from cavemen to this

[innate]

It is amazing how much humanity has grown in a short period of time. The best is yet to come. However, I will probably not be alive for it.

[Dave]

Biologically, physiologically, genetically, evolutionarily, we are no different from those cavemen. All we have is our superior technology and our systems of education. If for some reason we were to cataclysmic-ally lose that technology, and subsequently, our children could not enjoy that same education, then we would be cavemen once again. History is filled with human civilisations that have risen and fallen. The change often occurred practically overnight. When the Roman Empire fell, the infrastructure they had left behind very quickly fell with it. I don't think people realise that our civilisation is so fragile; a house of cards that could be blown down by a breeze. Some things would survive even us though; our genetically modified grasses, vegetables and animals would live on even when our buildings had turned to dust - wheat, maize, barley, dogs, cows, horses.

[paranoid marvin]

In many ways we are a species that is going backwards, particularly over the last century or so.

IF the lights went out tomorrow. the vast majority would struggle to light a fire without the aid of matches/lighter/similar.

[Bowler1]

Behave, PM, I've seen how to light a fire with sticks on TV!

[Ursa major]

Did it involve beating a person in possession of a lighter with those sticks...?

[Bowler1]

No, but I’d imagine that would be the survival of the fittest thing everyone goes on about when civilisation ends!

[Dave]

[Gary Compton]

Originally Posted by Ursa major

Did it involve beating a person in possession of a lighter with those sticks...?

I thought you rubbed 2 firelighters together

[Vertigo]

Dave that is brilliant and scarily pertinent.

[Bowler1]

I've been planning ahead and preparing. I've got Ray Mears set to record on my Sky Box so I'm good to go!

[Gary Compton]

Originally Posted by Dave

Yes that third picture is definitely thought provoking, as smoking is very bad for your health

[hopewrites]

Haven't there been times in history when obesity was a clear sign of wealth and therefore beauty?

[paranoid marvin]

Originally Posted by hopewrites

Haven't there been times in history when obesity was a clear sign of wealth and therefore beauty?

Yes. There was a time when people blackened their teeth to show that they were rich enough to afford to eat lots of sugar.

The fact is that in the past man had to eat to live; now he lives to eat.

[Grizzgreen711]

Originally Posted by Dave

Haha, This was really funny.

[Metryq]

Originally Posted by Dave

Biologically, physiologically, genetically, evolutionarily, we are no different from those cavemen.

"Cavemen" is non-specific, although there have certainly been changes since the last ice age. Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors by Nicholas Wade

If you'll pardon the pun, nothing is set in stone about pre-historic peoples, but the "new" science of genetic archaeology shows changes in the few thousands of years since the beginning of the Holocene. We think differently than those ancient ancestors, for one thing, even though we may look the same. That is why researchers use terms like "anatomically modern humans" and "behaviorally modern humans."

Evolution may be slow, but it is continuous. It didn't suddenly stop when we arrived.