Namibia Bushmen were first people in ‘Garden of Eden’

The Times ^ | 5/2/2009 | James Bone in New York

[garbanzo]

In other words, we sampled 8% of population groups, started with a flimsy premise and leapt to a conclusion.

There is a reason I don't normally respond in cases like this but I think an important point needs to be made.

1) Do you have any experience in statistics or statistical analysis such that you can reliably say that an 8% sample is insufficient to draw a conclusion?

2) You call the premise "flimsy" but present no counterthesis or any significant criticism of the premise.

The only reason I bring this up is because this a fine example of the sort of emotional reasoning (something is true not because I have facts or data or reason but because I feel it to be true) that is costing our society dearly.

[NTHockey]

>>In other words, we sampled 8% of population groups, started with a flimsy premise and leapt to a conclusion.
There is a reason I don't normally respond in cases like this but I think an important point needs to be made.

1) Do you have any experience in statistics or statistical analysis such that you can reliably say that an 8% sample is insufficient to draw a conclusion?

2) You call the premise “flimsy” but present no counterthesis or any significant criticism of the premise.

The only reason I bring this up is because this a fine example of the sort of emotional reasoning (something is true not because I have facts or data or reason but because I feel it to be true) that is costing our society dearly.<<

Normally, I too would not respond but I will answer you.

1) Yes, I do have some experience in statistical analysis. My master's thesis in Business was on Cluster Analysis. I have done simulations and statistical analysis throughout my career. Selecting 121 groups out of 2,000 introduces sampling error and bias, unless it was totally random (using random number generator tables, for example). The sample size WITHIN each group is sufficient.

2)The scientific method requires that you prove the null hypothesis, not a preconceived notion. The null hypothesis , in this case, would be “There is no genetic diversity”.

3. The conclusions reached - ascertaining the precise latitude and longitude of the Garden of Eden, while allowing for the population having been elsewhere by 50 thousand years hardly inspires confidence (one of the statistical terms is confidence level, as in “I am confident in my conclusions within X%” - usually 95% or 99%.

4. As for a counter proposal, I don't have grant money to go to Africa and I think there are better uses for grant money than the precise latitude and longitude of the Garden of Eden. Maybe finding a cure for AIDs or “world peace”.

[MissDairyGoodnessVT]

whirled peas

[garbanzo]

The null hypothesis , in this case, would be “There is no genetic diversity”.

I think you misread the article or something because the point of the study was to find a population with the greatest genetic diversity. The "assumpution" is that populations with the greatest genetic diversity are probably ancestral because as group migrate away they take only a part of the original populations genetic diversity with them - that is, the farther you are from an ancestral group the less genetic diversity you have. I'm sure you're heard of the "founder effect". Only question then is whether or not this is a reasonable assumption.

[SunkenCiv]

Garden of Eden was in Today’s Kalahari desert
The Times of India | 2 May 2009
Posted on 05/02/2009 9:38:13 AM PDT by nickcarraway
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2242756/posts

[SunkenCiv]

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[PjhCPA]

Too bad. So sad.

[Misterioso]

It makes you sad? It's not my intention to make you sad. If I do, well, that is sad. :-(

[freeplancer]

“>>Careful, you don’t want to pi$$ off the bible thumpers on here. They know it all.<<

As opposed to you, who know what?”

The only thing that I know is that you are a newbie, and you seem to be a tad touchy.

[NTHockey]

>>The only thing that I know is that you are a newbie, and you seem to be a tad touchy.<<

I don’t know how long one has to be a member here to not be a “newbie”, nor how you made such a “leap of faith” to arrive at your conclusion, but name calling is the sign of absence of a coherent argument.