And on the converse side, no matter how well you train a chihuahua it will never be a great sled dog. I think the same logic can apply to humans.
The ‘dog breed’ analogy seems to a common pop-sci way of talking about differences between human beings but there’s no evidence that it is a useful analogy at all. The average genetic variation between dog breeds is far greater than between humans. Even the most dissimilar humans are more genetically similar than the average pair of dogs. But really, it’s more correct to say that the genetic variation of humans and dogs is not comparable at all. Human genomes vary in quite different ways than dog breeds.
On the converse side, it does lend credence to the idea that nurture is important.
I agree with your sentiment, but presumably there’s even greater variation among wolves than there is among dogs, yet most wolves are pretty similar. The stunning variation among dog breeds is due to variation in selection, not variation in genotype.
I agree with your sentiment, but presumably there’s even greater variation among wolves than there is among dogs, yet most wolves are pretty similar.
Perhaps you mean that despite large genetic variation in wolves, there appears to be small phenotypic variation in them. In terms of morphology and appearance this is true, but there’s no reason, in my view, to think that it’s true in terms of behavior and intelligence and so on.
The ‘dog breed’ analogy seems to a common pop-sci way of talking about differences between human beings but there’s no evidence that it is a useful analogy at all. The average genetic variation between dog breeds is far greater than between humans. Even the most dissimilar humans are more genetically similar than the average pair of dogs. But really, it’s more correct to say that the genetic variation of humans and dogs is not comparable at all. Human genomes vary in quite different ways than dog breeds.
On the converse side, it does lend credence to the idea that nurture is important.
I agree with your sentiment, but presumably there’s even greater variation among wolves than there is among dogs, yet most wolves are pretty similar. The stunning variation among dog breeds is due to variation in selection, not variation in genotype.
Perhaps you mean that despite large genetic variation in wolves, there appears to be small phenotypic variation in them. In terms of morphology and appearance this is true, but there’s no reason, in my view, to think that it’s true in terms of behavior and intelligence and so on.