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am I a Neanderthal ?

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jared34
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08 Nov 2012, 4:32 pm

I'm sure most people here have heard the neanderthal theory of autism before. I first learned about it last year but I only focused on the mental part it. But then I recently read something about neanderthal physical characteristics and I seem to have a lot of them. I have an occipital bun, I have a receding chin, a protruding mouth, I'm short, I have small bones, I have a consistently body temperature, brow ridge, and low blood pressure and low heart rate. These are all rare traits among modern humans and supposedly common in neanderthals. Oh and not to mention I'm very autistic and I have ADD. So basically all the similarities that neanderthals have with autistics I also have, along with many physical characteristics.

So am I pretty much a different species ? A neanderthal to be specific. It would make perfect sense if I was.



Johnor
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08 Nov 2012, 4:40 pm

I think you're going to need to invent a time machine in order to get some DNA samples.



eric76
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08 Nov 2012, 4:55 pm

What is this Neanderthal "theory" about Autism? Some kind of looney thing?



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08 Nov 2012, 5:01 pm

Nah. I do have my own theory that a lot of modern society makes it harder for autistic people. The noises, the TV, the expectations. There is constant stimulus that I don't think any creatures, including humans, are evolutionarily equipped to deal with. Because some humans can train themselves to do so, we are all expected to be able to.



eric76
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08 Nov 2012, 5:28 pm

Okay. I found a web site that describes the "theory" in question.

It's pretty funny. Does anyone actually take it seriously?



eric76
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08 Nov 2012, 5:30 pm

The funniest part is:

Quote:
Most of the finds of Neanderthals are from caves. It's possible that Neanderthals spent a lot of time in caves, or maybe they hibernated there during winter. Autistics have a fascination for caves. 224 Many autistics are afraid of the sound of a motor-bike. 225 A motor-bike sounds similar to a bear. It is possible that the instintive reaction of autistics when they hear the sound of a motor-bike triggers an ancient fear for cave-bears.


Hahahahaha.

Quite a few people who are Autistic are also fascinated by trains. Does that mean that Neanderthals liked to ride trains? Also there is the fascination with time tables. Perhaps they all wore watches, too.



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08 Nov 2012, 5:32 pm

eric76 wrote:

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Most of the finds of Neanderthals are from caves. It's possible that Neanderthals spent a lot of time in caves, or maybe they hibernated there during winter. Autistics have a fascination for caves. 224 Many autistics are afraid of the sound of a motor-bike. 225 A motor-bike sounds similar to a bear. It is possible that the instintive reaction of autistics when they hear the sound of a motor-bike triggers an ancient fear for cave-bears.




That sounds very much like a troll attempt for me. :wink: I'm generally open to the idea that we might somehow be closer to Neanderthals than NT's. I really don't know enough to discard that theory. But this excerpt... no. Though I do love caves.



eric76
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08 Nov 2012, 5:40 pm

There are a bunch of absurd suppositions in the link.

Here is another:

Quote:
Collecting

Neanderthals probably collected for the winter season. Maybe they smoked meat and kept in caves. Autism is associated with excessive collection of similar things. 211


That reminds me of the comedy sketch where a man went to a psychologist about his collection of fried eggs. The psychologist then showed the man his own collection of fried eggs.

The link is at http://www.rdos.net/eng/asperger.htm.



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09 Nov 2012, 1:28 am

1) You don't need a time machine. The Neanderthal Genome Project is working on sequencing the neanderthal genome from DNA recovered from fossils. DNA has been recovered from more than a dozen Neanderthal fossils, all from Europe.

2) http://australianmuseum.net.au/Homo-neanderthalensis <-- look at their physical traits here...

3) Those of us who are on the autistic spectrum are not an atavism... We share none of those traits


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JRR
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09 Nov 2012, 1:36 am

eric76 wrote:
What is this Neanderthal "theory" about Autism? Some kind of looney thing?


