Reflections on intelligence and the human being.
The Numbers
I was recently thinking about the persistent question: why do so many people I encounter on a regular basis seem too stupid to live? Why indeed. The most interesting clue I have found presented itself to me when I was cross-referencing the fossil record of our species with its historical record.
According to current archeological records, we are virtually identical to our homo sapiens ancestors from about 130,000 years ago. All aspects of the anatomy appear the same, including skull shape and volume. Civilization, on the other hand, started only about 10,000 years ago at the earliest. In fact, there is no evidence that any human even figured out how to put a seed in the ground on purpose and grow a plant he or she was interested in using for any reason at all up until about 12,000 years ago.
So let's do the math here. It took the entire human population of the earth over 100,000 years to figure out how to grow a plant - that's 4,000 generations - despite being constantly surrounded with a multitude of plants of inestimable variety, and presumably even regularly picking the seeds out their food, as we do now...
In case you are having trouble doing the calculations, allow me to simplify:
Humans = Extremely Fucking Stupid
That's right. The brains have not changed. Most people that you meet could let their imaginations roam free for a hundred millenia and still not be able to come up with the idea to plant a fucking seed.
...keep a heavy, blunt object handy, and stay tuned for the next installment: "The Illusion of Civilization." or "If people are so stupid, how come we have x, y, and z?"...
The Numbers
I was recently thinking about the persistent question: why do so many people I encounter on a regular basis seem too stupid to live? Why indeed. The most interesting clue I have found presented itself to me when I was cross-referencing the fossil record of our species with its historical record.
According to current archeological records, we are virtually identical to our homo sapiens ancestors from about 130,000 years ago. All aspects of the anatomy appear the same, including skull shape and volume. Civilization, on the other hand, started only about 10,000 years ago at the earliest. In fact, there is no evidence that any human even figured out how to put a seed in the ground on purpose and grow a plant he or she was interested in using for any reason at all up until about 12,000 years ago.
So let's do the math here. It took the entire human population of the earth over 100,000 years to figure out how to grow a plant - that's 4,000 generations - despite being constantly surrounded with a multitude of plants of inestimable variety, and presumably even regularly picking the seeds out their food, as we do now...
In case you are having trouble doing the calculations, allow me to simplify:
Humans = Extremely Fucking Stupid
That's right. The brains have not changed. Most people that you meet could let their imaginations roam free for a hundred millenia and still not be able to come up with the idea to plant a fucking seed.
...keep a heavy, blunt object handy, and stay tuned for the next installment: "The Illusion of Civilization." or "If people are so stupid, how come we have x, y, and z?"...
Do you have Gravy with you? Or is Dave earning his keep?
I'm going up to Erin's cabin to drink all weekend. Yep. Just me, Pat, Bob and a bunch of lesbians. So yeah I won't be getting laid anytime soon.