2 Basic Questions

[Cat]

Anyone care to respond?

[JackBean]

and why do you think that our mental abilities are inferior to the ones of our ancestors?

[Cat]

I don’t know if our mental abilities are superior or inferior to the ones of our ancestors. I think there is an equal chance of either possibility. I am just tired of seeing our (human) vanity color interpretations of archeological data…

In this particular instance:

“our mental abilities are superior” = our brains are larger (presumably more complex) and evidence of tool complexity increases over time = therefore, our mental abilities improve (presumably our ancestors had to rely on tools for survival just as we do today), etc.

“our mental abilities are inferior” = our brains are larger (presumably more complexity hinders original function) and evidence of tool complexity increases over time = therefore, our mental abilities degenerate forcing increased reliance on tools (presumably our ancestors did NOT rely on tools for survival as we do today), etc. Note: this scenario presumes psychic abilities of our ancestors. I don’t know any evidence that would prove or disprove it…

[wpseofriendly]

1. The idea of our superiority comes from the fact that our brain is larger than that of our ancestors and, thus, smarter.

2. Larger than normal brains have been linked to autism (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16151044).

Considering evidence above, doesn’t that make just as likely that all of us are autistic when compared to our ancestors?

The idea of superiority has always disgusted me. It has been one of the major problems of mankind throughout history.

Evolution cannot be directly observed, only indirectly.