Pre-Historic Nookie!

[Anomalocaris]

The prevailing idea about the genetic bottleneck puts it on the Toba supervolcano erupting some 70,000 years ago which allegedly slaughtered the HSS community and reduced it to a relative handful of individuals living in East Afrcia and from whom all modern human are descended.

The obvious problem with the idea is that for a volcanic eruption it seems highly specialized.  The Neanderthals don't seem to know that they were all killed.  Worse, the megafauna, which did die off in North America some 60,000 years later from unknown causes, seems to have come through Toba unscathed.  Now I am perfectly willing to accept that a monumental volcanic blast and subsequent "nuclear winter" scenario would significantly impact life.  But no one would be getting an exemption from it.  The effects would be world-wide as we have seen with much smaller volcanic events which triggered the Little Ice Age for example.

We see similar arguments from some of the creatards we have around here who insist their fucking flood story is real but then can't explain how the Egyptians kept building pyramids even though they had just been drowned.  No.

You are trying to use the fact that the toba theory, which was used as tertiary support for the OOA hypothesis but by no means critical to the OOA, has been cast in doubt to imply OOA is thereby substantially discredited as well.  That is disingenuous to say the least. That is akin to saying that if there is doubt whether someone counting up to 4 did so correctly, then 2+2 must not be equal to 4.

But the OOA hypothesis is based on multiple lines of evidence.  The hypothesized  toba bottleneck could have explained why OOA came to be true.   But OOA would remain largely true based on genetic evidence  even if the hypothesize toba bottleneck proved false and we at the moment have as yet conceived no other strong explanation for why it came to be true.    In reality we do have other plausible explanations for why it came to be true.

[Pat Mustard]

Not going to happen:

Going back to this one, artsem is your friend.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

And a hearty buzz word to you!

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I'm not talking about the sex act, I'm talking about the genotypes. They don't mix.

[Minimalist]

You are trying to use the fact that the toba theory, which was used as tertiary support for the OOA hypothesis but by no means critical to the OOA, has been cast in doubt to imply OOA is thereby substantially discredited as well.

When you kick a leg out of a three-legged stool the result is a much less sturdy stool.

Speaking of less-sturdy stool.... where is Dripshit?

[Angrboda]

You are trying to use the fact that the toba theory, which was used as tertiary support for the OOA hypothesis but by no means critical to the OOA, has been cast in doubt to imply OOA is thereby substantially discredited as well.

When you kick a leg out of a three-legged stool the result is a much less sturdy stool.

Speaking of less-sturdy stool.... where is Dripshit?

He's around. Busily thinking up more ad hoc rationalizations and horseshit arguments.