Chapter 159: The Mediocre Human Race

"Big shots, I just joined this livestream. May I ask what the Copernican Principle is?"

"I remember taking it in school; I think it was proposed by Nicolaus Copernicus, but I've forgotten the details."

"Basically, it means that Earth's existence is very mediocre and common in the universe, and it says the emergence of humanity is also very mediocre and common!"

"If that's the case, then there should be a massive number of aliens in the universe, right?"

"Uh... yeah, that's the idea."

"..."

The livestream was not lacking in people who had some understanding of the two theories Jiang Zhe mentioned.

They acted as Jiang Zhe's off-screen voice, providing answers for some viewers who had just entered the livestream.

At this moment, inside the monitoring department.

Old Wang watched the viewership curve soaring as usual, his face beaming with joy.

"Little Jiang is truly reliable. In one night, he's pulled back the viewership ratings of the previous seven days."

"It's been less than five minutes since the broadcast started, and the total number of people on TV and in the livestream has already surpassed 15 million. Even my own brat couldn't reach a tenth of his numbers."

It was no wonder Old Wang felt such chagrin.

It could honestly be said that the viewership ratings of the entire Television Station combined might not even equal Jiang Zhe's leftovers.

"Hmm? The Copernican Principle... I think I studied that back in school."

"Let's watch a bit more first."

Old Wang stood up, handed his tasks over to Little Li, and then went idle to watch the livestream.

On the screen.

Jiang Zhe smiled at the camera and continued his explanation:

"Let's first analyze the 'Copernican Principle'."

"As the name suggests, this theory states that Earth is very mediocre. It is nothing special, even within the context of the entire universe."

"Let us return to the man who mentioned this theory: Nicolaus Copernicus."

"In Nicolaus Copernicus's era, he pointed out that humanity or Earth does not hold any special status or importance in the universe."

"The Mediocrity Principle also holds that Earth is just an ordinary rocky planet in an ordinary planetary system located in a non-exceptional region of an ordinary barred spiral galaxy; therefore, the entire universe is teeming with complex life."

"Later, through the research of our modern comprehensive scientists, approximately 50% believe that Earth is indeed, as Nicolaus Copernicus said, very mediocre!"

"Through fossil records and genetic research conclusions, it has been deduced that we humans are the descendants of a common ancestor from about 100,000 years ago, and that human ancestors and chimpanzees diverged in evolution about six million years ago."

"Therefore, humans are merely a part of the biosphere, not a unique kind of organism."

"In the past, there were also Neanderthals and Denisovans; these were all branches under the banner of Homo sapiens."

At this point, the backstage director very tacitly displayed reconstructed images of Neanderthals and Denisovans on the whiteboard behind Jiang Zhe.

The Neanderthals had the skin tone of East Asians, the three-dimensional facial features of Europeans, tall statures, and powerful muscles.

As for the Denisovans, their overall skin tone was brownish-black, with a head of beautiful, jet-black hair.

Jiang Zhe turned around, pointing at the large screen to analyze:

"As you can see, Neanderthals maxed out their combat stats. An ordinary Neanderthal could take on three to four Homo sapiens alone—meaning one person could beat three or four of our ancestors."

"This heaven-defying natural strength kept them in an invincible position for a long time; they could fight tigers, lions, and brown bears with their bare hands."

"But unfortunately, Neanderthals ultimately went extinct in the process of natural selection!"

As soon as he said this, the viewers couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

In the era when wild beasts were everywhere, Homo sapiens ancestors appeared in groups and used tools to hunt.

From what they knew, they also knew that the strong Neanderthals could engage in hand-to-hand combat with fierce animals like polar bears and brown bears.

If such people were given high-level intelligence, then modern people would all be Neanderthals.

"Holy crap, this is the first time I've heard that there was once a human species that could fight tigers, lions, and brown bears one-on-one!"

"If these people had survived to modern times, we Homo sapiens would have ended up as second-class citizens at best."

"Yeah, it's fair to say that every Neanderthal was like a Xiang Yu. I can't believe it—8 billion people in the world, 8 billion Xiang Yus. I... how would we Homo sapiens even survive!"

"So what? In the end, didn't we Homo sapiens with our top-tier IQ take over the world!"

"..."

The viewers couldn't help but feel their scalps tingle as they thought deeper.

It was lucky that these people with maxed-out combat stats went extinct; otherwise, the modern world might not belong to Homo sapiens.

Currently, on the screen.

Jiang Zhe continued his narration thoughtfully.

"As for the Denisovans, this human species was mainly distributed in our country!"

"This type of human had extremely strong adaptability; this was found through genetic sequencing of their remains."

"I'll exaggerate slightly to let everyone understand just how strong this species' adaptability was!"

He tapped his chin and thought for a moment, then spoke: "For example, if Denisovans lived in modern times with us Homo sapiens, and one day, the global oxygen content dropped to 5%!"

