1.0   A theory without a theory

    Klein begins his dissertation by establishing that the skull of Man exhibits marked evolutionary
    improvements over Neanderthal's.

    [Great! Hopefully, T-Rex had a few physical differences with Giganotosaurus as well!
      I guess that's why we call one T-Rex and the other Giganotosaurus. So what?]

    Does he insinuate that Cro-Magnon used this intellectual superiority to hunt down and kill Neanderthal?

    No. Klein suggests that Neanderthals had lower cognitive abilities and that this gave Cro-Magnon an
    inordinate tactical advantage in the field. He is saying that this adaptation enabled Man to reproduce
    faster and gradually crowd out the brutes:

    " ... resulting in the progressive replacement of Neanderthals by modern humans
       due to their higher carrying capacity caused by a better exploitation of local
       resources" [1]

    " Even tiny advantages in cognition, communication skills, and memory would have
       had huge downstream effects over time." [2]

    The problem with Klein's alleged 'theory' is that it is unscientific. The scientific method requires a
    hypothesis, a theory, and a conclusion. Klein has a hypothesis and a conclusion. What he fails to put
    forth is a theory.

    For instance, Alvarez proposes a scientific, although erroneous, theory for the K-T Extinction Event. A
    rock hits the Earth. The debris blocks out the Sun. Plants die. Herbivores die. Carnivores die. Whether
    you agree with the theory or not, you can visualize every aspect of how Alvarez believes the dinos
    disappeared.

    Klein does it differently. He talks about and describes bones and urges you to concede that Neanderthal
    must have been dumber than Cro-Magnon. Now lack of intelligence in itself is hardly a cause for
    extinction. I have to believe that Neanderthal was likely a little smarter than chimps, which are still around.
    A species doesn't die because it lacks smarts. But Klein prods on directly to the conclusion that this
    deficiency had to have a detrimental effect on his chances for survival. He glosses over the central part
    of his presentation which is allegedly about how the Neanderthals vanished. I went to the meeting to
    hear about extinction, not about bones! Klein does not explain step by step, chronologically,
    mechanically, or otherwise, what happened to Neanderthal. You have to fill in the blanks yourself. You
    have to film your own movie, propose your own theory. Maybe resourceful Man had 15 children on the
    average whereas Neanderthal only had 10. Or maybe modern humans hunted down all the available
    game and left the poor Neanderthals to starve to death. You can come up with any theory because Klein
    doesn't. It is difficult to challenge a theory when the proponent refuses to provide one.

    Nevertheless, his logic fails me. For instance, can you tell me whether a lion has more or less cognitive
    abilities than a jackal? Can Klein predict whether lions or jackals will disappear first? What if Man
    becomes extinct and the roaches survive? Should the ET that visits Earth after our demise conclude
    that roaches outlived Man because they had cognitive superiority?


    2.0   Unfit to live

    Variations on Klein's theme include that modern man had a demographic advantage over Neanderthal
    because the latter did not discover the advantages of division of labor between males and females. [3] [4]
    Others suggest that we drove the Neanderthals to extinction because they had shorter limbs and thus
    required more energy to move around. [5] Finlayson first invokes climate to justify that the plains
    replaced the forests. Faced with a new landscape, Neanderthal, the body builder, could not compete
    against Cro-Magnon, the long distance runner. [6] [7] In his movie, environmental change happens so
    fast that it catches Neanderthal off guard and doesn't give him time to evolve.

    So now, how did H. heidelbergensis become extinct? Was there no division of labor between Heidelberg
    men and women? Was Neanderthal so much faster or stronger than Heidelberg that it drove the latter to
    extinction? How about H. ergaster and A. africanus , two earlier ancestors? What tactical or strategic
    technological or evolutionary shortcomings did they suffer from? Why are the chimps and the gorillas
    and the monkeys still around? In what ways did baboons and gibbons have evolutionary and
    technological advantages over ergaster or africanus?

    The paleontologists do a great job in analyzing bones, and I sincerely admire their dedication. It is their
    ridiculous conclusions that lead me to question their understanding of the basics of their field. Again,
    editors have no qualms about publishing such idiotic syntheses. Then they claim to have no space for
    real science.


    3.0   Cornering the rock market

    But if Klein comes up short on science and logic, he is unfit to tie Horan's shoes when it comes to
    brainstorming frivolous mechanisms. Horan suggests that savvier Cro-Magnon businessmen outwitted
    the dumb brutes (perhaps during a bullish obsidian blade market rally, I suppose). [8] [9]  

    Horan's amusing notion that trade played a role in Neanderthal society is so ludicrous that I had to take
    a 5 minute break to recover my composure. Commerce is not a particularly distinguishing feature of
    hunter-gatherer societies. There is no division of labor except perhaps between men and women.
    Hunter-gatherers take pride in making their own tools and weapons and passing these skills off to the
    next generation. It gives them something to do when they’re not starving. The next thing you’ll read in
    the specialized journals is that the 'businessmen' found sleeping at the Krapina 'Stock Market' were
    rubbed out by the Neanderthal SEC for cornering the flintstone market (Fig. 1). It is suspicious that
    journal editors have no space for scientific articles, yet they have enough room to publish such rubbish.
R. Klein, Whither the Neanderthals?  Science 299, 5612 (2003)1525–1527
Adapted for the Internet from:

Why God Doesn't Exist
Education is not
what it used to be
I think that
yesterday's run on
the quarry is going
to push the
economy into a
prolonged Woolly
Market!
The Krapola Rock Market
Black Monday, 30,000 B.C.
Fig. 1
My wife and two
saber-tooth
skins for your
obsidian
hammer!
The clans are
finally caving in...
mental retards!
We will soon drive
them to extinction!


    ________________________________________________________________________________________


                                  Home                    Books                    Glossary            




        Copyright © by Nila Gaede 2008