Stalin didn’t want ape-men after all
There was a piece in the Scotman last year about Stalin’s experiments with creating an ape-man hybrid for use as an ultimate warrior. A History Channel piece last night cast doubt on that assertion, and apparently Stalin had no use or desire for such experiments.
The show claimed Dr. Ilya Ivanov really did attempt creating the hybrid, but without specific direction from the government. Stalin did give Ivanov a scientific grant, but he gave out a lot of cash to anyone who was trying to advance science, so the money didn’t imply Stalin’s personal interest in that particular project. Ivanov’s main motivation was to curb the influence of the strong Russian church, from which he was afraid of persecution.
A small amusing portion towards the end involved a scientist questioning whether humans were indeed the most intelligent species on the planet. He said something to the effect of “I may be able to do calculus and play the piano, things that we’d associate with intelligence, but how useful would they be in the jungle?”, and so forth.
Look, in the last 10,000 years, humans have developed stuff like writing, agriculture, the crossbow, the Theory of Relativity and have walked on the moon. The extent of our closest competitors’ technology is using pointy sticks as weapons. Chimps and gibbons may be smart, but they’re not THAT smart.
Basically the scientist is saying that the only Intelligence that really matters is survival. Well, if your intelligence can allow you to destory the planet with nuclear waste and then leave the chains of gravity imposed upon you, then i’d say humanity is rather intelligent and clearly capable of surviving.
Comment by Allen | 3 January 2008
Humans are the smartest invasive weeds growing on this earth. Think about it… we are even in the remote, almost unhabitable Antarctica continent.
Take that Cornelius!
Comment by Blunderprone | 3 January 2008
@Allen: LOL. I’ll be kind and say the scientist was over-thinking the question. The conditions under which chimps survive better than humans due to better thinking skills are very few (if any). Their physical strength and abilities do give them certain advantages.
@Blunderprone: Well said! And I’m itching to watch Planet of the Apes again.
Comment by Donnie | 4 January 2008
People tend to get Darwin wrong.
Survival of the Fittest doesn’t mean Survival of the most physically strong. It actually means fittest in the breeding sense. If there are were only two male lions in an area, one might assume that it’s the big and strong lion that is the most fit. However, if the big and strong one in all his bravery finally gets killed by a pissed off giraffe who some how gave a lucky kick, then bam; The other lion could have been a lazy sloth but now he has all the women and will therefore be the only one breeding. Scary.
Comment by Allen | 4 January 2008
Programmers are descendants from the lazy lion.
Comment by Donnie | 4 January 2008