2. This is "regression tends to the mean" which my dad used to say with a smile when we discussed his excellent degree and his offspring's (including my) average degree.

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strken 11 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I don't think it's regression to the mean. It looks more like mutation-selection balance.

If it was regression to the mean then it would only apply to parents above the mean. Mutation-selection balance applies equally to everyone[0]: genetic load increases in each generation, and selective pressure brings it down again.

[0] which is to say that mutations occur at random, not equally distributed but nearly always there, and they tend to bring every group down because mutations overwhelmingly tend to be bad

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strken 8 hours ago | parent | next [-]

In hindsight, this explanation was a bit sparse, so here is the actual text from TFA:

> your baby will still be somewhat less fit compared to you and your hopefully-hot friend on average, but now there is variance, so if you cook up several babies, one of them might be as fit or even fitter than you, and that one will likely have more babies than your other babies have

This is a nearly word-for-word explanation of mutation-selection balance, e.g. check out the Wikipedia explanation:

> an equilibrium in the number of deleterious alleles in a population that occurs when the rate at which deleterious alleles are created by mutation equals the rate at which deleterious alleles are eliminated by selection

Regression to the mean is a statistical phenomenon about, well, measurements that regress to the mean. In the given quote, the average baby isn't regressing to the mean, the average baby is carrying a higher number of deleterious alleles and is less fit across the board. TFA then describes fitter babies having more babies themselves, which is irrelevant to regression to the mean but an integral part of mutation-selection balance.

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ggm 11 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

But he does say the mother is a total babe doesn't he? Well "hopefully hot"

	▲	pavlov an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Since the blog post is addressing a person cooking up babies, we can assume the reader is the mother and the “hopefully hot” people are the fathers of the children being cooked up.

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smohare 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

[dead]

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Craighead 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

[dead]