dystopian
Veteran Member
Variations in depression are about 33% genetically heritable. If neanderthal genes are responsible for the genetics depression, that would be interesting. I have speculated that depression is a gene selected to motivate suicide among unproductive or counterproductive members of the tribe, and such a genotype may make more sense in colder climates where resources are scarce and productivity per capita is essential. However, suicide and depression rates among races have only a minor correspondence (at most) to the share of Neanderthal DNA among the races. East Asians have high Neanderthal DNA but low rates of depression or suicide. So the hypothesis seems unlikely. The Nature article reports only a "tiny effect" of each gene identified.
Do you think that the prevalence of ritual suicide in feudal Japan might factor into this? I am not aware of any other culture that embraced such a practice, but I could be wrong.
Seppuku as it's called, was not actually very common as a form of ritual suicide. More often than not it was imposed as a form of "honorable" punishment: the alternative being just to get executed. Voluntary seppuku has often been described as a way of cleansing oneself of shame (such as the shame of being defeated in battle); but in most cases that would not have been the sole motivation. Consider that a samurai defeated in battle might have to choose between the honorable death given by seppuku, or execution at the hands of the enemy (often after being tortured first). Given that, and given that it was restricted to the samurai class and the daimyo (feudal lords) who only represented a minority of Japanese feudal society, I very much doubt one can link modern suicide rates to such a historical phenomenon.
Ritual suicide was/is also not restricted for feudal Japan. For example. it wasn't that long ago that 'Sati', the ritualized suicide of widows (most commonly by immolating themselves on their husband's funeral pyre) was still practiced in India and surrounding areas. Similar practices have been recorded around the world (including among native americans).