"Once They Realized We Knew They Couldn't Think..."
Alan: Homo sapiens separated from Neanderthals 400,000 to 800,000 years ago.
Then, the Neanderthals became extinct just 40,000 years ago.
This evolutionary timeline is remarkably short.
Why might such a genetic separation be happening again?
In the last several centuries, the gene pools of "the intellectually accomplished" and "the underachievers" have become increasingly separated.
It is important to emphasize that my proposal makes no value judgment as to which group would be better prepared to survive the rigors of Natural Selection.
I only hypothesize that a definitive genetic separation may be taking place.
I have no idea -- indeed, no one can know -- whether "intelligence" has ultimate survival advantage.
It may be that "self-awareness" coupled with too much intelligence is simply too much to bear; that it starts "getting in his own way," subverting its own long-term survival chances. It may be that any humanoid endowed with "too much" intelligence may be "too smart by half" just as clever people can be too clever by half, like those who ask, "Will you hold my beer for a minute?"
Some damn eugenecist could get hold of my hypothesis and try to put it to violent use - an application (or range of applications) that I, as a moral person, call evil use.
Such an eventuality is the last thing from my intent.
I just look at the facts, and ponder.
Eer since the Renaissance -- and particularly since The European Enlightenment -- intelligence has become more segregated in the human gene pool.
I also look at the time-frame required by evolution for species separation to take place and realize that it's much shorter than many of us assume - especially if the evolutionary notion of "punctuated equilibrium" is true and the processes of evolution accelerate -- with startling alacrity -- during times of great environmental stress.
At the moment, separation of "Sapiens" and "Neanderthals" is just an idea.
And if my descendents end up "on the losing end" of evolution, I am content to sign off on their fate, insisting only that they be allowed to exit the world stage with the same gradual calm as the first Neanderthals.
In the last several centuries, the gene pools of "the intellectually accomplished" and "the underachievers" have become increasingly separated.
It is important to emphasize that my proposal makes no value judgment as to which group would be better prepared to survive the rigors of Natural Selection.
I only hypothesize that a definitive genetic separation may be taking place.
I have no idea -- indeed, no one can know -- whether "intelligence" has ultimate survival advantage.
It may be that "self-awareness" coupled with too much intelligence is simply too much to bear; that it starts "getting in his own way," subverting its own long-term survival chances. It may be that any humanoid endowed with "too much" intelligence may be "too smart by half" just as clever people can be too clever by half, like those who ask, "Will you hold my beer for a minute?"
Some damn eugenecist could get hold of my hypothesis and try to put it to violent use - an application (or range of applications) that I, as a moral person, call evil use.
Such an eventuality is the last thing from my intent.
I just look at the facts, and ponder.
Eer since the Renaissance -- and particularly since The European Enlightenment -- intelligence has become more segregated in the human gene pool.
I also look at the time-frame required by evolution for species separation to take place and realize that it's much shorter than many of us assume - especially if the evolutionary notion of "punctuated equilibrium" is true and the processes of evolution accelerate -- with startling alacrity -- during times of great environmental stress.
At the moment, separation of "Sapiens" and "Neanderthals" is just an idea.
And if my descendents end up "on the losing end" of evolution, I am content to sign off on their fate, insisting only that they be allowed to exit the world stage with the same gradual calm as the first Neanderthals.
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