Origins of genius?
Thoughts while staring into a campfire-
What did it take to be a genius in caveman days? What represented an IQ of 100 or 100plus twenty thousand years ago?
If there was little common knowledge beyond killing bison and building fire, what made an exceptionally bright Cro-Magnon stand out? Or Homo Sapiens for that matter? A straighter spear shaft with better balance? What if like genius stereotypes of today they had knowledge but no practical skills? Oogmar Einstein would have to communicate his theories of spear flight to Boog Villa who would then whittle out something. Oh yeah, can you see that happening with no spoken language- just grunts and gestures? And just how did metal smelting ever get off the ground? The first crucibles made of wood probably caught fire. ''O darn. Now me have start over. Wonder why me no get pass this point every time me try? Me get discouraged, go drink juice from smelly grapes in pile over there. That work pretty good last time I try it. Ho Ho!"
Its a wonder "survival of the fittest" as a concept ever got any traction. Given mans tendency to say screw it, let's get drunk, its hard to believe we got past discovering fermentation.
Anyway where was I? Oh yeah. Genius. Has the mind's ability to reason and learn grown over the years? Its so easy to be smart today. There is so much accumulated knowledge today that we have access to and actually absorb in a kind of intellectual osmosis as we age and grow. We aren't aware of much of it. Granted there's a lot that is a part of the modern mans life that would have no relevance outside of our modern life.
But if half our kids are writing computer code in high school, what if we took those same kids and transplanted them back just 300 years ago? Could we have skipped steam locomotive and gone straight to electric ones? Would they have done any better than Ben Franklin for example?
Artistic genius would have had an easier time of it. I know that's maybe not what my daughter would guess, but its most likely true. So an aspiring Van Gogh could pick up a carboned end of a charred stick and get right to representational depictions of the last hunt. Sure it took a few tries, and maybe a while to figure out that Ochre is good for more than face painting before a raid on the neighboring tribe. You know, the more I think of it, maybe art was in some respect the awakening of genius? Easier than the dynamics of what makes a good spear head material, thats for sure.
What did it take to be a genius in caveman days? What represented an IQ of 100 or 100plus twenty thousand years ago?
If there was little common knowledge beyond killing bison and building fire, what made an exceptionally bright Cro-Magnon stand out? Or Homo Sapiens for that matter? A straighter spear shaft with better balance? What if like genius stereotypes of today they had knowledge but no practical skills? Oogmar Einstein would have to communicate his theories of spear flight to Boog Villa who would then whittle out something. Oh yeah, can you see that happening with no spoken language- just grunts and gestures? And just how did metal smelting ever get off the ground? The first crucibles made of wood probably caught fire. ''O darn. Now me have start over. Wonder why me no get pass this point every time me try? Me get discouraged, go drink juice from smelly grapes in pile over there. That work pretty good last time I try it. Ho Ho!"
Its a wonder "survival of the fittest" as a concept ever got any traction. Given mans tendency to say screw it, let's get drunk, its hard to believe we got past discovering fermentation.
Anyway where was I? Oh yeah. Genius. Has the mind's ability to reason and learn grown over the years? Its so easy to be smart today. There is so much accumulated knowledge today that we have access to and actually absorb in a kind of intellectual osmosis as we age and grow. We aren't aware of much of it. Granted there's a lot that is a part of the modern mans life that would have no relevance outside of our modern life.
But if half our kids are writing computer code in high school, what if we took those same kids and transplanted them back just 300 years ago? Could we have skipped steam locomotive and gone straight to electric ones? Would they have done any better than Ben Franklin for example?
Artistic genius would have had an easier time of it. I know that's maybe not what my daughter would guess, but its most likely true. So an aspiring Van Gogh could pick up a carboned end of a charred stick and get right to representational depictions of the last hunt. Sure it took a few tries, and maybe a while to figure out that Ochre is good for more than face painting before a raid on the neighboring tribe. You know, the more I think of it, maybe art was in some respect the awakening of genius? Easier than the dynamics of what makes a good spear head material, thats for sure.
posted by Good Ol' Boy at 8:53 AM
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