The Man from Earth Page #2

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Believe it or not, from

a thrift shop-- A quarter.

You lucky dog!

I gotta go digging

for this kind of stuff.

Can I, uh...?

Yeah.

Huh.

Maybe...

I'm glad you did this.

Did what? You mean come over?

Maybe?

Definitely.

Gee, thanks.

Well, so are we.

So are we.

We couldn't let you just run off.

Thanks.

John, what is up, huh?

Are you on america's most wanted?

We won't turn you in.

Yeah, come on, out with it.

You're among friends.

Snoopy friends.

Forget it.

You are creating the mystery here.

Obviously, you have something

you'd like to say. Say it!

Well, maybe I...

ten, nine, eight, seven...

Harry, stop.

There is something I'm

tempted to tell you, I think.

I've never done this before,

and I wonder how it'll pan out.

( Harry chuckles )

I wonder if I could ask

you a silly question.

John, we're teachers.

We answer silly questions all the time.

Hey!

What if a man from the upper paleolithic

Survived until the present day?

What do you mean, survived?

Never died?

Yes. What would he be like?

Well, I know some guys.

You ever been to the ozarks?

It's an interesting idea.

What, are you working on

a science fiction story?

Say I am. What would he be like?

Pretty tired.

( Laughter )

Well, seriously,

As Art's book title suggests,

He might be like any of us.

Dan. A caveman?

Well, there's no anatomical difference

Between, say, a Cro-magnon and us.

Except that as a rule,

we've grown taller.

What's the selective

advantage of height?

Better to see predators

in tall grass, my dear.

Actually, tall and skinny

Radiates heat more

effectively in warmer climates.

And as for neanderthals,

I mean, we've all seen apish people.

That strain's still with us.

But he'd be a caveman.

No, he wouldn't.

John's hypothetical man

Would have lived

through 140 centuries...

yeah, roughly.

...and changed with every one of them.

I mean, assuming normal intelligence.

Well, we think men of

the upper paleolithic

Were as intelligent as we are.

They just didn't know as much.

John's man would have

learned as the race learned.

In fact, if he had an inquiring mind,

His knowledge might be astonishing.

If you do write that,

let me have a look at it.

I'm sure you'll make some

anthropological boners.

It's a deal.

What would keep him alive?

What does the biologist say?

Cigarettes.

And ice cream. ( Laughs )

All right, all right, I'll play.

All right, um, in science fiction terms,

I would say...

perfect regeneration

of the body's cells,

Especially in the vital organs.

Actually, the human

body appears designed

To live about 190 years.

Most of us just die of slow poisoning.

Maybe he did something right,

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