Complex human traits have not been pushed steadily in one direction because both ends of the spectrum carry advantages in different times and places.

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• There is more room at the top for every human trait: push selection harder in any direction and the mean would move, at some cost elsewhere. DRDavid Reich8 May 2026similar wording
• The weak selection signal on behavioural traits is a shortage of statistical power, not evidence that behaviour was unselected. DRDavid Reich8 May 2026similar wording
• What has actually been under selection is probably not intelligence but a general trait more like executive function or the propensity to defer gratification. DRDavid Reich8 May 2026similar wording
• The accepted model of how archaic and modern humans relate has been accreted and patched rather than built, and is due for a simpler replacement. DRDavid Reich8 May 2026similar wording
• Natural selection in humans has not been quiescent: it is tugging almost every position in the genome in one direction or another, everywhere. DRDavid Reich8 May 2026similar wording

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