Domestication and Anti-Domestication in Human Beings.

Domestication and Anti-Domestication in Humans
Andre Willers
7 May 2011

Synopsis :
Every domestication process has an equivalent anti-domestication process in the gene-pool , as non-aggressive genetic traits are selected out .
This happens very quickly .

Discussion :

Genetic basis of aggression
Specifically neurotransmitters like serotonin , their promoters (ie 5-HT) and degraders (ie MAO-A) . Aggression can be seen as extreme irritability , leading to hair-trigger fight-or-flight activation . This has epigenetic aspects , leading to extremely fast phenotype and genotype changes .

See "NewScientist" 2 April 2011 "Evolution in the fast lane" p32
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Phene Systems II" Feb 2011
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestication
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_domesticated_animals

The domestication of silver foxes
(Balyaev) in the 1950's is a case in point .
See "National Geographic" Mar 2011 "Taming the wild" p35 or Google it .

Starting with a wild population , selecting purely for and against aggressiveness led to two distinct population groups after only eight (8) generations .
A domesticated group exhibiting the Domestication Phenotype and a Anti-Domesticated group , exhibiting unrelenting aggression .
This is incredibly fast , and not possible without deep underlying epigenetic and genotype mechanisms .

Domestication Phenotype
Note that these chacteristics started appearing after only 4 generations of selecting for non-aggressive silver foxes .

1.Floppy ears
Decreased alertness , due to decreased fight-or-flight activation thresholds in at least three wombs .

2.Coat-colour variation (visual) and raised tail(scent)
In a stress-free environment , it pays to advertise . There are feedback effects .

The Zebra-effect
Are striped animals incapable of being domesticated ?
(Cheetah's seems to have been domesticated , but the domesticated variety went extinct . The Leopard class evolved to prey on homonins . Conflict of instincts)
Indeed , the problem is to explain why so few animals have been domesticated .

Interesting experiments :
Zebra's have resisted domestication . What if we painted a group piebald and let them some interact with the striped variety and others with piebald cows (like Frieslands) ?
Alternatively , paint domesticated cows with stripes and see what will happen .
The same with scents .
Frequent interaction with humans will have this scent effect .

Skin ecologies.
There will also be interactions with skin ecologies .
Epigenetic effects mediated by skin ecologies of different species should have a piebald effect on fur colouring .
It might be instructive to look in the UV range , as well .

War Paint :
Humans paint on stripes to terrify their opponents by indicating that they are untameable .
Rather amusing , as untameable humans (like sociopaths) desperately mimic human traits to survive .

UV War Paint .
A good mosquito repellant .
Mammals lost the genes for the dopsin sensitive to UV about 100 MYA .
But insects , reptiles and birds can see in the UV . Hence they are sensitive to visual patterns in the UV .
Putting on UV War Paint that terrifies an insect , but is invisible to the human eye should make a good mosquito repellent .
There might be a feedback subliminal effect through the skin ecology .
Also , the genes for the UV dopsin might simply have been suppressed , and is still lurking about in the DNA jungle . Pregnant women should be careful around UV .

Male balding .
Old age markers (see http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Old age markers" Dec 2007 )
have been adapted to indicate domesticated human males . This is a variation of piebald , usually affecting high-testosterone males . Indicating to females that they are safe to be around .
"Ring-koppe" , priestly tonsures in both west and east .
Mandarin tonsures .

Hair Dressing and Clothes :
These are artificial fur patterns .
Female hair colouring .(Equivalent to male-pattern baldness)
Fashion dictates . But strong stripes never indicates meekness .

Whereas dots indicate domestication . The female then has no power base for negotiation .
It is no wonder that Fools always wear dotty clothes . They are seen as domesticated , and thus can get away with lese-majeste .

Humans and Animals in the "Wild"
There is no more wild . Has not been for at least 70 000 years (since Toba) .
Attempted domestication has split animal and human genomes into Low-Aggression and High-Aggression groups .

Surviving un-domesticated animals are anti-domesticated . Successive attempts at domestication has leached out the non-aggressive genes and gene-switches .
This applies to humans too .

This can be clearly seen in Africa .
Since humans originated here , the largest percentage of anti-domesticated groups are found here
(ie the results of unsuccessful attempts at suppression of aggression genes.)
Hence zebras , cape buffalo's , African elephants , etc .The same for humans ..

Empires
The Roman , Chinese , Tibetan , USSR empires are cases in point .
Highly aggressive humans end up in the Army on the borders . The remaining humans inside the Empire are less aggressive .When things break down , the Trouble comes from the borders . Since it is genetic , this goes on for generations .
The borders are Anti-Domesticated .

The Future :
Work being done now should , within 5 years at the latest , result in an aerosol spray (scent) that changes epigenetic switches to make a human into an adoring dog .

Woof!

Andre