Assuming we’re the stupidest possible biological species capable of starting a technological civilization seems almost (though not quite) as wrong as asserting we’re the smartest such. In both cases we’re generalizing from a sample size of one.
For instance, I can imagine a technological civilization that was stupid enough to wipe itself out in a nuclear war, which we’ve so far managed to avoid; or to destroy its environment far worse than we have. I can also imagine a society that might be able to reach 18th or 19th century levels of tech but couldn’t handle calculus or differential geometry.
Assuming we’re the stupidest possible biological species capable of starting a technological civilization seems almost (though not quite) as wrong as asserting we’re the smartest such. In both cases we’re generalizing from a sample size of one.
Well, considering it took us thousands to hundreds of thousands of years (depending on whether you buy that certain, more chronologically recent adaptations played a significant role) to start developing the rudiments of technological civilization, after evolving all the biological assets of intelligence that we have now, I think it’s pretty fair to infer that we’re not that far above the minimum bar.
A species whose intelligence was far in excess of that necessary to be capable of technological civilization could probably have produced individuals capable of kickstarting the process in every generation once they found themselves in an environment capable of supporting it. By that measure, we as a species proved quite resoundingly lacking.
Well, considering it took us thousands to hundreds of thousands of years (depending on whether you buy that certain, more chronologically recent adaptations played a significant role) to start developing the rudiments of technological civilization, after evolving all the biological assets of intelligence that we have now,
The end of the last glacial period might have had something to do with it.
Assuming we’re the stupidest possible biological species capable of starting a technological civilization seems almost (though not quite) as wrong as asserting we’re the smartest such.
I agree they’re both very wrong, but I don’t think the levels of wrongness are as close as you suggest. The former sounds much, much wronger to me. We’re much more likely to be close to the dumb end than close to the smart end.
It’s not that we’ve seen a large number of biological species capable of starting a technological civilization and we’re dumbest of them. It’s that we’ve seen a large number of biological species incapable of starting a technological civilization and we’re only slightly smarter than any of them.
We know we’re at the boundary of being able to start a technological civilization because we can do it and we’ve seen biological species within an epsilon neighborhood that cannot.
Assuming we’re the stupidest possible biological species capable of starting a technological civilization seems almost (though not quite) as wrong as asserting we’re the smartest such. In both cases we’re generalizing from a sample size of one.
For instance, I can imagine a technological civilization that was stupid enough to wipe itself out in a nuclear war, which we’ve so far managed to avoid; or to destroy its environment far worse than we have. I can also imagine a society that might be able to reach 18th or 19th century levels of tech but couldn’t handle calculus or differential geometry.
Well, considering it took us thousands to hundreds of thousands of years (depending on whether you buy that certain, more chronologically recent adaptations played a significant role) to start developing the rudiments of technological civilization, after evolving all the biological assets of intelligence that we have now, I think it’s pretty fair to infer that we’re not that far above the minimum bar.
A species whose intelligence was far in excess of that necessary to be capable of technological civilization could probably have produced individuals capable of kickstarting the process in every generation once they found themselves in an environment capable of supporting it. By that measure, we as a species proved quite resoundingly lacking.
The end of the last glacial period might have had something to do with it.
Still thousands of years even if we suppose the window was closed before then.
I agree they’re both very wrong, but I don’t think the levels of wrongness are as close as you suggest. The former sounds much, much wronger to me. We’re much more likely to be close to the dumb end than close to the smart end.
It’s not that we’ve seen a large number of biological species capable of starting a technological civilization and we’re dumbest of them. It’s that we’ve seen a large number of biological species incapable of starting a technological civilization and we’re only slightly smarter than any of them.
We know we’re at the boundary of being able to start a technological civilization because we can do it and we’ve seen biological species within an epsilon neighborhood that cannot.