Every serious scientist knows that we and other animals evolved from the same ancestors. The real question today is whether to put our DNA and theirs back together. Until now, that question has been raised in the form of human-animal hybrids made in labs for research. You can argue that these are somehow wrong because they're newfangled and artificial. But what can you say about Neanderthals? They were made by nature, not industry. In fact, we're the industrial villains who apparently wiped them out. They're as natural as we are.
Of course, just because "we" survived and the Neanderthals didn't doesn't necessarily entail that we're smarter. I actually suspect that Neanderthals were at least the equals of Cro-Magnons.
Maybe that's exactly what this planet needs right now: some good old-fashioned Neanderthal brains steering the ship.
7 comments:
I can think of a number of reasons to clone a neanderthal and likely an equal number of reasons not to do it, but I can't think of any reason to use a chimp as the host for carrying the embryo to term. Maybe I'm missing something here.
Michael
Supposedly, neanderthals didn't technologically advance until meeting cro-magnon. Even then, the difference in quality is appearant.
It would also seem neanderthals had fewer communication capabilities based on the reconstructed vocal chords.
I'm no expert, but this paints a picture of a species semi-lacking abstract thought. However, their burials and art suggest imagination.
Ice ages reduced their numbers before encounters. Their near carnivorous diet reduced potential food supplies, population growth, and resistances to certain diseases that homo sapiens would have brought with themselves.
They seemed environmentally hindered from achieving a food producing society comparable to homo sapiens. I'm inclined to believe they were equal in areas with cro-magnon adapting better.
It feels like neanderthals got a bad rap for being the rednecks of prehistory.
I love it when you suggest that perhaps society should change in some way -- "good old-fashioned Neanderthal brains steering the ship." THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN OUTSIDE OF THE POLITICAL PROCESS.
Maybe that's exactly what this planet needs right now: some good old-fashioned Neanderthal brains steering the ship.
We've got that already: The Bush Administration.
@Michael Using a chimp to bring the clone to term is a hypothetical gimmick designed to shake off those that would condemn the project as a violation of human genetic sanctity. I don't see how there's any practical value.
'Every serious scientist knows that we and other animals evolved from the same ancestors'...
Wonder what planet those "ancestors" where from? Not this one that's for sure!
I'm glad that you're entertaining the idea that Cro-Magnon was somehow directly responsible for the "extinction" of Neanderthals.
While I'm sure there were many natural environmental factors at play (such as moving down to the lowland valleys while Cro-Magnon remained high in the mountains), I'd debate that what history actually witnessed was the first mass eugenics campaign, some 40,000 years ago!
Slaughter and assimilation of a people's who were seen as "less" or "inferior" to the emerging powers. Direct competition.
Implementing a strong religio-political social movement, these are virtually the same tactics used upon the native peoples of Mesopotamia, Egypt, etc, many tens of thousands of years later.
It's sad that one of the first breakthroughs in human history involved mass genocide upon their own "cousins".
Cain and Abel comes to mind.
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