Comment by djtango
12 hours ago
What are you skeptical about? 40k years ago humans were just as we the humans of today, but they also faced harsher environments to survive in.
Technology has enabled us to compound advanced intergenerationally but I don't really believe we're actually that special when compared to our forebears...
Pictures in clouds, face on mars, pareidolia, I Want To Believe. That's what's to be skeptical about.
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Take a look at Fig 1. A grid of dots. A sequence of X's. Does it mean "Property of Thag?" "Happy Birthday, Mom"? Are the X's there to improve one's grip on the object? Are they just idle doodling around the campfire? Hunter-gatherers have little use for writing.
We'll never know.
When I was young I was fascinated by drawing 5 pointed stars. It meant nothing.
Given that pressure from natural selection has lessened a lot, chances are that we are less special now.
Our intellect evolved for survival, but now it's very much optional - has been for many generations. It and may now even be inversely correlated with having offspring.
I would be unsurprised if we're noticably dumber now than we used to be.
We seem to be making up for it with better nutrition and medicine.
Plus all the lead we spewed into the air for three generations.