When I watch the news these days, it’s hard to imagine that we are still evolving. With the world in such chaos, seems that every story is about some despicable act that man has done. Countries testing missiles. Wars going on. Economies devastated. Sex rings and trafficking people. Drugs at every corner. Tensions surrounding politics. Stupid people in control.
One story that sunk my heart was about Justice. A little 4 month old puppy that was lit on fire and burned and chased by a group of boys in Pleasant Grove in Dallas. See the video below.
View more videos at: http://nbcdfw.com.
Justice has since died. He didn’t survive the cruelty dealt to him by man. Hope he rests in peace. Good news, a suspect was arrested on April 21st, in Justice’s case – Darius Ewing – has turned himself in. Dallas Police are still looking for the other boys that were also involved in the torture. The SPCA has upped the reward to $25,000 for any information.
And then the story about Johnathan Ramsey, 11 years old and also from Dallas, who was starved to death by his father and stepmother. His body was recovered April 21st in Ellis county and both parents have been arrested. Johnathan’s “parents” said they starved him as a form of punishment. Really?
How could people be so stupid!
It’s amazing that we are still considered intelligent at this point. Don’t you ever wonder this sometimes?
Then I read the article about how our brains have shrunk about the size of a tennis ball. And the debate about whether brain size means dumber or more efficient.
This downsizing of the human brain is an evolutionary fact – and has taken some scientists by surprise.
The Cro-Magnon man, had the biggest brain of any human, who lived around 20,000 to 30,000 years ago. Now our brains are about 10% smaller – which is quite a chunk of gray matter. So Why?
So this begs the debate about whether the evolution of man is actually de-evolving or devolution. I think it is. But here’s some theories on the mystery of the shrinking brain.
People started living together more and more. So the need for each person to know a lot about a bunch of different disciplines was no longer needed. More people living together in more complex societies could protect each other better, grow food for more, divide labor up, and people could specialize more. So brain size didn’t need to be bigger. Each person didn’t need to be the smartest to survive.
Some think this is a dumbing-down process. David Geary, a cognitive scientist, says “as human society grows increasingly complex, individuals don’t need to be as intelligent in order to survive and reproduce”. No kidding. His studies found that brain size decreased as population density increased. You don’t have to stay smart with a bunch of people around. Okay – I get this. And I agree. But our population is now close to 7 billion people – how smart do we need to be with that many people?
Brian Hare, an anthropologist, thinks “the decrease in brain size is an evolutionary advantage”. “That a smaller brain is the signature of selection against aggression”. So basically we’ve been domesticated like dogs, turkeys, and cats. Domesticated animals have smaller brain sizes than their wild counterparts, but are smarter for they can understand human gestures, are less aggressive, and interact with humans, like a child.
Somehow I disagree with that. We aren’t getting less aggressive. I see more aggression every day. It’s like our inner primal aggression has been suppressed for so long that it wants to come out. But that’s just my opinion.
Others think that the smaller brain is more leaner and more efficient. That man has just developed more sophisticated forms of intelligence than our ancestors. Technology has helped us create more ways of doing things in better ways.
But what about technology? Is technology making us dumber? I can safely say that we aren’t using our brains anywhere near what we did in the past. Computers are doing the thinking for us now. We just control the remote, the buttons to the computer.
We are losing the benefit of our senses. Technology seems to be taking over.
For instance, our eyes look through mostly glass these days. We look through microscopes, telescopes, binoculars, windshields, TV screens, computer monitors, cell phones, windows, glasses, and so forth. It’s no wonder so many people are far sighted. Will we one day lose our ability to see up close for good?
And what about smell? We have invented gobs of scents – scents to cover up odors, scents to wear all day, scents of nature, etc… We don’t even use our noses anymore. We just cover up the smells we don’t want and spray on what we do want. Will we lose our sense of smell generations from now?
Now let’s talk muscles. Raise your hand if you have to get up to change the channel on your TV. Hmmmm. Not many hands. We don’t use our muscles as intended either. We barely move. We sit in cars to transport ourselves. We sit behind desks looking at computer monitors. We sit in front of TV’s. So we are getting weaker and fatter. We don’t even cook real food anymore. It’s all processed. But that’s our society. Will we lose our limbs at some time in the future? Will we become like the famous “Star Trek” episode about the big brains that lost their bodies since they didn’t use them anymore? Will we become just brains?
