Published Sep 6, 2007
Near the beginning of the Earth's history, the first cell arose from the primordial ooze; oxygen-breathing bacteria took more than a billion additional years to evolve. Eventually, fish began to swim and grow eyes and jaws. They pulled themselves onto swamps as amphibians, and after awhile, mammals came to be: their brains growing larger, larger, larger. Finally, life evolved beautifully self-aware humans. So do we, after all this effort, allow our minds to be sucked into sitcoms instead of books?The answer, unfortunately, is "yes."