Sickle-cell disease and Thalassemia have the effect of lower oxygen transport by erythrocytes, which will be followed by reduced physical activity, or as you would say, 'laziness' (which is a rather jugding term, as it implies 'unwillingness'). I know it is not what you meant, but by the choice of your words, other readers will get the impression that laziness is an evoutionary advantage for prevention of malaria.
In my mind laziness does not involve unwillingness. There are days when I feel too tired to work, when I want to laze around. Laziness is not something one decides, nor is it a permanent condition. It just depends on the energy and motivation one has at a particular time. Extreme heat can make me lazy, but that doesn't mean I am always lazy. Genetic anaemia on the other hand is much more serious as it is a permanent condition and is incurable (although regular treatment can alleviate the symptoms). So I find it funny that you should criticise my use of the term "lazy" when for me it is much more benign than "suffering from sickle cell anaemia" (and neither have anything to do with personal choice).
But either way we will have to prove that both sickle-cell disease as well as thalassemia with non-treatment are so highly distributed among certain populations that THESE diseases actually are the reason of lower performance and productivity of their countries.
If these diseases have no influence on poor economic performance, then the alternative possibilities might end up being more disturbing. I am almost certain that widespread anaemia has a negative impact on productivity. It surely isn't the only reason, but it is an important factor.
I am not that familiar with distribution of diseases within Europe, but I'm sure if I did some research I will also find some with a higher prevalence in Northern Europe, which in that case should imply a lower productivity there.
Sickle-cell disease as well as thalassemia are extremely rare in northern Europe (under 1%, and perhaps under 0.1% of the population). The former is tested by 23andMe, by the way, so it's easy to make a quick survey among users to confirm. I have access to the data from about 30 people (mostly of northern European descent) through extended sharing, and none have the sickle-cell mutation.
If I remember it well, didn't the Roman writer and politician Tacitus describe the Germans as lazy, with tendency towards gambling and alcoholism? At those times Northern Europe wasn't half as successful as the Mediterranean countries, despite of a much higher malaria distribution in southern places at that time! How do you explain that?
How much credit can you give to a haughty, condescending Roman politician when describing people he doesn't know well (and certainly hasn't lived among) that the mighty, civilised Romans like to belittle as "barbarians" ? It's not an objective point of view, and it isn't based on solid knowledge of the people discussed. It's merely a sort of self-flattering propaganda that the Romans loved to write. Frankly, the Romans accusing others of gambling and alcoholism, when they partied in Rome half of the year, indulging in orgies and gambling on charioteers and gladiators ?
I'm not surprised of your theory that Germans and East Asians share a certain gene that effects hard work and diligence, as you are the one who believes that Northern Europeans also inherited individualism from Neanderthals. Maybe you would also say that diligence is attached to the same gene?
Diligence has absolutely nothing to do with individualism ! I don't know how you can liken the two ? East Asians are among the most collectivist (anti-individualistic) people on Earth ! The most individualistic Europeans are not necessarily Germanic either. The Brits and Irish are possibly the most individualistic, and their ancestry is first "Celtic" (or ancient Briton) then Germanic. German, Dutch and Scandinavian people are somewhat collectivist in their sense of egalitarianism and value of the common welfare (they are similar to the Japanese in this regard). The French and the Italians (especially northern Italians) can be quite individualistic. In business for instance, collectivist countries will favour big corporations (like the Japanese, Koreans and Chinese, but also the Germans), while very individualistic societies have a profusion of self-employed people and small companies (like Italy). According to the cultural psychologist Geert Hofstede, the most individualistic Europeans are the British, followed by the Dutch and Hungarians, then the Italians and the Belgians.
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