this post was submitted on 13 Mar 2025
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Political Memes

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[–] courageousstep@lemm.ee 152 points 1 day ago (3 children)

I was initially really confused by this meme because Neanderthals were actually creative and rather culturally rich, unlike this administration.

[–] jaybone@lemmy.world 22 points 20 hours ago (5 children)

Neanderthals were a lot like homosapiens (in fact they could breed, and they did) They could paint cave walls. They had culture and social structures. They were destroyed by violent invaders.

[–] match@pawb.social 10 points 10 hours ago

the level of neanderthal ancestry in modern humans suggests they were destroyed by horny invaders

[–] tischbier@feddit.org 3 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

My family has a high percentage of genetic Neanderthal ancestry. I think about my Neanderthal ancestors in passing.

I do hold a bit of grief that I will never know them, or our Neanderthal culture, or what happened. I will never know or understand their funeral rights. And I will never be able to honor them in a way they would appreciate.

Neanderthals only became extinct from earth a mere 40,000 years ago. But there’s new science that just dropped this week that our hybrid offspring existed and lived alongside Homosapien for much longer:

The dating of the Lapedo Child thus expands the debate on the extent and duration of human-Neanderthal interactions. Genetic evidence suggests interbreeding began at least 49,000 years ago and continued for roughly 7,000 years. However, if the Lapedo Child, a hybrid individual, lived around 28,000 years ago, then questions arise as to whether genetic exchanges lasted longer than previously thought or whether hybrid traits appeared in later generations. March 7, 2025 Archeology Mag

Some of us from the East have Denisovian genetics. They became extinct only 25,000 years ago, I believe.

Compared to all of humanoid existence— being alone as the sole humanoid species is the anomaly.

All of time and history up until modern history Homo Sapiens shared our earth. But as far as I understand, we have no modern cultural memory or history of our interactions. Only through our modern science and forensics do we attempt to piece together our real humanoid history.

Now we look to the stars and ask why are we all alone on this planet?

And I can’t help but conclude the same as you: We are alone because at some point…we decided to be the only humanoids.

[–] NotLemming@lemm.ee 3 points 3 hours ago

I wonder if they exist in myth and legend, for example the Irish Fir Bolg or bag men.

[–] courageousstep@lemm.ee 4 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

They were destroyed by violent invaders.

Sounds like the story of how the US was founded, tbh.

[–] jaybone@lemmy.world 4 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

It’s how every country was founded.

[–] Cgers@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 10 hours ago
[–] TwanHE@lemmy.world 1 points 9 hours ago

From what i read the replacement didn't even have to be particularly violent, there were just not that many of them to begin with in comparison to homosapiens.

[–] AbsoluteChicagoDog@lemm.ee 1 points 10 hours ago (1 children)
[–] stopdropandprole@lemmy.world 3 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

I think they meant to say interbreed, ie, sapiens and neanders fucked each other. vast majority of humans living today have neanderthal DNA in them.

[–] NotLemming@lemm.ee 1 points 3 hours ago

I seem to remember reading that because of the type of DNA exchanged, the DNA exchange came almost exclusively from homo sapien males fucking neanderthal females. So probably our species' men were often rapey back then too.

[–] miss_demeanour@lemmy.dbzer0.com 30 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] toy_boat_toy_boat@lemmy.world 29 points 1 day ago (3 children)

i think you've got to consider the audience. roughly 1 in 5 americans are ILLITERATE. about 1 in 2 americans read at a 6th grade level. it's easier to manipulate these people than a bunch of preschool kids.

[–] tischbier@feddit.org 3 points 9 hours ago

This makes me feel simultaneously very good and very very bad.

[–] miss_demeanour@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] 5714@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

~~IED~~ QED

~~Improvised~~ Quirky Education Disclaimer

[–] brbposting@sh.itjust.works 6 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

3/4 of a Northern California public radio affiliate (~~K~~QED)

And of course

[–] Damage@feddit.it 1 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

TIL you guys don't use your own language for this

[–] brbposting@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)
[–] NotLemming@lemm.ee 2 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Illiterate as in, they can't read or write at all? I mean, how?

[–] Cgers@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 9 hours ago

I gotchu these stats come from the 2012 & 2014 PIAAC, or Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (only done every 10 years so this is the latest data available but the next cycle/data set is coming soon)

18% are below level one, defined as;

The tasks at this level require the respondent to read brief texts on familiar topics to locate a single piece of specific information. There is seldom any competing information in the text, and the requested information is identical in form to information in the question or directive. The respondent may be required to locate information in short continuous texts; however, in this case, the information can be located as if the text were noncontinuous in format. Only basic vocabulary knowledge is required, and the reader is not required to understand the structure of sentences or paragraphs or make use of other text features. Tasks below Level 1 do not make use of any features specific to digital texts.

With 4% of those being actually entirely illiterate

Breakdown

Actual methodology and whatnot

[–] match@pawb.social 3 points 10 hours ago

the usa withdrew from the UN's literacy program and data collection decades ago amidst continuous cuts ti public education. many kids in my state only have classes 4 days a week

[–] Quill7513@slrpnk.net 18 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

our schools have become child warehouses thanks to Bush's dedication to standardized testing, Obama's dedication to fixing the standardized testing problem not by saying "this didn't work" but instead focusing on getting more kids into charter schools, Trump's dedication to just simply ruining the whole thing by defunding and deregulating, and then Biden's inability to address any of the things that really mattered, instead focusing on traditional economic indicators.

[–] Delta_V@lemmy.world 3 points 4 hours ago

the standardized testing was a response to red state teachers preaching alternative facts instead of giving their students real education

[–] Hawke@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I still am. This comic (I don’t think it’s a “meme”) makes no sense.

[–] miss_demeanour@lemmy.dbzer0.com 22 points 1 day ago (2 children)

He's being told to stop inventing the wheel.

[–] ksigley@lemm.ee 8 points 1 day ago

Your username is great.

[–] Hawke@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I get that but what do Neanderthals have to do with it?

[–] courageousstep@lemm.ee 36 points 1 day ago (1 children)

They’re comparing the current administration, which is canceling all research and progress such as the invention of the wheel (or other scientific development), to the Neanderthals, who are in pop culture stupid and backward people.

But it falls flat because Neanderthals were smarter than Trump and Elon combined.

[–] DoubleSpace@lemm.ee 4 points 19 hours ago

Homo neanderthalensis probably had a slightly larger brain too.