Yeah, we are not smarter than the folks that lived way before. We have way better nutrition, education, we live longer, we know about washing our hands before w

Yeah, we are not smarter than the folks that lived way before. We have way better nutrition, education, we live longer, we know about washing our hands before we eat. We must have way worse concentration on things, constantly distracted by (.. just a moment, got a text about the stock market), distracted by things, but they should have on the whole had the same capabilities as us. Nutrition and longer lifespan serve us well but it's really the knowledge built up over the millennia. Imagine those people in the late 1800s to early 1900s who figured out the elements, then eventually got to neutrons and protons, electrons. Anyway, that person who lived 1000 years ago, 5000 years ago, I think if you took their baby and put them in a modern family they'd probably be indistinguishable from a current baby (maybe some impact of nutritional deficiency from the parents?). They should have been able to ruminate about the world and develop ideas and make stupid farting noises just like us.