18 thoughts on “Are Neanderthals Prepared For Modern Life?”

    1. I am just a cave man, who fell into a crevase and was frozen and later brought back to life by your scientists. Your world, frightens and confuses me.

    2. Isaac Asimov wrote a moving story called “The Ugly Little Boy” about a time machine that brought a Neanderthal toddler into the modern day. It centers around the relationship between the boy and the woman who became his nurse and surrogate mother. Asimov wasn’t exactly known as an author who could conjure raw emotion, but he certainly did with this one.

  2. Ethics aside, she could probably teach us how to survive global warming.

    If she didn’t get too pissed off at the Geico commercials.

  3. Actually Gregg, there’s a bad sci-fi movie in there. The Brits made it about 40 yrs ago and I think Joan Collins was in it.

    1. Kevin – well with Joan Collins in it – how bad could it be?

      And now that I think of it, it’s essentially Jurassic Park only with Neanderthals. Though, in Jurassic Park, I noticed no one expressing deep concern to the Veloci-raptors that they might feel out of place…. Would we call the movie: “It’s So Easy….”?

      I do think Curt has a point about the Geico commercials and so I think that government at the highest levels should get set up to pay for lots of psychotherapy – the Neanderthal is going to need a lot of healing….

      1. I know the above is partly in jest, but the reality is that the minimal ethical treatment of such a person will of course be full enriched institutionalization and study for her entire life — a whole new field of post-doc work would open up. It’s not like she could be emancipated and given a bus ticket to the city. You’re literally talking about the Science Project of the Century.

        1. Not disagreeing, but there will be argument about that. There will be people saying exactly that….that she is human and should be as free as the rest of us.

          1. A couple things to consider:

            a) Freedom to roam society entails responsibility. You must respect the natural rights of others while fending for yourself. Failing either one makes this person someone’s ward again. The same rule that applies to us homo sapiens.

            b) This person would require protection 24/7 a la Secret Service.

            Remember, whosoever makes such a person has a positive duty going forward to support all this for a natural lifespan. I’d go so far as to say that it would be unethical to do so absent an independent (private) conservancy with sufficient financial endowment.

  4. The only problem with cloning is that people are idiots. We clone all the time. They’re called twins. I would love to meet a neanderthal. I suspect I already have on occasion.

    Titus has it right.

  5. ” It is an interesting question as to whether cloning one would be ethical, though.”

    Ethical or not, it might be our only hope of getting a decent Republican presidential candidate…

      1. (On second thought, maybe don’t bother with those youtube clips – out of context, it is all just a lot of grunting.)

  7. I’m sure we would do our best to give them an education, and you know any Neanderthal would get a full athletic scholarship to play football in the SEC and would be a first round draft pick for the NFL.

  8. We probably can’t clone a Neanderthal. The less we view Neanderthals as humans with calluses from gripping flint choppers, the less likely it is that we have the proper uterine environment for the fetus.

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