>> We are smarter than our ancestors, sort of. Our IQs have gone up throughout the 20th century. Why? Mental priorities have changed. “It turns out that we, far more than our recent ancestors, take seriously the ability to find abstract similarities between objects…. And we are better at applying logic to finding abstract patterns.”
>> Men will pay for porn, women will tolerate porn if paid, finds neurobiologist and anthropologist Platt. So he did a lil experiment with hotornot.com: “For the most part, you had to pay females to look at any male pictures – even those where the guys were rated super hot,” Platt said. (via 3qd)
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It’s also a question of learning different things. My great-great grandparents could probably butcher a hog without giving it a second thought. My parents could calculate square roots by hand. I buy my meat pre-butchered and use a calculator if I need a more accurate square root than 8-something. But I can do things they can’t. I think a lot of it comes down to technology has eliminated the need for certain kinds of learning and opened up the possibility to learn new and different kinds of things…
Comment by don hosek — December 2, 2007 @ 10:52 am
Butcher a hog!
It’s been a while since I’ve needed an accurate square root :)
Comment by Siel — December 3, 2007 @ 12:27 pm