Intelligence is a weaker selection trait in the wild then, say, strength, stamina, endurance and mate attraction.

It only becomes worthwhile once you have a stable society and can then pursue such "luxuries" and, even then, it appears to take thousands of years to become critical to society in general and, even now, it's still not considered a "desirable" trait for mate attraction...

I think it's more likely that the antibiotic resistance microbes found their way in from the ecosystem polluted by the even distant civilization rather than "developed" spontaneously on their own (though that's obviously possible)

If we're to believe that climate change is a worldwide phenomenon caused by concentrated/isolated pollution sources it's not that farfetched to believe there's a similar mechanism for antibiotic resistant bacteria developed in a "civilized" area to find its way to uncivilized areas (animals, insects, water sources, etc)

(See? I used per se, so I'm... oh never mind...)

Intelligence and being highly observant are great skills both in society and from an evolutionary/survivalist standpoint.

But in a society I've found it brings up two downsides:

Guilt, because your intelligence allows you to avoid pain or achieve a higher level of comfort in society. You weren't "superman" you just made rational choices based upon your understanding of how the system works and now your friends and family are suffering because they didn't and you want to help them which requires more energy and effort or you can't which means your intelligence has limits and all you can do is watch them suffer.

Stress and anxiety. Once you figure out that you can problem solve and improve your quality of life it's natural, like any athlete, to grow and push your boundaries. But intellectual pursuits aren't as cut and dried as physical ones - It's easy to know that you can only bench press 200lbs and that's what you need to work on - Less so when you're trying to solve problems like familial and social discord but nobody will listen or trying to improve your company's fortunes by making proper investment choices. More to the point, I'm an engineer and there's nothing more frustrating trying to solve a problem you've encountered with your design that YOU pushed for, can't figure out why it's not working, might not work AT ALL and the boss is breathing down your neck (oh and the company is on the line). There's plenty of days I've driven by a building crew and daydreamed about just running the earth mover or driving a dump truck.

In an Agrarian society - in a pre-industrialized world these issues just didn't come about for intellectualism - Partially because it wasn't as much of a survival skill. (And that's probably why steampunk is so romanticized today)

Agreed - I have no facebook account, no twitter account and I don't do the iggy either... (Simpsons ref) (Don't have a 5 digit UID But I'm old enough that I have to start qualifying my pop culture references coz you young whipper snappers probably weren't even born when the reference was made!) I've got old friends that decry that they can't keep me informed with their lives because I don't have a facebook account. (Hullo, I HAVE a smart phone and you can call or text me... Is that too much of an effort for our relationship?)

I've got a LinkedIn account that's strictly professional and that's as far as it goes I don't even really communicate on it other than to answer the recruiters or to hook up with some ex-coworkers (which I then take off line). I am amazed at how many people keep sending me personal or political information (all flavors) on it as if employers wouldn't care about that when hiring - The adage is still true - Don't discuss politics, religion or the Great Pumpkin in polite company.

and like BPA plastic coatings I'm sure it'll be completely harmless to us... for now...

(Except when using the Atari 2600 joystick because... well you couldn't use it left handed... :) )

I'm left handed you insensitive clod!

I coulda told you that with my Atari 2600 joystick...

My bad - the last number I recalled hearing was 25 million (including me)

And they've compromised about 5% of the US population...

Pam Byrnes: I had no idea you could milk a cat!
Greg Focker: Oh, you can milk just about anything with nipples.
Jack Byrnes: [He reacts] I have nipples, Greg, could you milk me?

Really?

A miss?

Are you confusing TV with watching video content on your computer because those are two entirely different things and Steve supported the latter. He probably realized that slaving PCs to broadcast/scheduled TV was a non-starter... Just as making PCs have built-in FM/AM Tuners would've been.

http://www.businessinsider.com...

I'm not saying Steve was a prophetic genius as he certainly made mistakes and it's wholly possible he disdained TV because he didn't want the cable companies like Comcast to get a foothold into his control of the industry. But this was far from "a miss".

Sort of belies your statement then doesn't it, lackwit?

Maybe because they should finalize the rules in writing BEFORE voting on them?

Nah nah... Government is teh awesome