Ancient Greeks smarter than us

28 Feb 2013, 8:22

Picture Socrates. Sitting in the agora draped in his white cloth, philosophising with friends – and young men – feasting on home-made bread drizzled in olive oil whilst sipping red luscious wine… genius. Now, picture the same man today with the same brain. Socrates, sitting in Bourke Street Mall, wearing skinny black jeans, a t-shirt, Ray-Bans wrapped around his eyes, checking Facebook on his iPhone, surrounded by friends – and young men – checking Facebook on their iPhones, eating a burger and sipping on an icy cold can of coke… moron.

If an Ancient Greek were to time travel to the world today, they would be smarter than all of us, and modern life is all to blame. New research has suggested that Ancient Greeks would be much smarter than us because humans are getting more stupid. Dr Gerald Crabtree, a leading geneticist from Stanford University in the United States, says unavoidable changes in our genetic makeup, combined with advances in technology have caused us to become a mutation of our former human selves and a lot less brighter than our ancestors.

Modern life has created new demands on our bodies and minds, but it’s technology that is most to blame for replacing our need to reply on our natural abilities and instincts. And our diet, filled with over processed foods is harming us too. In the paper published in the journal Trends in Genetics, Dr Crabtree said that the only time nowadays humans were at their peak was when exposed to nature’s “fight or flight mechanism”. Under those conditions humans were forced to rely on memory, clear thinking and emotional stability that allowed us to trust our instincts and adapt to situations quickly.

See more:Neoskosmos.com