Are People Getting Dumber? One Geneticist Thinks So
Caveman Diorama A diorama showing ancient cavemen stands inside the National Museum of Mongolian History in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Wikimedia CommonsA Stanford geneticist says humans have so many genetic mutations that we're less intelligent than our ancestors, and it's getting worse. Eugenicists 100 years ago had similar hypotheses. There's this great recurring "Saturday Night Live" skit from several years back where Phil Hartman plays an unfrozen caveman who goes to law school. He pontificates on the American judicial system while marveling at modern technology like "the tiny people in the magic box" (a TV). It fits a common stereotype: Human ancestors were, well, cavemen, and not as smart as we are today. A provocative new hypothesis from a Stanford geneticist tries to turn this stereotype upside down. Human intelligence may have actually peaked before our ancient predecessors ever left Africa, Gerald Crabtree writes in two new journal articles. Genetic mutations during the...