[HiddenOne]

Any of you who miss the charming companionship of the Neanderthal will be pleased to learn that an alarming number of them reside within a reasonable distance of here, and for a small fee, I can arrange to feed you to them take you on a tour.

On a more serious note, based on the models referenced by Kaamos, there really are people that look like that, some with only minor variation in the facial hair theme. Some of you city dweller perhaps have been deprived, but I think that one Ice man looks like my neighbor.

[Rapscallion]

The point is not whether or not Neanderthals were as smart as our ancestors. The point is that humans living today are marginally smarter than both of those species were at the time. Since the Imass were genetically stagnant for god knows how long, it follows that they should be intellectually inferior to the still-evolving humans, and the barghast as well.

[Kanese S's]

Rapscallion, on 13 November 2013 - 03:44 AM, said:

The point is not whether or not Neanderthals were as smart as our ancestors. The point is that humans living today are marginally smarter than both of those species were at the time. Since the Imass were genetically stagnant for god knows how long, it follows that they should be intellectually inferior to the still-evolving humans, and the barghast as well.

Maybe, but with the benefit of 300,000 years of experience.

Also I'm not sure that modern humans are all that much smarter than ice age era humans, in terms of raw intelligence.

[Studious Lock]

I would argue that we are getting less intelligent on the whole or at least no more intelligent. We no longer need intelligence to survive/hunt/find shelter. Of course we have rocket scientists now but they couldnt exist without ancient peoples innovations and as i say, we dont need it anymore. If you are clever enough to get a job, go to tesco, buy food, then you are clever enough to procreate. Intelligence isnt a thing that just improves, thats not how evolution works.

So yeah, hungover rambling aside, the idea that we are more clever than the people that came before is an assumption that isnt really backed up by any evidence... I mean, i couldnt invent something as important as the wheel, or think of a fucking tank way before we are capable of making it (yes, im looking at you mr da vinci). And language doesnt get more complex, in fact it gets less so (latin is fucking mental) so Imass (10 out of 10 for bringing this ramble around to the thread(11 out of 10 for use of brackets)) could well be just as well spoken as anyone else.

Now im gonna have hair of the dog and go to sleep.

[D'rek]

Studious Lock, on 13 November 2013 - 03:22 PM, said:

Intelligence isnt a thing that just improves, thats not how evolution works.

Depends on how you define intelligence. If we're talking about intelligence in a vague sense, then "being smarter" means you can survive situations that would kill a stupid person. The "smarter" person is then more likely to procreate before dying.

Studious Lock, on 13 November 2013 - 03:22 PM, said:

So yeah, hungover rambling aside, the idea that we are more clever than the people that came before is an assumption that isnt really backed up by any evidence... I mean, i couldnt invent something as important as the wheel, or think of a fucking tank way before we are capable of making it (yes, im looking at you mr da vinci). And language doesnt get more complex, in fact it gets less so (latin is fucking mental) so Imass (10 out of 10 for bringing this ramble around to the thread(11 out of 10 for use of brackets)) could well be just as well spoken as anyone else.

I think you're being a bit overly dismissive here. For example, language doesn't always get more complex or simpler over time, it just changes. Latin is more complex than English, sure, but it's also far more complex than grunty caveman language.


Overall, though, I think Kanese has the most key point. The Imass might not have been as "intelligent" back when they were Imass, but they (and neanderthals) probably had about the same 'capacity' for "intelligence", and so because they lived(ish) for millenia they didn't need to evolve anything, they just all kept learning as individuals and their culture and society evolved even though they were the same people. Until we can travel back in time hundreds of thousands of years, steal a neanderthal baby, and raise it in the present as if it were a regular baby we'll never know for sure.

[worry]

Now let's talk about sound. Tool talks like this:

[worry]

Also it looks like everybody got in on the action: http://www.nature.co...x-lives-1.14196

[Felisin Fatter]

So Neanderthals sound like Monty Python imitating women?? I guess I prefer the theory that they used sign language mostly (was that Clan of the Cave Bear...?).

Also... just because you're a broad-chested heavy strong guy, doesn't mean you have to shout all the time, right? What am I missing?