Scientists Postulate Extinct Hominid With 150 IQ 568
Hugh Pickens writes "Neuroscientists Gary Lynch and Richard Granger have an interesting article in Discover Magazine about the Boskops, an extinct hominid that had big eyes, child-like faces, and forebrains roughly 50% larger than modern man indicating they may have had an average intelligence of around 150, making them geniuses among Homo sapiens. The combination of a large cranium and immature face would look decidedly unusual to modern eyes, but not entirely unfamiliar. Such faces peer out from the covers of countless science fiction books and are often attached to 'alien abductors' in movies. Naturalist Loren Eiseley wrote: 'Back there in the past, ten thousand years ago. The man of the future, with the big brain, the small teeth. He lived in Africa. His brain was bigger than your brain.' The history of evolutionary studies has been dogged by the almost irresistible idea that evolution leads to greater complexity, to animals that are more advanced than their predecessor, yet the existence of the Boskops argues otherwise — that humans with big brains, and perhaps great intelligence, occupied a substantial piece of southern Africa in the not very distant past, and that they eventually gave way to smaller-brained, possibly less advanced Homo sapiens — that is, ourselves. 'With 30 percent larger brains than ours now, we can readily calculate that a population with a mean brain size of 1,750 cc would be expected to have an average IQ of 149,' write Lynch and Granger. But why did they go extinct? 'Maybe all that thoughtfulness was of no particular survival value in 10,000 BC. Lacking the external hard drive of a literate society, the Boskops were unable to exploit the vast potential locked up in their expanded cortex,' write Lynch and Granger. 'They were born just a few millennia too soon.'"
Yes we all know size is everything... (Score:2, Funny)
Oh, and in before "IT'S... IQ OVER 9000"
survival of the hungry (Score:4, Funny)
One problem ... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:survival of the hungry (Score:4, Funny)
Nerds vs. Jocks (Score:5, Funny)
humans with big brains... they eventually gave way to smaller-brained, possibly less advanced Homo sapiens
A triumph of wedgies and swirlies paving the way for the modern day high school.
Re:So we came with "literate society" pre-installe (Score:3, Funny)
Yo momma's so smart...
Re:One problem ... (Score:2, Funny)
Actually, their flaw was probably being arrogant and condescending.
A good number of Slashdotters should take heed. You days are numbered!
Re:Yes we all know size is everything... (Score:2, Funny)
...big eyes, child-like faces...
which reminds me of some anime characters
Re:Does a bigger brain really mean higher IQ? (Score:3, Funny)
A dolphin, the mammal with one of the largest brains out there, is NOT smarter then a human.
That's what Arthur Dent thought too.
Re:Yes we all know size is everything... (Score:3, Funny)
I think the question is, how intelligent do the elephants expect these guys to be?
Bang Theory (Score:3, Funny)
The explanation is on a bumper sticker (Score:3, Funny)
"My kid beat up your honors student"
dave (who was usually on the receiving side of such efforts...)
Re:IQ is a relative scale, not an objective one (Score:1, Funny)
I Know, Right!?
Re:Yes we all know size is everything... (Score:5, Funny)
Exactly how many paper hats did you keep trying on until you realized you would break them, genius? ;-)
Re:Yes we all know size is everything... (Score:4, Funny)
What he world needs is an advanced predator species to thin the idiots out of the herd. Maybe a robotic puma or something.
Re:Does a bigger brain really mean higher IQ? (Score:3, Funny)
My thoughts exactly. A dolphin, the mammal with one of the largest brains out there, is NOT smarter then a human.
Shows what you know!
From the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much - the wheel, New York, wars and so on - whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man - for precisely the same reasons.
and...
The last ever dolphin message was misinterpreted as a surprisingly sophisticated attempt to do a double-backwards-somersault through a hoop whilst whistling the 'Star Spangled Banner', but in fact the message was this: So long and thanks for all the fish.
Re:epenis (Score:3, Funny)
Actually, if his IQ was 149 there are a lot of slashdotters (including me) with brains as large or larger. Sometimes some of these guys here make me feel like an utter moron. In meatspace, with few exceptions only women do that to me.
Re:Does a bigger brain really mean higher IQ? (Score:5, Funny)
-Douglas Adams
Re:One problem ... (Score:3, Funny)
Apparently the bacteria are quicker at learning grammar.
Wait a minute! (Score:3, Funny)
I'm not extinct!
I was just resting!
Re:Yes we all know size is everything... (Score:2, Funny)
When will idiots like this be extinct?
Re:Yes we all know size is everything... (Score:5, Funny)
Either that or they discovered WOW and stopped breeding.
Re:Pounds or Kilograms? (Score:3, Funny)
Using Pounds as a unit of measuring mass just proves that you aren't intelligent :)
Re:Yes we all know size is everything... (Score:5, Funny)
Alas (Score:2, Funny)
If they'd also evolved kitty-ears and a characteristic love of french-maid outfits, they would be the master race.