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ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
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17 Sep 2011, 4:46 pm

Wait a minute...haven't we gone forward and not backward? I thought science and technology has increased life expectancy and made peopl healthier. It seems like our species has yet to reach it's prime.

Just because we are smaller than elephants doesn't mean we have peaked.



naturalplastic
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17 Sep 2011, 7:34 pm

aghogday wrote:
The Institute for Fixing Society link, appears to be a blog from an anthropologist, with his own critical assessments about current research, and issues in society. Looking at some of the other issues, he does seem to be serious with his opinions, though.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2002684/Were-getting-smaller-brains-shrinking--farming-blame.html

Here is another link from that link that I thought was interesting because it presents a modern depiction of Cro-magnon man, that is one of the few that presents Cro-magnon man as appearing as what we might consider an individual from Africa, and then further down a full depiction of Neanderthal man, that is definitely one of the jolliest looking Neanderthal fellows I have seen yet. Would be a great advertisement for Guiness beer I think. All that's missing is the pub and the beer.

The depictions of neanderthals lately, have been all over the map, it seems.

I don't trust the Daily Mail, too much, particularly after their latest vaccine scare reports; same one repeated over the last five years. They often don't give links to the research they cite, but I checked and the research is real. The Research from Cambridge, appears to have presented the Cro-Magnon depiction, but I think the Daily Mail, may have added in the depiction of the Neanderthal because I didn't see it in other articles that talked about the Cambridge research.

Quote:
Having conquered Everest and landed on the Moon, it is tempting to think we are bigger and better than our ancestors.

But on a purely physical basis, it seems, we just don’t measure up. Mankind is actually shrinking.

Cambridge University experts say humans are past their peak and that modern-day people are 10 per cent smaller and shorter than their hunter-gatherer ancestors.
Scientists blame agriculture, with restricted diets and urbanisation compromising health and leading to the spread of diseaseAnd if that’s not depressing enough, our brains are also smaller. The findings reverse perceived wisdom that humans have grown taller and larger, a belief which has grown from data on more recent physical development.


The interesting thing about this kind of research is they use averages for prehistoric individuals from a few fossils from the paleontological record, and compare that average to what appears to be an average of every human on the planet.

Maybe we're getting smaller on average, but I wonder if Cro-Magnon man had any of the 7 footers, like the present day Shaquille O'Neal. Shaquille's head is proportionate to the large size of his body. I can't imagine that his Ball Caps aren't specially made for the size of his head, as well as the shoes for his size 22EEE feet.

There's got to be a brain capacity there of at least 1800cc, to keep that body coordinated. He's got an MBA, so apparently he has above average intelligence as well.

Maybe modern man is shrinking on average, but certainly not all of them.


Europeans are shorter one average than their Cro Magnon ancestors. The Cro Magnons were invaders from the tropics who were long limbed much like modern Africans and many African Americans( like Shaq). So in a sense Shaq IS a Cro Magnon.

Long limbedness is an adaptation for disappating heat in the tropics. Modern East Asians are the opposite extreme-long torsos and short limbs with facial adaptations like high cheekbones and layers of subcontaneous (hense the folded eyelids) fat for insulation against cold.



ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
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17 Sep 2011, 9:40 pm

According to the link Aghogday provided, humans are past their peak because our heads have shrunk over the years but could ancient man score 1550 out of 1600 on the SAT? Most likely, no. So why is it humanity has peaked just because brains have gotten smaller?

And somehow urbanization has made our species worse? Sounds like a statement an anthropologist would come up with. However, statistics suggest the opposite to be true. Urbanization has led to better quality of life for the masses.



ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
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19 Sep 2011, 11:25 am

It makes you wonder if the same thing can be said when two different races produce offspring. Neanderthals could be a matter of different race than Cro-Magnon.



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19 Sep 2011, 1:22 pm

ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo wrote:
It makes you wonder if the same thing can be said when two different races produce offspring. Neanderthals could be a matter of different race than Cro-Magnon.


That's what the teachers were saying when I was in college, that it would be more a matter of different race or variety (as in plants) than a subspecies. But that was a long time ago, and there's DNA analysis now. Then the physical anthropologists were just going by skeletons. It's hard to believe that the combination only "took" a few hundred times, though: there are quite a lot of "intermediate form" skeletons that have been found, and think of all those that were _not_ found, for every one that was (and may yet be). And breeding mules, who are mostly infertile, and from definitely different species, is really easy.