I read somewhere, hellifiknow if its true, that homo sapiens intelligence hasn't increased a nickels worth in the last ten thousand years or so. Fact is, our brain sizes are now shrinking.
So that guy sitting in camp flaking a new point before he went out hunting or fishing was just as smart as us today from an intelligence standpoint. Sure, we know more about some things than he did but what really makes us smarter? Interesting question.
And from thnking about that, I ended up thinking about this: Is the shedding of stuff in our culture a sign we're improving ourselves or not? Take for example, harelip jokes. Really. When I was younger it seemed like there was always a harelip joke going around and always some guy who'd tell it, doing the harelip voice, and everyone laughed. Tell one of those in polite company these days and see how it goes over. Little Moron jokes were all the rage in those days. How the hell they got from coast to coast is another topic but that's another one that's become impolite. I only bring these up because they are something anybody over 50 who's heard a joke can relate to.
Anyway, we've cast off the purposeful indignity we inflict on others with harelip jokes and with little moron jokes. But are we better off for it or not? Who gets to decide these things?
Woodeye woodeye!
BKB