre F, Estep KW (1993). "Sperm competition and the persistence of genes for male homosexuality". Bio Systems. 31 (2–3): 223–33. Bibcode:1993BiSys..31..223M. doi:10.1016/0303-2647(93)90051-D. PMID 8155854.
  18. ^ Buss, David (2016) [1994]. The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating (3rd ed.). New York: Basic Books. pp. 20–22. ISBN 978-0465097760.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Gregory_Cochran&oldid=1242265808"