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I will always believe, based on nothing but my own gut feel and experience dealing with Homo Sapiens, that the answer is much simpler. They were different, so

I will always believe, based on nothing but my own gut feel and experience dealing with Homo Sapiens, that the answer is much simpler. They were different, so we killed them.

krapp 2y ago
Why choose to believe this in spite of actual evidence to the contrary? People have Neanderthal DNA inside of them. We're in a thread about an article demonstrating that. We didn't kill them because they were different, the truth (as it always is) is more complex than that. I understand being cynical about humanity this kind of performative misanthropy doesn't benefit you or anyone else.
- flembat 2y ago
  Our recorded history shows how hostile we are to each other often over very minor differences. And also we know we wipe out other animal species routinely, after we arrive in their locations, they cease to exist.
  - krapp 2y ago
    >Our recorded history shows how hostile we are to each other often over very minor differences. And yet people with very minor differences still exist, and many people are not hostile to the point of murder towards them. >And also we know we wipe out other animal species routinely, after we arrive in their locations, they cease to exist. Sometimes. Sometimes not. Sometimes we work very hard to save endangered species. If it were the case that we simply wiped out all animal species we encountered, when we encountered them, we would not longer be here. Because again... we didn't wipe out the Neanderthals simply because they were different. If like GP you cannot allow yourself to believe otherwise because your view of human nature doesn't accept that amount of nuance in human behavior, then the problem is not human nature but your own nature.
throwaway92352 2y ago
>They were different, so we killed them. I don't know why they are extinct, but your theory could just as well be reversed. Neanderthals were much stronger than us with a more robust body that can withstand hits that would be deadly to us. In addition they had weapons and probably lived in organised societies. They were definitely a potential threat to humans. Who's to say that they didn't rape, kill or eat humans and we just defended ourselves? Maybe the DNA found is humans is the result of women who were raped and managed to escape before they were eaten? I agree that humans are good at organizing for war, but it may have been a case of them vs us. I don't really see the Neanderthals as necessarily worse than humans, but I also don't see any reason why they should be more "noble" peace loving creatures who just stood by when humans decided to wipe them out. For all we know humans and Neanderthals lived next to each other with all the potential conflict and alliances that we find in human societies. We should be careful about applying our modern perspective to ancient history.

I will always believe, based on nothing but my own gut feel and experience dealing with Homo Sapiens, that the answer is much simpler. They were different, so we killed them.

krapp 2y ago

Why choose to believe this in spite of actual evidence to the contrary? People have Neanderthal DNA inside of them. We're in a thread about an article demonstrating that. We didn't kill them because they were different, the truth (as it always is) is more complex than that. I understand being cynical about humanity this kind of performative misanthropy doesn't benefit you or anyone else.

flembat 2y ago
Our recorded history shows how hostile we are to each other often over very minor differences. And also we know we wipe out other animal species routinely, after we arrive in their locations, they cease to exist.
- krapp 2y ago
  >Our recorded history shows how hostile we are to each other often over very minor differences. And yet people with very minor differences still exist, and many people are not hostile to the point of murder towards them. >And also we know we wipe out other animal species routinely, after we arrive in their locations, they cease to exist. Sometimes. Sometimes not. Sometimes we work very hard to save endangered species. If it were the case that we simply wiped out all animal species we encountered, when we encountered them, we would not longer be here. Because again... we didn't wipe out the Neanderthals simply because they were different. If like GP you cannot allow yourself to believe otherwise because your view of human nature doesn't accept that amount of nuance in human behavior, then the problem is not human nature but your own nature.

throwaway92352 2y ago

>They were different, so we killed them. I don't know why they are extinct, but your theory could just as well be reversed. Neanderthals were much stronger than us with a more robust body that can withstand hits that would be deadly to us. In addition they had weapons and probably lived in organised societies. They were definitely a potential threat to humans. Who's to say that they didn't rape, kill or eat humans and we just defended ourselves? Maybe the DNA found is humans is the result of women who were raped and managed to escape before they were eaten? I agree that humans are good at organizing for war, but it may have been a case of them vs us. I don't really see the Neanderthals as necessarily worse than humans, but I also don't see any reason why they should be more "noble" peace loving creatures who just stood by when humans decided to wipe them out. For all we know humans and Neanderthals lived next to each other with all the potential conflict and alliances that we find in human societies. We should be careful about applying our modern perspective to ancient history.