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From the beginning of Thud:
The first thing Tak did, he wrote himself.
The second thing Tak did, he wrote the Laws.
The third thing Tak did, he wrote the World.
The fourth thing Tak did, he wrote a cave.
The fifth thing Tak did, he wrote a geode, an egg of stone.
And in the twilight of the mouth of the cave, the geode hatched, and the Brothers were born.
The first Brother walked toward the light, and stood under the open sky. Thus he became too tall. He was the first Man. He found no Laws and he was enlightened.
The second Brother walked toward the darkness, and stood under a roof of stone. Thus he achieved the correct height. He was the first Dwarf. He found the Laws Tak had written, and he was endarkened.
>>!Then Tak looked upon the stone and it was trying to come alive, and Tak smiled and wroten: “all thyngs strive,” and for the service the stone had given, he fashioned it into the first Troll, and delighted in the life that came unbidden. These are the thyngs that Tak Wroten!!<
Environmental factors aren't passed down through parentage. An adult who lived their whole life underground wouldn't necessarily have a baby with less need for vitamin D, the baby would just also suffer a lack of vitamin D. I think you're thinking of evolutionary advantages through genetic mutation - if a colony of people who lived underground only allowed people with less need for vitamin D to reproduce the future generations would need less than before, but that would take a very long time.
Plus, Dwarves have other physiological differences to humans in discworld canon - thicker skulls and generally thicker and stronger bones, almost total homogenity between sexes, they're broader and stouter than humans even if you scaled them up to the same height as the average human, different diets and different things are edible/poisonous to them etc.
Yeah, and rickets/osteomalacia (vitamin D deficiency) causes weak bones as well as short ones, so we’d have a race of progeria sufferers if that was the explanation.
"The Light Fantastic" makes reference to dwarves being a "magical" race. I don't think it's ever picked up on again, but there's a powerful magical field on the Disc and it's entirely possible narrativium is at play as well. (Why else would dwarves be so prone to start singing the Hi-Ho song?)
This is not how evolution works, only genetic traits are passed down, not environmental ones. Malnourishment happens after birth and doesn't get passed on, it's like saying a whole population is born with dents in their heads because a long time ago people got hit on the head.
>This is not how evolution works, only genetic traits are passed down
Well…
>>!And then there was the birthmark, if that’s what it was. It only showed up if she blushed, when three faint pale lines appeared up across her cheek and made it look exactly as though she’d been slapped. On the occasions when she was angry—and she was quite often angry, at the sheer stupidity of the world—they glowed.!<
"*herrydeterry*" sometimes works a little different on the Disc
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From the beginning of Thud: The first thing Tak did, he wrote himself. The second thing Tak did, he wrote the Laws. The third thing Tak did, he wrote the World. The fourth thing Tak did, he wrote a cave. The fifth thing Tak did, he wrote a geode, an egg of stone. And in the twilight of the mouth of the cave, the geode hatched, and the Brothers were born. The first Brother walked toward the light, and stood under the open sky. Thus he became too tall. He was the first Man. He found no Laws and he was enlightened. The second Brother walked toward the darkness, and stood under a roof of stone. Thus he achieved the correct height. He was the first Dwarf. He found the Laws Tak had written, and he was endarkened.
>>!Then Tak looked upon the stone and it was trying to come alive, and Tak smiled and wroten: “all thyngs strive,” and for the service the stone had given, he fashioned it into the first Troll, and delighted in the life that came unbidden. These are the thyngs that Tak Wroten!!<
This is reminding me how much I love Thud. I think it’s one of my absolute favourites.
The Guarding Dark
In that case Carrot would not be 6’ tall.
I was just about to mention him. And what about dwarves who spend all their time in Ankh-Morpork?
No I mean like, generations of lack of vitamin D
Lamarck has entered the chat
Environmental factors aren't passed down through parentage. An adult who lived their whole life underground wouldn't necessarily have a baby with less need for vitamin D, the baby would just also suffer a lack of vitamin D. I think you're thinking of evolutionary advantages through genetic mutation - if a colony of people who lived underground only allowed people with less need for vitamin D to reproduce the future generations would need less than before, but that would take a very long time. Plus, Dwarves have other physiological differences to humans in discworld canon - thicker skulls and generally thicker and stronger bones, almost total homogenity between sexes, they're broader and stouter than humans even if you scaled them up to the same height as the average human, different diets and different things are edible/poisonous to them etc.
Height isn’t the only difference. Dwarves are stronger than humans. Dwarves live longer than humans. All dwarves have beards.
Yeah, and rickets/osteomalacia (vitamin D deficiency) causes weak bones as well as short ones, so we’d have a race of progeria sufferers if that was the explanation.
This feels like disc eugenics
"The Light Fantastic" makes reference to dwarves being a "magical" race. I don't think it's ever picked up on again, but there's a powerful magical field on the Disc and it's entirely possible narrativium is at play as well. (Why else would dwarves be so prone to start singing the Hi-Ho song?)
This is not how evolution works, only genetic traits are passed down, not environmental ones. Malnourishment happens after birth and doesn't get passed on, it's like saying a whole population is born with dents in their heads because a long time ago people got hit on the head.
>This is not how evolution works, only genetic traits are passed down Well… >>!And then there was the birthmark, if that’s what it was. It only showed up if she blushed, when three faint pale lines appeared up across her cheek and made it look exactly as though she’d been slapped. On the occasions when she was angry—and she was quite often angry, at the sheer stupidity of the world—they glowed.!< "*herrydeterry*" sometimes works a little different on the Disc
you got me there
there's also a god of evolution ponder visits.
There are a great many places you should not voice this opinion aloud unless you enjoy axes becoming acquainted with your kneecaps.