Re: (TFT) Skills and the poor Neanderthals

[Psychohist@aol.com]

Responding to the comment, regarding neanderthals:

  I wonder if maybe they didn't have any good examples to learn
  from...?

Charles A. Gadda speculates:

  The only thing I can think of is the tidbit about not being able to speak.
  It could be that their communcation ability was limited, which would have
  limited their abilities of abstract reasoning - hence not being able to see
  what to us is a case of the blindingly obvious.

I don't agree that communications ability necessarily limits one's ability to 
reason abstractly.  I know lots of smart gnurds that communicate less well 
than the average human.

I'd suggest that the person who made the original comment was on the right 
track.  What the lack of language would really hamper is learning from 
others.  One can learn a certain amount by watching an example, but it helps 
a lot if the example can explain what he's doing, and what the student is 
doing wrong.

I think it might be difficult to learn how to make a bow just by watching a 
good bowyer.  So even if some smart neanderthal invented the bow, the 
invention would have died with him - likely without leaving archeological 
evidence.

Warren
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