Tuesday 8 July 2003

Pic of the day: If the Neanderthals had ruled the world instead of us, all of it would have been as beautiful and unspoiled as Norway. Right? We all know Neanderthals were the good guys.

Hominids & humans

I read a quite interesting speculation a short while ago. What if Neanderthals, and indeed our common ancestors, had 24 pairs of chromosomes? Our "cousins" the chimpanzees and bonobos both do, so it is not unreasonable that our common ancestor could have 24. Why should the change happen just as soon as our line separated from the bonobos (who are supposedly slightly closer related to us than the common chimpanzee)? Yes, it seems reasonable that there was a genetic change when we started to walk upright. But the fusing of two chromosomes seems more likely to cause a loss of genetic information rather than an addition or even a sideways drift.

This speculation goes that indeed a bit of information was lost: The recipe on how to grow up. Like other apes, Neanderthals grew up to get smaller faces, pronounced brow-ridges, and a stronger skeletal musculature. Modern humans have none of these. Our adult face is very much like the baby face of an ape, or of a human baby of course, and presumably also of a baby Neanderthal. And while we do grow stronger as we grow up, we don't grow dramatically stronger, the way apes do ... or the way Neanderthals did, judging from their skeletons.

You may think I have come across this hypothesis in one of my favorite scientific magazines, like Scientific American or New Scientist. But no. It comes from a novel I have been reading. In fact, two novels I have been reading. Hominids is the first book of a trilogy, the Neanderthal Parallax, by Robert J Sawyer. The second book is called Humans, thus my somewhat misleading title for today's entry. (You thought I had accidentally got the color wrong, didn't you?)

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I am not going to delve into hominid history today (sorry to the students who came here). I am not even going to refute the various theories in the books. I will however recommend the books, which are extremely well written. Sawyer is both a mainstream writer of some local fame (in Canada) and a science-fiction writer of some fame in the milieu. He has produced two (presumably three) books that are very close to mainstream in their depiction of contemporary society, and decent science fiction in their description of a parallel universe where Neanderthals rule. The continuing interaction between the two worlds makes it possible to view our own society in a new light. This is, in my opinion, the strength of science fiction: To give a place to stand outside our world, so as to shift it.

I first noticed Hominids for a less flattering reason: The insanely high price. I don't remember if it was $40 or $30, that's really the same thing to me: I would not buy a book at that price unless it was written by Jesus Christ himself. (I guess it bears mention that I almost exclusively buy e-books these last few years, and the printing and distribution costs of these are very close to zero.) The asking price for the book is still around $25, but with discount and rebate it's down to nearly the half. It is still pricey for its genre. On the other hand, the books are good. I could not have done it better myself ...

Of course, I would not have written a sexually explicit scene in book 2. People's sexual tastes do vary, and I firmly believe in being vague about the details. Not that I would have enough experience to actually describe sexual intercourse if I tried ... it was pretty confusing back when I was young and naive enough that you could get me into your bed. And in the 25 years that's passed since, I haven't even watched any of the instructional videos available these days. I do however keep an erotic magazine in my bedroom. If I get assailed by unwanted sexual lust, I dig out the magazine and read some of the readers' erotic stories. Reading what (magazine-buying) humans consider erotic really drives home the distance between us, and makes me cool down pretty fast.

Anyway, Sawyer's Neanderthals are superhuman not only in bed. They are simply better in all things they do. They are more intelligent, stronger, faster, gentler, wiser and of course ecological saints. Their only real flaw is that they lack our childlike curiosity. They have never explored space or the ocean floor, never climbed the highest mountains or made theories about why the universe exists. The universe has always existed and will always exist, that's enough for them. Because they are so smart, they can whip up new inventions when needed, even though they don't do basic research. Yeah, right. Perhaps it's Neanderthals deciding grants to our universities. That would explain a lot, I guess.

Oh, and all Neanderthals are bisexual. The entire society is on the rhythm method of family planning: The men live apart from women and children except for 4 days a month. Since all Neanderthal women menstruate at the same time, it is easy to only let the men into the town center when there is no chance of a conception. Except every 10 years, then the men are let in during estrus so that a new generation can be born. (Actually I had read before I bought these books that some scientists claim Neanderthal men lived apart from their families. There seem to be some archaeological evidence of this.) Sawyer has a good idea about how they cope with living apart: Both men and women have a same-sex mate too, who they live with for 25 days a month, including physical intimacy. Needless to say, there are no deviants who upsets this fine system with personal preferences.

It may sound like I don't have a very high opinion of Sawyer's science. Actually, it seems pretty well researched, almost too well researched compared to what he has made out of it. The strength of the books are in the way they show our own society in a different light. The Neanderthals aren't simply aliens. They are close enough to understand the way we think, but different enough to not be trapped by our preconceived notions about how things should be. This perspective makes the books a very refreshing read, both serious and humorous. Recommended for those with a deep enough purse.

I got my free sample (and later the actual books) from Fictionwise.com. I am not sure if the 10% recommendation rebate can be added to the existing discounts and rebates, but I'd be happy to try. In that case, mail me. If you're a friend and want Hominids as a gift, mail me. But be sure to pick up the free extended excerpt first while it is still free. Oh, and Sawyer has an online diary - although it is naturally not updated as frequently as mine. The guy is reading Edgar Rice Burroughs, btw, so he's got to be good! ^_^

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I seem to be doing quite a few entries that are mainly reviews, either of books or comics or (mostly) anime. Do you think I should have a separate color code for reviews so you can pick them out from ordinary ramblings? Mail me.