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.

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Our reading — they may agree, disagree or merely touch the same thing. Closest first: a shared subject counts for most, then how near the wording is.

• Complex human traits have not been pushed steadily in one direction because both ends of the spectrum carry advantages in different times and places. 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
• The selection signal on the genetics of schooling is not a European artefact: the same variants predict years of school in China, a population disconnected from Europe for the whole period. 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 weak selection signal on behavioural traits is a shortage of statistical power, not evidence that behaviour was unselected. DRDavid Reich8 May 2026similar wording

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