31 Mar '05 21:32>1 edit
Having common ancestors is not the same as saying that these were the only ancestors. The Adam and Eve story claims that all humans are descendents of two and only two people, while Mitochondrial Eve and the common male ancestor were probably not the only two people who contributed to the gene pool. They contributed more than others did, maybe.
It isn't the same, but it implies it. You have to add words like "probably" and "maybe" to get around what is implied by the evidence (namely Eve and later Noah).
Think of it this way - with the Adam and Eve story, there was tremendous incest taking place as soon as the second generation began to mate. Brothers were mating with sisters. This is not a necessary consequence of the Mitochondrial Eve hypothesis.
No, but it is implied. And incest was not as negative an event back then, due to exponentially superior genes.
Let me elaborate. The Bible says that God created Adam and Eve perfect. Infinitely small negative mutation would have occurred in them before they procreated, and their child would have been slightly less perfect. When two of their children mated, slightly less perfect. Until enough distant relations were around to halt the defective sharing even more to what we have now (two distant cousins from Adam and Eve's line create a healthy baby).
It isn't the same, but it implies it. You have to add words like "probably" and "maybe" to get around what is implied by the evidence (namely Eve and later Noah).
Think of it this way - with the Adam and Eve story, there was tremendous incest taking place as soon as the second generation began to mate. Brothers were mating with sisters. This is not a necessary consequence of the Mitochondrial Eve hypothesis.
No, but it is implied. And incest was not as negative an event back then, due to exponentially superior genes.
Let me elaborate. The Bible says that God created Adam and Eve perfect. Infinitely small negative mutation would have occurred in them before they procreated, and their child would have been slightly less perfect. When two of their children mated, slightly less perfect. Until enough distant relations were around to halt the defective sharing even more to what we have now (two distant cousins from Adam and Eve's line create a healthy baby).