Yes, it's completely looney. It seems that I'm the only ASD person here who actually has genetics and/or evolutionary psychology as any of their special interests. People just chalk out guesswork without reading academic studies.

My last post. I'm not even cutting and pasting it any more: https://www.wrongplanet.net/postp501271 ... t=#5012715

This theory is garbage, as it's ignorant of so many characteristics of humans and neanderthals at the time, how genetics get passed down, what's expressed, what is shown, etc.

Most likely our mutations were present in the range of 20,000 years after the Neanderthals died off and almost certainly we have zero Neanderthal DNA in us. It's just a pop culture thing people latched onto.



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09 Nov 2012, 1:37 am

Some say that if you are descended from Europeans, 5 to 15 percent of your DNA is Neanderthal. if you are descended from Africans or Asians, then the percentage is about one-quarter to one-half that range.

I can't find the source(s) of that claim.


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09 Nov 2012, 2:01 am

It's actually 1% to 4% for non-African descent.
This guy has 5%. 'At 5% Neanderthal, you are an outlier'

And for $299, you can get your DNA tested to see what percentage Neanderthal you are! https://www.23andme.com/ancestry/



eric76
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09 Nov 2012, 3:32 am

JRR wrote:
eric76 wrote:
What is this Neanderthal "theory" about Autism? Some kind of looney thing?


Yes, it's completely looney. It seems that I'm the only ASD person here who actually has genetics and/or evolutionary psychology as any of their special interests. People just chalk out guesswork without reading academic studies.


From their web site, the (not a scientific) "theory" made me thing of Lysenko.



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09 Nov 2012, 5:53 am

jared34 wrote:
I'm sure most people here have heard the neanderthal theory of autism before. I first learned about it last year but I only focused on the mental part it. But then I recently read something about neanderthal physical characteristics and I seem to have a lot of them. I have an occipital bun, I have a receding chin, a protruding mouth, I'm short, I have small bones, I have a consistently body temperature, brow ridge, and low blood pressure and low heart rate. These are all rare traits among modern humans and supposedly common in neanderthals. Oh and not to mention I'm very autistic and I have ADD. So basically all the similarities that neanderthals have with autistics I also have, along with many physical characteristics.

So am I pretty much a different species ? A neanderthal to be specific. It would make perfect sense if I was.


How on earth would anyone know what blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature a neanderthal had?!

I am small boned but quite tall. I've been told I had low blood pressure before but don't have the occipital bun thing, don't know what you mean by "consistently body temperature" but we all consistently have a body temperature if we are alive. So I apparently have contradictory features that might dispel this theory.


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Last edited by whirlingmind on 09 Nov 2012, 8:16 am, edited 1 time in total.

eric76
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09 Nov 2012, 5:57 am

whirlingmind wrote:
jared34 wrote:
I'm sure most people here have heard the neanderthal theory of autism before. I first learned about it last year but I only focused on the mental part it. But then I recently read something about neanderthal physical characteristics and I seem to have a lot of them. I have an occipital bun, I have a receding chin, a protruding mouth, I'm short, I have small bones, I have a consistently body temperature, brow ridge, and low blood pressure and low heart rate. These are all rare traits among modern humans and supposedly common in neanderthals. Oh and not to mention I'm very autistic and I have ADD. So basically all the similarities that neanderthals have with autistics I also have, along with many physical characteristics.

So am I pretty much a different species ? A neanderthal to be specific. It would make perfect sense if I was.


How on earth would anyone know what blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature a neanderthal had?!


Maybe the Neanderthals kept good medical records (chiseled into stone?).



JRR
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09 Nov 2012, 8:16 am

BTW, I suppose all these South African kids had Neanderthal DNA in themselves too?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3169DOJSZvs[/youtube]

For heaven's sake, LISTEN to the person who has genetics and evolutionary psychology as their special interests, not just your 'gut instinct' on this. You know how you know your own special interests so damn well. Know that I know mine. Respect it.