Harry Potter genetics - Diversity is the Key

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 145403

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Jenny" <aenea at v...> wrote:
>
> > --La Gatta:
> > Although creationists can make the case that we're all 
> > related if you go back far enough <snips some amusing 
> > remarks on marrying cousins and other stuff>

> Jenny:
> 
> Setting aside the religious argument entirely, there is
> hard scientific evidence that everyone in the world is 
> related to one another if you go back far enough.  ...  
> The rate of mutation for mitochondria dna sets the "common 
> mitochondrial ancestor for ALL modern humans" at around 
> 150,000 years ago.
> 
> I can guess that genetics have been discussed in relation to 
> Harry Potter, ...
> 
> Perhaps Homo sapiens ability to do magic let them far out-
> compete their Homo erectus bretheren in their 
> dragon/unicorn/acromantula/dementor/etc infested world.
> Or perhaps Homo sapiens' magical ability caused some creatures
> to develop magical abilities themselves to defend against 
> overhunting and extinction.  
> 
> But where and how would the "magic" gene originate?  In 
> anything? ... I'd love to know what others think of evolution
> in the context of the magical Harry Potter world.
> 
> Jenny
>


bboyminn:

There is one important aspect of nature and evolution that needs to be
considered, and that is diversity. Nature thrives in diversity. It
tries to create as many variations of the same thing as possible,
because the more variations there are, the more like one or more
variations is to survive. 

In all likelihood if there weren't dozens of variations of Blackbirds,
then Blackbirds wouldn't exist at all. One single unique variety of
blackbird could have never survived the environmental and evolutionary
stresses over time. So, there is a very valid and important reason why
there are thousands of varieties of birds, and thousands of varieties
of turtles and monkeys, and this is because the more variations there
are, the more likely one or more of those variations is to survive.

The same applies to humans. We generally think of humans as coming in
three variations - white, black, and yellow (referring to the races
here), but it is much more complex than that. Each races is divided
into many uniquely identifiable subraces, each subrace having it's own
specially adapted characteristics.

There is a reason directly related to the natural order of things for
 Scandinavians to be light skinned, blond, and carry their excess fat
in their belly, and a natural reason why Africans are dark skinned,
dark hair, and carry their fat in their hips. Further, there is a
natural reason why pigmies are small and Zulu are tall. Pigmy live in
the dense brush and jungle, it's to their advantage to be small. The
Zulu live in the open plains, so it is to their advantage to be tall
and lean.

Amoung the Asian races, no one who is familiar with Asia would ever
mistake a Lao for Chinese or Japanese, they are a unique and distinct
subrace. 

But we must ask, did Pigmies evolve into short people, or did short
people simply gravitate to an environment that suited them. The same
with Zulu, did tall fleetfooted people evolve in the plains, or did
people who were suited to the plains move to that environment. I
suspect a combination of both.

So, my point is that diversity and variety is a part of natural
selection. Nature creates the largest and most diverse variety of any
given creature that is possible because that insures that the creature
in its many forms will survive.

I see magical beings in the same light. They are merely one of many
variations of humankind that have been evolved over time. Magical
beings have the advantage of magical power and characteristics, but
that also acts as a disadvantage in that other similar creatures would
fear them and want to eliminate them from the gene pool.

We see this in the on again-off again (mostly on again) pursecution of
wizards and witches in Europe. When one species fears another, it
either eliminates or is eliminated. Of course, in more primitive
natural societies, the Shaman or wizard was revered rather than
pursecuted, but those natural societies face other evolutionary
pressures of their own which tended to keep their numbers small.

Further, to the issue of evolution or gravitation; that is a being
evolving so they are suited to an environment, or gravitating to an
evironment to which they are also suited, I suspect we are involved in
the old adage that 'birds of a feather flock together'. Given the
general fear of beings more powerful than themselves, muggles drove
wizards to band together which would in turn lead to intermarriage
between magical beings, and that would tend to prepetuate the species. 

So, in short, I think magical beings in their various forms are
nothing more that the natural diversity of life. The are one of the
many many variation of mankind that nature created to insure its
continued survival. 

Just a thought.

Steve/bboyminn