Talk:Hunter versus farmer hypothesis

Clarity
I don't follow this very well.

It says ADD is an adaptive behaviour as we changed from hunters to farmers. But ADD is an advantage to hunters, not farmers.

It would make more sense to me if instead this is saying that we predominantly changed from hunters to farmers, so the need for hyperfocus disappeared, so those of us with ADD are just exhibiting characteristics of the earlier hunters, whereas everybody else has caught up.

Could somebody who knows please make the article a bit clearer?


 * I will work on it. I see your point. As an aside, the hyperfocus is just one of the many ADD attributes which are more hunter friendly than farmer friendly.


 * It might be pointed out that the Neanderthal Theory of Autism, Asperger and ADHD contains a wealth of information along the lines of arguments for these disorders as evolutionary branching. Some of it is right on.


 * So, should I suppose that South American people have a higher incidence of ADD, since their genetic code is closer to hunter's ancestries, the amerindians ?
 * How is hyperfocus linked to ADHD? cyclosarin 07:23, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

Some suggestions on these ADHD side-branches
As a newcomer to Wikipedia, I am treading carefully, but I am sure that every reference to hyperfocus should be moved inside that article as the hyperfocus idea is highly contentious, contrary to most clinicians' views, and IMHO probably wrong. So while it's worthwhile having an article to discuss hyperfocus, it should generally not be used to support other explanations such as the hunter-farmer hypothesis (not theory).

I personally don't think the Hartmann book is up to the standards required by Wikipedia, but if you do include the reference it should have a date.

This might be useful...
In terms of this theory, there appears to be supporting evidence, based on genetic research and results published in 2002-2005.

The primary researcher, I think, is Robert K. Moyzis at the University of California, Irving School of Medicine.

I've tried to take a look at the results and it's a little beyond me, but articles via the following:

Thom Hartmann's site page on ADD: http://www.thomhartmann.com/home-add.shtml

ADDitude Magazine: http://www.additudemag.com/additude.asp?DEPT_NO=102&ARTICLE_NO=29&ARCV=1

Science Daily: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/01/020109074512.htm

And Dr. Myzis UIC site page: http://www.ucihs.uci.edu/biochem/faculty/moyzis.html

might provide some insight or be useful.

I tried to take a look at the published results at PubMed, but I got lost in the details.

Also, a link from the ADHD page to this article should be made for the sake of completeness, in my opinion. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Scottjkelly (talk • contribs) 23:58, 11 March 2007 (UTC).