Oh yeah, forgot, our brains are shrinking- so I guess that’s a NO. If we do become just brains, we won’t be Big Brains, we’ll be Tiny Brains. And that’s if we survive at all, which is a big question mark in it self.
What about our minds? We have some awesome technology today. And it’s getting better everyday. But does anybody know how to build it? I mean does one person know how to build a whole computer from scratch? And does any one person know how to write software programs?
Technology is all wonderful and everything, but what happens if technology goes away? Can you survive without technology? Let’s say a solar flare zaps technology into oblivion. What would we do? We can’t survive without our technology. And after people kill each other after they de-evolve into barbarians after a week without technology – the few who do survive will not have a clue about how to go about and re-create the technology again. Could you feed yourself on your own? Could you clothe yourself? Could you provide shelter for your family without technology? Hmmm. That’s what I thought.
Our brains are getting smaller because we aren’t using all the little gray matter that we have. We have to look up from our computer screen every once in a while. Look up from the video game you are playing every once in a while. Smell the roses – with your own nose. Touch them with your hands. Feel them. Take your shoes off and go running in the grass. Squeeze your toes into the grass. Put the Ipad down and look up. Stop downloading another app. Look up at the sky. There are other people. Talk to them face to face.
Some people believe that technology is the suicide of mankind, and we have already started hanging ourselves. I have to say, that I’m inclined to agree. If I hear one more story about someone dying in a car crash because they were texting – I’m gonna scream. It just shows you how stupid humans are getting.
Our brains aren’t getting more efficient or leaner. It’s getting BORED!
Sources:
http://www.npr.org/2011/01/02/132591244/our-brains-are-shrinking-are-we-getting-dumber
http://news.discovery.com/human/shrinking-brains-intelligence-110207.html
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Body-of-Starved-Boy-Recovered-148395295.html
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Puppy-Doused-With-Lighter-Fluid-Set-on-Fire-146842355.html
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
i guess,i try to look past “nessecities” of society and the modern era and its quiet peaceful with t.v/video games/phones/ect.they day that i get to go out and stick a spear into my dinner would be the day that ill ever appriciate life again.i did it once,and it felt glorious.even climbing up a tree for a coconut was fun(im micronesian) and i see how other kids these days whine about starving when nothings preped for them.peh.no matter how you look at it,human do get more……..whats the word im looking for….rusty,oh and dumbed when they dont use what they’re born to use.i guess the futures just depended on tech. Doing all the work for the common man.sheesh im only 17 and im already considering moving up to the mountains.i love nature,and people are forgetting where their true roots stem from.
This is the first place i have ever met someone that thinks like you guys and I couldnt agree more dude, would love to head to the mountains with you
For sure our species cannot seem to get a grip on its violent nature. Years ago (in the 60s), scientist did research on the over crowding of species, and found out some interesting things. In one experiment mice were over crowded in their living area, and certain patterns began to manifest from within. First homosexuality began to be noticed! Violence became the norm, with the stronger feeding upon the weak. Cannibalism became frequent. Have U noticed how all of these traits are present in todays news? Our world is getting over populated at an alarming rate. Ive read projections of 9 Billion on the horizon. If we do not do something soon, we may indeed go the way of the dinosaur. We need to finally, and we have the technologies today, to put a colony on Mars, or the very least the Moon. This will guarantee that our species will survive, no matter what happens here on Earth. Our time of reckoning is fast approaching! Though an old science fiction movie, it would not surprize me to see a form of cannibalism, like seen in SOYLENT GREEN, become reality. We have become our own greatest commodity, with the selling of body parts, etc, why not feed the masses instead of either burial or cremation? Frozen human ice cream sticks, at ur local Walmart, or perhaps human steaks to broil on that outdoor grill. Today nothing would surprize me. I dont think we have de-evolved, i just think our cruelty emerges from our over crowding of our environments. Many say war is coming over of all things water supplies. Clean water is fast becoming a rarity too.
You must log in to post a comment.