Posthuman Blues

Pollutants cause huge rise in brain diseases

"The alarming rise, which includes figures showing rates of dementia have trebled in men, has been linked to rises in levels of pesticides, industrial effluents, domestic waste, car exhausts and other pollutants, says a report in the journal Public Health."

This coincides nicely with my theory that humankind, by and large, is dumber than it's ever been. Literally, organically dumber, as evidenced by flickering attention spans and widespread preoccupation with distraction. It's a combination of cultural and chemical factors, and it couldn't have come at a worse damned time.

The chapter in "Planet of the Apes" in which human subjects recite past-life narratives comes to mind. In the original novel, humanity's downfall wasn't due to The Bomb, but to apathetically losing the "brain race" to chimps and organgutans.