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A synonym for 'Neanderthal' is 'boorish,' which just isn't very nice

So this article came out, which isn't really groundbreaking at all, but it happens to have been published the day after I watched part of the NOVA special "Becoming Human," so it's been on my brain anyway.

I was checking out a book a while ago called Cro-Magnon: How the Ice Age Gave Birth to the First Modern Humans, and it was all "Oh dude, our ancestors probably didn't even LOOK at Neanderthals. No way. 'Cause they would've been like, RIDICULOUSLY ugly."

This book was published in 2010. And what came out this year? DNA Shows Humans Found Non-Humans Irresistible

That's right. Your lady ancestor, at some point, sidled up to a Neanderthal gentleman and said "Hey. How's it goin'?


Because all non-Africans ('cause the Africans stayed put instead of traipsing around becoming the Don Juans of prehistoric Europe) have 1-4% Neanderthal DNA. So the above scenario DEFINITELY happened. Which is disheartening NOT because of my huge Neanderthal prejudice ("look at them, and their stupid big arms") but because what's published about them and the origins of man is probably totally off. I mean, we're learning more, which is neat, but we're still probably COMPLETELY WRONG ABOUT ALMOST EVERYTHING.

It's like with the dinosaurs. I didn't appreciate how little we probably know about dinosaurs until I saw a beluga skull.

There's no way we'd get it right
based on this

So basically, dinosaurs probably all looked like belugas and frolicked together in the days of yore. Is my point.

This actually started because I was going to talk about bipedalism and how yeah, evolution definitely seems to have been the way we happened, BUT I think God gave man a soul and that's what differentiates us from other animals ASIDE from bipedalism and being super-awesome (although otters are also super-awesome and who's writing about them? no one except weirdo otter enthusiasts), but then I went off on that whole tangent about our ancestors gettin' it on because they had some brow ridge fetish, and now I am done. HAPPY THURSDAY.

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