[6SJ7]

Forty years ago, scientists thought dinosaurs were slow, stupid, cold-blooded and lived in swamps. Now they think they were smart, fast, and had sophisticated hunting skills. Next they'll be telling us that dinosaurs had a vocabulary of over 1,000 words and could drive cars, if cars existed in the Jurassic period.

[beancounter13]

Oh, but they did drive cars! Of course, the fuel they used in those cars contributed to "global cooling", and they could not adapt to the resulting climate change. /s

[UCANSEE2]

Well, at least those scientists admit past mistakes and get on with it.

It is a side effect of our conscious, and our early training, that we think we are the smartest and most intelligent creature on Earth.

Now we are starting to see that predatory dinosaurs were smart, fast, skilled at hunting. Most predators must be smart, fast, and skilled at hunting or they go extinct.

Sure, we are clever and good at making tools.

But to believe any other life form is not intelligent, or not as 'smart' as a human, is a mistake that can be fatal.

One of the smallest life forms (and therefore possesing the 'smallest brain') appears to be more intelligent than humans, and is always ahead of the game in the battle between us and them.

It is the virus.

[RobRoy]

>>Forty years ago, scientists thought dinosaurs were slow, stupid, cold-blooded and lived in swamps. Now they think they were smart, fast, and had sophisticated hunting skills. Next they'll be telling us that dinosaurs had a vocabulary of over 1,000 words and could drive cars, if cars existed in the Jurassic period.<<

Actually, it seems to be going full circle. Some are saying that there is no way a Brontosaurus could have pulled his head off the ground. It's one of those things applied to flying animals too. Apparently somewhere around 35 lbs is the maximum weight that a living thing can fly of it's own weight. After that, every extra pound of muscle and bone adds less than a pound of lift. It is what is causing many evolutionists to come up with rather, um, "imaginative" theories on how Pterodactyls "flew".

[drhogan]

the cars have all rusted by now, but the excellent vision of the t-rex probably evolved because it was needed for driving.
(the dinsaurs with bad vision were unable to get drivers licenses, so they couldn't get dates, didn't reproduce, and they all died out.)

[grey_whiskers]

Forty years ago, scientists thought dinosaurs were slow, stupid, cold-blooded and lived in swamps. Now they think they were smart, fast, and had sophisticated hunting skills. Next they'll be telling us that dinosaurs had a vocabulary of over 1,000 words and could drive cars, if cars existed in the Jurassic period.

You really need to find a used copy (now out of print, you see) of Science Made Stupid. Hilarious satire, Hugo award winner for sci-fi, and it includes just this point.

The picture of a T-rex smoking a pipe as it contemplates a chessboard is itself worth the price of the book.

Cheers!