Chapter Content
Okay, so, I gotta tell you, things are getting better, like, all the time. Seriously! It's kind of amazing when you think about it. Humans are just, well, better at *everything*.
Take running, for instance. People have been trying to run fast for ages, right? Like, to warn about armies or deliver messages, all that stuff. And, you know, they had races. We don't really know how fast people ran back then, but, like, even recently, you know, it was tough to get precise timing. But look at modern runners! It's wild how much faster they are.
Think about the Olympics. Back in the day, somebody won the 100-meter sprint in like, 10.6 seconds. Now, the world record? It's like, 9.58 seconds! I mean, come on! That's a huge difference. And it's not just the speed, it's how accurately we can measure it now, too.
And the marathon! So, the original marathon story, you know, the whole running from Marathon to Athens thing, it's probably, like, made up. But it inspired the modern Olympics. The first Olympic marathon was won in, like, almost three hours. And now? People are running it in under two hours! Crazy! Even regular runners in the New York marathon are clocking times that would have won gold way back then.
The thing is, these athletes have, like, coaches, diet plans, all that stuff. Someone back then trained to win, but couldn't even run the race themselves, you know? And the winner was fast but didn't understand all the science. But put them together, bam! Powerful! It's the power of combined knowledge and abilities that makes us so good at, like, everything, including, you know, being rich!
It's not just about sports, though. Think about talented people, like, a footballer or a mathematician. They become really good through practice and learning. But that depends on the environment around them. A football club can help someone become a star, but, you know, a bad environment can lead someone down the wrong path.
And even the biggest stars need help! A really famous soccer player, he didn't get there alone. He needed teammates, coaches, the whole system. And actors need directors, other actors, stagehands, everything! You know? Nobody does anything completely on their own.
I heard about this mathematician who was a clerk. He was super talented, but nobody knew until someone recognized his genius and got him to Cambridge. But he struggled there, wasn't happy, and eventually, he went back home. Talent is important, but it needs the right environment.
Think about runners. They're getting faster because the pool of athletes is wider now. It used to be mostly white guys from Britain or the US. Now, you've got champions from all over the world! Inclusivity, sports science, better diets, training... that's what's making the difference.
And it's not just sports. Even something as simple as an apple has gotten better! The original apple, like, from the Garden of Eden? Probably wasn't that great. But now? We've got amazing apples thanks to cross-breeding and global trade.
We run faster, we eat better apples, because we've built up collective knowledge. It's not just about technology, either. It's about our ability to learn from each other, to combine different skills and ideas.
Basically, humans are good at learning from each other and working together. I heard that you never see two chimpanzees carrying a log together. We can build airplanes, we can build iPhones. It’s all thanks to our collective intelligence.
That's why, you know, we have faster running times, better apples, and just overall better lives. And that's why we're, like, so much richer than ever before, especially in certain parts of the world. That said there was this one study about intelligence, and people used to get smarter as time went on, but then it stopped in the 70s. So, yeah. Interesting.