3 ms·
Maybe we can’t assert things without evidence. So if we lack evidence we can’t say one way or the other… maybe lack of assertion implies brute?
by mc32 3y ago
Maybe we can’t assert things without evidence. So if we lack evidence we can’t say one way or the other… maybe lack of assertion implies brute?
- readthenotes1 3y agoWhat's that phrase? "Oh you sweet summer child" From William King, the discoverer: "I feel myself constrained to believe that the thoughts and desires which once dwelt within it never soared beyond those of a brute," https://www.livescience.com/65003-how-smart-were-neanderthals.html https://www.livescience.com/65003-how-smart-were-neanderthal...
- mc32 3y agoIf Neanderthals discovered a human skeleton, what would they have thought? Woe be us for what thoughts and desires dwelt within its brain will suredly our abilities surpass and reach the moon after we are rendered history by its superior intellect?
- Fricken 3y agoDomesticated animals tend to be less intelligent than their wild brethren. I'm not convinced that 10k years of agricultural civilization has done anything to make us more intelligent as individuals. Relative to surviving as a hunter gatherer, you really don't have to be that bright to run a farm. Every cognitive asset we can lay claim to was once essential for our survival. If our ancestors were wolves, then we're dogs.
- suzzer99 3y agoBut also with farming came specialization, like blacksmithing, being a priest, being a scribe, trade, etc. So at least some of the population was having their brains taxed on a regular basis.
- Fricken 3y agoTea, and isolating various behavioral traits of wolves we've made various types of dogs. They're all less than a complete wolf.
- otabdeveloper4 3y agoThe default assumption would be that if they look very similar to modern humans, then they should act very similar too. Anything else is twisting the evidence for a political or religious foregone conclusion.