Darwinism

Recently the Commander’s ideas were termed “Darwinian” by certain members of the group. While I am completely at ease with the label, it does bring to mind an interesting idea.

As you know, the people usually referred to as "Neanderthals," but preferably termed "Ancients," disappeared completely from the historical record, replaced by what we have called "Cro-Magnon," or more properly "Moderns." Although some theorize that this was an evolutionary move, the fossil record disputes the claim.

There was nobody around to tell us how this happened, but I have a theory. I think that the Moderns wiped out the Ancients by the use of the bow. The Ancients were stronger and heavier (and smelled worse, if you can believe the Sasquatch stories), but they fought and hunted at arm's length. The Moderns seemed to have developed the bow, and though the two races lived contemporaneously for a while, there is no way a rock thrower can stand up to an archer.

This is just a notion, of course. But it does support the Commander’s larger dictum that personal weapons did indeed pull mankind out of the mud and enabled civilization by “balancing the scales” – long before Sam Colt “equalized”.

(with apologies to teh Guru)