Dr Gerald Crabtree, a professor of pathology and developmental biology in Stanford University School of Medicine argues that human beings are becoming less endowed with intellectual and emotional capacity on account of lessening pressures on survival and consequent lack of necessity to thwart adverse genetic mutations. His hypothesis is at once provocative and humbling. Says he:
“I would wager that if an average citizen from Athens of 1000 BC were to appear suddenly among us, he or she would be among the brightest and most intellectually alive of our colleagues and companions, with a good memory, a broad range of ideas, and a clear-sighted view of important issues. Furthermore, I would guess that he or she would be among the most emotionally stable of our friends and colleagues”.
Crabtree surmises that our intelligence and emotional capacity peaked 50,000 to 500,000 years ago (the temporal range is certainly very wide, but in evolutionary terms unavoidable).
Are stories about extraordinary achievements of our early ancestors becoming more credible now? Or should we wait till the next researcher demolishes this theory?
“I would wager that if an average citizen from Athens of 1000 BC were to appear suddenly among us, he or she would be among the brightest and most intellectually alive of our colleagues and companions, with a good memory, a broad range of ideas, and a clear-sighted view of important issues. Furthermore, I would guess that he or she would be among the most emotionally stable of our friends and colleagues”.
Crabtree surmises that our intelligence and emotional capacity peaked 50,000 to 500,000 years ago (the temporal range is certainly very wide, but in evolutionary terms unavoidable).
Are stories about extraordinary achievements of our early ancestors becoming more credible now? Or should we wait till the next researcher demolishes this theory?
