Anthropology

were a whole lot smarter than most of us realize. They lived in their environment fully. We modern technological humans don't.

I recall many years ago reading things that expressed amazement that current "primitive" (meaning non-technological) humans could do things like find water in a hostile environment. Excuse me? This is the environment they know, their ancestors have known for thousands of years. They are outside almost all the time.

Plus, humans are, on average, very smart. The reason every single mother will tell you her child is a genius is that she sees proof: she says a baby who can do nothing but eat, pee, and poop, but within a year is beginning to walk and talk. If that's not genius, I don't know what is.

Modern humans live almost entirely apart from their environment. That's a relatively recent development. So what if current 17 year olds can't figure out how to dial a rotary phone? Those same 17 year olds navigate their environment quite well, thank you very much. Which is exactly what we humans always do.