People Are Stupid
Well, maybe not stupid, but they are getting dumber, according to a Stanford geneticist. He says mutations in our DNA and our "modern living" are causing a downward trend in human intelligence.
The gist of this is that, back in our prehistoric anscestors' time, the average hunter/gatherer had to do a bunch of problem solving and memory-related activities every single day. They had to continually make good decisions. Or else they died.
Cavemen were smart.
By extension, the ones that died did not pass on their genes and the ones that lived--the ones who were better at these mental activities--did. So, (And forgive me for paraphrasing this for clarity. Not trying to be offensive.) the smart people had smart babies, who presumably had more smart babies.
But, we don't have to hunt our own food these days. There's no inherent danger in going to the grocery store and getting a pound of ground beef. (Well, I suppose there's some danger because of mass production issues, but for the most part you aren't going to get killed picking up the Styrofoam tray from the cooler.)
As modern humans, we don't worry about getting gored by beasts while we're trying to get a meal, or having to know which plants are good to eat or where to find the best roots. And even if we do eat something bad for us, or get injured from doing something stupid, we have medical technology to keep us alive.
So, modern humans reproduce, regardless of whether they have made good decisions or not. And their children are pretty much the same as they are. But, modern living just keeps getting easier, doesn't it? And so, modern man keeps getting dumber.
Now, this geneticist guy didn't ask me, but I could have told him as much. If you don't believe me, log on to Facebook and read the first 15 of your friends' posts. You might think "Funny." or you might thing "Oh that's cute." on a couple of them, but overwhelmingly your impression is going to be "Oh Sweet Jesus! Did you even think about this before you posted it?" or "For the love of God, FB friend, don't just regurgitate what you see on extremist websites. Do some research yourself!"
You know I'm right.
The gist of this is that, back in our prehistoric anscestors' time, the average hunter/gatherer had to do a bunch of problem solving and memory-related activities every single day. They had to continually make good decisions. Or else they died.
Cavemen were smart.
By extension, the ones that died did not pass on their genes and the ones that lived--the ones who were better at these mental activities--did. So, (And forgive me for paraphrasing this for clarity. Not trying to be offensive.) the smart people had smart babies, who presumably had more smart babies.
But, we don't have to hunt our own food these days. There's no inherent danger in going to the grocery store and getting a pound of ground beef. (Well, I suppose there's some danger because of mass production issues, but for the most part you aren't going to get killed picking up the Styrofoam tray from the cooler.)
As modern humans, we don't worry about getting gored by beasts while we're trying to get a meal, or having to know which plants are good to eat or where to find the best roots. And even if we do eat something bad for us, or get injured from doing something stupid, we have medical technology to keep us alive.
So, modern humans reproduce, regardless of whether they have made good decisions or not. And their children are pretty much the same as they are. But, modern living just keeps getting easier, doesn't it? And so, modern man keeps getting dumber.
Now, this geneticist guy didn't ask me, but I could have told him as much. If you don't believe me, log on to Facebook and read the first 15 of your friends' posts. You might think "Funny." or you might thing "Oh that's cute." on a couple of them, but overwhelmingly your impression is going to be "Oh Sweet Jesus! Did you even think about this before you posted it?" or "For the love of God, FB friend, don't just regurgitate what you see on extremist websites. Do some research yourself!"
You know I'm right.
posted by Patwoman | 6:00 PM
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