Joshua Dyal said:
But as someone mentioned above, Howard wasn't really an academic, so he can I guess, be forgiven this logical faux pas easily enough.
It's a fantasy world, and I think the idea is kind of cool (with the exception of some other implications of this theory and the context of it's time that are maybe too politically charged for this board). As long as a fantasy world has its own rules and is somewhat consistent within them, I think breaking science is a huge part of what fantasy is all about. Think about it in terms of a WotC setting search-like statement:
"In Hyboria, grim heroes and villains trade in the raw currency of brutal power, unbridled to those who can pull the dark currents moving below the false veneer of civilization, under the watch of terrifying, uncaring, alien, gods. Hyboria is a land of exotic people during the time between two golden ages, great Atlantis and the rise of the Sons of Aryas. It is a world were power can be carved with the might of a sword or stolen through the cunning manipulations of magic, a world were the fates and actions of men can shape their own destiny: From uplifting into the halls of kings to the degeneration of men into an apelike subhumanism that is a perverted mockery of humanity."
The world is based on literary themes, not science. De-evolution into subhumanism reinforces the ethos of the book that we are what we make of ourselves in life. Those with drive, determination, and vitality, have the power to re-make the world in their image through sheer force of will and raw power. Those who do not take command of their lives run the risk of becoming no longer human through neglect of the human spirit. This is a really great literary theme, and Conan is an example of a man who can drag himself from the taint of apehood into the very pinnacle of humanity through will and force. However, here is where the cynical irony appears when Conan comments that the trappings of civilization are perhaps not as civilized as they appear...
"Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing." -R.E. Howard The Tower of the Elephant
The stories grapple these issues and themes with some nice nuance and complexity. I like the apeman angle as a foil to Conan's success. What happens to those who take the other path? Are we, in the end, all just apes playing dress-up? Are we not men? We are DEVO!
J/K
