Closer to You

We tend to picture humans as teeming masses, a single organism quickly swallowing the planet. But once we were as scarce and endangered as monk seals, a hairs-breadth from extinction. We know this because all the people on Earth can trace their genes back to a handful of common ancestors. That's why we're much more closely related to each other than, say, chimpanzees are to one another. At some ominous stage of evolution, we dwindled to perhaps a hundred humans … Those must have been extraordinary beings, hopeful and resilient, with a furious life force and enough brains to outwit their enemies and environment, endure brutal trials, endless indignities, and yet raise strong children. Why does resiliency surprise us? We are born survivors.

Source: Ackerman, Diane. An Alchemy of Mind: The Marvel and Mystery of the Brain. Scribner, 2004.