By Bernie Bell

One of the many bees in my bonnet is…that I like what I understand to be the attitude of the folk of the Neolithic, and often say it’s been downhill all the way since – let’s say the Bronze Age.  Yes, I do like Brochs, but that liking is an exception to my tendency to prefer the Pre-Bronze Age folk, who I perceive as looking to the skies and raising communal monuments, to the Iron Age tendency to look into the earth, and into themselves. I won’t go on about that here, as I’ve mentioned this as my way of seeing, before….. https://theorkneynews.scot/2021/05/26/a-journey-into-the-underworld/

I’ve also wittered about the benefits of working together, as individuals, before now……  https://theorkneynews.scot/2019/01/12/thoughts-on-being-an-independent-part-of-a-collective/

And then, and then, I read this…..

https://phys.org/news/2021-10-human-brains-decrease-size-years.html

Hmmm. Food for thought.  And I am reminded of Kurt Vonnegut’s novel ‘Galápagos’, the ’blurb’ for which says…..

“Darwin was inspired by the creature of the Galápagos – but over the next million years……the human survivors of ’The Nature Cruise of the Century’ are quietly evolving there into sleek, furry creatures with flippers – and small brains. All other forms of humankind have ceased to exist, finally made redundant by their own prized big brains.”

Where are we going? Deeper into the Anthropocene,? https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/what-is-the-anthropocene.html

Wherever our big brains lead us? 

But – if our brains are getting smaller – is there hope for us, in a different form?  Do we have time?

Some female African elephants are evolving to not have tusks. No tusks – no poaching for ivory. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/wildlife-watch-news-tuskless-elephants-behavior-change

Evolution.