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ColinWright -> RE: SS (11/30/2007 9:06:07 PM)
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ORIGINAL: golden delicious
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ORIGINAL: desert
And that thing about Neanderthal, there is evidence that Neanderthal actually died out because of the glacial period that began 40,000 years ago, the one that ended at the beginning of the Neolithic.
This doesn't make much sense. Neandarthals were actually bigger than us, which makes them better suited to cold climates. Contraversially, it's believed they were also more intelligent- which would make them more adaptable. We, however, worked in groups.
I doubt they were more intelligent. They had bigger brains -- but apparently a smaller frontal lobe.
I was reminded of the phenomenon of Neaderthal's brain size when I was reading something about dolphins. Apparently, although dolphins have big brains, that may not mean they are especially intelligent: there's no correspondingly large number of some sort of connector, apparently. The large size appears to be an adaptation to permit the brain to maintain the proper operating temperature even though the case is immersed in what can be very cold water. This isn't to say dolphins are stupid -- but notions that they are as smart as us appear to be groundless.
Now, in most respects Neanderthal was simply a species of Homo Erectus -- but physically bigger, and with a larger brain size. Among animals, larger size often is an adaptation ot a colder climate -- the total mass/surface area ratio falls the bigger the animal gets. A Siberian wolf might weight 150 lbs -- an Arabian wolf perhaps 40 lbs.
So we can readily see how Neanderthal's unusual size could simply have been an adaption to cold. Particularly in view of the absence of any other indications that he was especially bright, could the large brain size have simply been such an adaption as well? There is little evidence other than that big brain pan that he was somehow mentally superior to the general run of Homo Erectus types. My impression is that he didn't make art, it's debatable if he could talk, none of his weapons are technologically remarkable, etc.
So it might have been relatively easy for us to whack Neanderthals. Like getting the village idiot to stand in a tub and try to pull it up.
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