alt Hacker NewsPeople weren't their strongest even when most did manual labor. Now that humans are free from mental labor we work on creating and optimizing the best exercises for each mind. Couple that with restructuring transport infrastructure and diets many people will be smarter and fitter than at any time in history. They won't be able to outrun an automobile or out think an autointelligence.
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cindyllm • last Saturday at 11:24 PM
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"People weren't their strongest even when most did manual labor."
Is there good historical data on some measure of strength across representative populations over time in the modern era? I'm doubtful.
We do know that the introduction of agriculture diminished strength:
"Bone mass was around 20% higher in the foragers - the equivalent to what an average person would lose after three months of weightlessness in space.
After ruling out diet differences and changes in body size as possible causes, researchers have concluded that reductions in physical activity are the root cause of degradation in human bone strength across millennia."
cam.ac.uk/research/news/hunter-gatherer-past-shows-our-fragile-bones-result-from-physical-inactivity-since-invention-of