never thought about it that way. maybe thats why im science minded and not philosophy minded. now if we could only combine the 2......

well about 60-120,000 years ago is when our make up really made a difference. the neanderthals had a much heavier skelton with thicker legs and much more insulation around their bodies. but once the ice age started to come and the forests cleared out they had to hunt in open fields. and obviously, some big, ungraceful man is not going to hunt very easily in an open field. thats where we, modern humans, came in to play. we have much lighter skeletons and are much more graceful than previous humans. that gave us an advantage over them. we could run faster and hide easier than them. but at the same time, that agility took away from our natural defenses.

so maybe youre right. we gave up some natural defenses for intelligence. good thing those several thousand years was long enough for us to develop mentally the way we did. if we wouldnt have developed our intellect as we have it now we wouldnt have survived.

good topic.