Checkmate

I have great respect for archeologists. Trying to decipher how a people lived thousands or millions of years ago based on a few bone fragments and pottery shards is some seriously cool stuff.

Why did the physically superior Neanderthal succumb to Homo Habilus?

Pattern recognition…

Archeologists determined that 25 year old Homo Habilus had less wear-n-tear on their muscles, bones and tendons than Neanderthals did.

Hmmmm………….

Using pure logic, Neanderthals must have spent more energy hunting and gathering than Habilus did. Same result, same food allotment, just more energy expended to reach that goal of feeding the community.

What archeologists determined was that Habilus was able to predict future events that the Neanderthal could not.

Habilus and Neanderthal happen upon a herd of bison feeding on grass. Good BBQ follows and all is good. When the BBQ runs out, the Neanderthal returns to where the bison last were and pursues them. The Homo Habilus make a bee-line to where the bison should be based on their habit of eating the available grass and moving on to uneaten fields. Basic geometry lesson inserted here.

Habilus could predict future scenarios. Neanderthals could not.

That is why they died out.

Physical superiority can be a valuable factor; but it will never win against applied logic, backed up by the best self defense tool ever devised.

Whether you are confronting prey on the open plains or engaging an opponent in a political battle, logic and critical thinking will win out against doing the only thing you know…even harder, if that castle is built upon a foundation of sand.

Looking at history, those who fight for any expanded freedom never enjoy quick victories. But, the victories we eventually secure, are so much sweeter for the simple fact that those who opposed us just lost a chess piece.

I hate to describe our struggle as a game, but as our pieces advance and their pieces fall, an alternative analogy currently escapes me.