A Short History Of Progress

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Ronald Wright. A Short History Of Progress

The Massey Lectures Series

A SHORT HISTORY. OF PROGRESS

Contents

GAUGUIN’S QUESTIONS

Notes - I: Gauguin’s Questions

THE GREAT EXPERIMENT

Notes - II: The Great Experiment

FOOLS’ PARADISE

Notes - III: Fools’ Paradise

PYRAMID SCHEMES

Notes - IV: Pyramid Schemes

THE REBELLION OF THE TOOLS

Notes - IV: The Rebellion of the Tools

NOTES. I: Gauguin’s Questions

II: The Great Experiment

III: Fools’ Paradise

IV: Pyramid Schemes

V: The Rebellion of the Tools

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

Acknowledgments

ALSO BY RONALD WRIGHT

About the Author. Ronald Wright

Copyright

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The Massey Lectures are co-sponsored by cbc Radio, House of Anansi Press, and Massey College in the University of Toronto. The series was created in honour of the Right Honourable Vincent Massey, former governor general of Canada, and was inaugurated in 1961 to enable distinguished authorities to communicate the results of original study on subjects of contemporary interest.

This book comprises the 2004 Massey Lectures, “A Short History of Progress,” broadcast in November 2004 as part of CBC Radio’s Ideas series. The producer of the series was Philip Coulter; the executive producer was Bernie Lucht.

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As such analogies suggest, the variation between Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon skeletons does not fall far outside the range of modern humans. Put side by side, the bony remains of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Woody Allen might exhibit a similar contrast. The skull, however, is another matter. The so-called classic Neanderthal (which is a rather misleading term because it is self-fulfilling, based on the more pronounced examples) had a long, low skull with strong brow ridges in front and a bony ledge across the nape of the neck, the Neanderthal “bun” or “chignon.” The jaw was robust, with strong teeth and a rounded chin; the nose was broad and presumably squat. At first glance the design looks archaic, much the same architecture as that of Homo erectus. But — as noted — the Neanderthal brain was bigger on average than the Cro-Magnon. Coon’s subway rider had a thick skull but not necessarily a thick head.

What this adds up to, I think, is that the supposedly archaic characteristics of the Neanderthal were in fact an overlay of cold-climate adaptations on an essentially modern human frame.33 The high foreheads of modern people can get so chilled that the brain is damaged, and icy air can freeze the lungs. The Neanderthal brain was sheltered by the massive brows and the low, yet roomy, vault. Air entering Neanderthal lungs was warmed by the broad nose, and the whole face had a better blood supply. Thickset, brawny people do not lose body heat as quickly as slender people. Signs of similar adaptation (in body shape, at least) can be seen among modern Inuit, Andeans, and Himalayans — and this after only a few thousand years of living with intense cold, beside the 100,000 during which Europe’s Neanderthals made their living on the front lines of the Ice Age.

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