"Currently, the global oxygen content is around 19.5% to 23.5%. At that time, we humans would have to rely on ventilators. If we didn't take care of our bodies in time, humanity would quickly go extinct!"

"If we translate that to Denisovans, they would try to reduce their breathing frequency and count; they would also intake less food to maintain their body's functional balance..."

"If that period lasted for about 1,000 years, okay, we Homo sapiens would be completely extinct, and by then, it would be the world of the Denisovans."

"Although it's a bit exaggerated, this is the Denisovans' number one trait: [Adaptability]."

"Whether living in ice fields, deserts, low-oxygen environments, or various extreme and harsh regions, they could slowly adapt."

"And we Homo sapiens, theoretically speaking, are the species with the most genetic defects; but we also have a unique advantage: our intelligence is at a Max level among all human species!"

As the series of words fell, the livestream was once again filled with discussions.

Meanwhile, in the lecture hall.

The archaeologists couldn't help but discuss among themselves as well.

"Little Jiang's example is a bit exaggerated. Oxygen content below 5% is just too ridiculous!"

"If he didn't exaggerate, how could he show the Denisovans' super adaptability?"

"Besides, Little Jiang's science popularization is completely correct. Previously, a foreign archaeologist discovered a tooth: they estimated that the owner of that tooth lived between 164,000 and 131,000 years ago—twice as old as our 75,000-year-old Homo sapiens fossils. That means—the past belonged to the Neanderthals and Denisovans."

"No, you're wrong to say that. Neanderthals were one of the earliest human species, living 400,000 to 4 million years ago; Denisovans lived 48,000 to 32,000 years ago, belonging to the same era as us Homo sapiens."

"We modern humans all have Neanderthal and Denisovan genes in our bodies; this directly indicates there was once a period of high racial integration. One could even say Neanderthals are close relatives of the ancestors of Europeans."

"I think I understand now. He's actually using science popularization to tell us all that we humans are actually a survivor race; a race that appeared after gradual evolution. There is nothing special about the emergence of us humans."

While the archaeologists were discussing, Jiang Zhe on the screen spoke again:

"So, essentially, we modern humans are just slowly evolved from this human race timestamp."

"As time progressed, we Homo sapiens, relying on our developed brains, emerged from these human species to become modern humans."

"You can also discover a startling fact: the further back the human race goes, the stronger their physical abilities were. From being able to fight brown bears, tigers, and lions, to today's 'fragile college students' who find it a struggle just to go up to the fifth floor. You can see—as humans evolve on the timestamp, they are becoming weaker and weaker. This actually doesn't have much to do with technology or lifestyle; it's all decided by genes."

As soon as these words were spoken, the college students in the livestream all had their faces darken.

"What did we fragile college students ever do to you?"

"Exactly, exactly. I can prove you're wrong; I don't need to climb to the 5th floor to get tired, I'm out of breath just climbing to the 2nd floor."

"Hahaha, fragile college students upstairs, you're actually acting proud of it, haha!"

"Hmph~~"

"..."

Jiang Zhe pursed his lips, showing a thoughtful expression.

"We can rely on science and technology to enhance our genes and our physical abilities, thereby achieving a better level."

"To be more sci-fi about it, it's precisely because our bodies are weak that we developed technology."

"If every one of our bodies could rival a Neanderthal's, and then we were given high-level intelligence; by then, we would all be like Predators, with amazing individual combat abilities while also possessing high-tech technology... that's not realistic."

"So, everyone can look at biological evolution across the timeline and find that our human race is not special. We were eliminated and selected generation by generation; the strongest doesn't necessarily survive to the end, only the wisest can survive to the end."

Having reached this point in his narration, he paused for a moment to give people time to react, and the viewers nodded in agreement one after another.

"I support the Human Mediocrity Theory."

"I support it too. I'm a student of archaeology and biology; biology is truly too mediocre!"

"If it's really that mediocre, why hasn't complex life been discovered in the universe?"

"If it hasn't been discovered, then it hasn't been discovered. It will be discovered sooner or later."

"Besides, your support is useless. So far, he's only told us that humans are mediocre, but he hasn't mentioned whether Earth is mediocre yet."

"By the way, does Teacher Jiang support mediocrity or uniqueness?"

"..."

Soon, the livestream was divided into two factions.

Some supported mediocrity, some supported uniqueness, but no one had a definitive conclusion.

At this time, on the screen, Jiang Zhe pinched his earpiece while listening to the bullet chat report from the backstage director, then smiled and continued to explain:

"Someone in the livestream asked me. I currently neither agree nor disagree with whether humans are mediocre; I will only take a side when both theories have been thoroughly explained!"

"Alright, now that we've finished talking about mediocre humans, let's return to the macro level of Earth."