The Madness Gene

This chapter focuses on the relationship between humans and neanderthals. Kolberet goes into the history of neanderthals and their extinction around thirty thousand years ago. She explains their ways of life, which were very animalistic compared to modern humans. Then she explains the modern theory for the cause of their extinction: us. Once humans started expanding out of Africa, they began encountering the neanderthal and procreating with it and then, eventually, killing the species off. The point of this chapter is to realize how humans and neanderthals are similar and different. Many humas have around one to four percent neanderthal gene in them. However, the chapter points out how the ability of language can separate two species to the extent of extinction.