The show was talking about how the evolution of human intelligence can be explained via climate change. To simplify and summarize, every time the climate changes, the smart ones survive. You can read a pretty good description of it on wikipedia's "Evolution of Human Intelligence".
For example: About 2.6 million years ago, the earth entered an ice age. This caused the forests in North Africa to die out and be replaced by grasslands. The smart primates vacated the dying trees in order to survive. Some even learned to walk on two legs. There are several more examples. You can read the link above.
Most recently, it has come to my attention that we, intelligently evolved primates, are actually causing, to some extent, the climate to change.
Thus, if you look at the silver lining, we are killing off the stupid ones so the smart ones can evolve. God bless Al Gore.
Actually, just because you are more adaptable doesn’t mean you are smarter. It’s 2 different things.
ReplyDeleteI don't think you can make that kind of statement.
ReplyDeleteSmarter people are more likely to adapt.
When a hurricane is heading ashore, the smart people will board up their windows and try to seek higher ground further inland.
When the waves came in Japan, the people who are younger, faster, or stronger had a better chance of getting to the top of the hill than those who are just smarter.
ReplyDeleteIf you get shipwrecked on an island, you don’t have to be a smart person to survive, you need to be someone with survival or camping skills.
Being intelligent may help your adaptability but it is not necessary. Adaptability requires a skillset suitable for your changing environment. Intelligence is just one trait.