by Brian Chandler

Created on: October 28, 2010   Last Updated: October 29, 2010

All things being relative, the answer shall be No.  It is through the beauty of Homo Sapien arrogance that we would love to believe that we are smarter than our ancestors.  History proves that it is the natural act of man to develop and pursue discovery in an ongoing fashion. Therefore, it would be wise to see that we hold an even race and we are equally as smart as our ancestors and no more.  The advantage appears to favor modern man because of the foundation he has been able to vault from thanks to his great, great, great Grandpappys.  

Unfortunately, the clouding of this issue is masked by the fact that a great deal of knowledge held by our ancestors has been wiped away - nearly erased or lost if you will.   As more ancient texts are discovered and improved interpretations unfold, we find that our ancestors were quite advanced in technology as well as in astronomy and ingenuity.  Case in point; the precision and master engineering of the great pyramid built with blocks so large and heavy, it most likely could not be duplicated today even with our modern day equipment.  The Mayan Civilization whose central belief system was based upon the sun and the stars spoke of planets that we didn't know existed until the 1960s and used math calculations involving universal cycles that we are just beginning to understand.   Does this make them smarter? Not necessarily, but they somehow stumbled upon a significant amount of knowledge somewhere during their time.  

There is no question in the fact that we have indeed grown in our pursuit.  One of the highlights of this current generation is the unprecedented acceleration in todays electronic technology field.  This science is so rapidly developing and improving that consumers are constantly amazed on a monthly basis.  

It is the advancements in technology that have made our World today extremely complex in comparison to our ancestors. This is a conscious choice. And even though we have achieved great breakthroughs in some areas we find that we are still very capable of making questionable decisions (not-so-smart) based on a very narrow focus not that far off from a Neanderthal Man.  It will be greed that will keep us from becoming smarter than our ancestors.  If we were smarter, I believe that we could have seen the American housing bubble crisis heading toward us like a freight train with the practical use of basic common sense.  With all of our distractions and sometimes lack of focus it is amazing that we accomplish all that we do. Many Third World countries have learned a great deal from their ancestors and continue to hold fast to their teachings and way of life.  The argument being that too many of us civilized people are so busy with whatever it is that we think we are supposed to be doing, to realize we are not getting anywhere of any importance.  

In the tradition of mankind, he will continue to stumble forward putting one foot in front of the other and take great pride in his successes all to often forgetting to thank his ancestors who helped him along the way.

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