> Turns out that the Neanderthals and homo sapiens cohabitated for thousands of years, had cross cultural exchange, were buried together, had families together,

> Turns out that the Neanderthals and homo sapiens cohabitated for thousands of years, had cross cultural exchange, were buried together, had families together, and that what most likely killed the Neanderthals was an inability to adapt to climate change and pandemics (in fact, severe COVID illness today is correlated to Neanderthal genes). would love to read more from your sources. i know that the theory of raw intellectual superiority has fallen out of favor and read some recent suggestions that Homo sapiens’ ability to coordinate and cooperate may have been a large factor in their success. that felt a bit hand-wavy and anachronistic to me but some of the findings also seemed worth exploring. i’m interested in the sources that identify information exchange and the genome (especially the parts where you mention that the specifically the Neanderthal genome was identified as susceptible to pandemics/severe Covid illness). > It'd be refreshing to see Sci Fi in the next few years finally shed the bad futurism around AI we've been carrying forward for decades. “the creator” almost tries to get there but still leans heavily on the traditional fear dynamics in order to advance much of the plot. just not sure we know how to weave a compelling story without reducing AI to soulless servants or existential threat.