Synaptic Gaprnby Daniel Franko GoldmanrnIn no other species but Manrnare disparities of intellect so glaring.rnNo doubt some apes are underachievers; some dogs and bearsrnlearn circus tricks more readily than their duller brethren;rnamong birds of a particular species, some use sticks as leversrnto pry their shellfish open, while others, more dimwitted, poundrnthe bivalves repeatedly on rocks, a plodding, less elegant processrnthan that of the tool-users. This skill (or its absence) is passedrnby bird parents to offspring, and the inequity persists, downrnavian generations. All of that said, it is nonetheless truernthat the intramural gap between the brightest and the dullestrnindividual members of subhuman species is really quite narrow;rnin Man, it is huge, and nothing can alter it. Moreover, in Man, therngap makes more mischief. It is a matter of degree, but with arnsalient, fateful difference: bears and birds obey their genes,rnexempt from the need to engender organization. xVIan is merernpotential, helpless, frail, unprogrammed for achievement or evenrnfor survival on his own, gravid with promise, but unequippedrnto top it much, without a flawed and artificial overlayrnof polity and politics, such fertile ground for the poisonous weedsrnthat sprout in our unique synaptic gap. These pettifogging perilsrnbedeviled bands of hunter-gatherers, and later, tribesrnand cities and nation-states and bloated empires, inrnexponential, malignant growth. Soon or late, they foundered,rnall, in waters whipped to needless frothrnby the struggles of the stupid, the frustrations of the wise.rnThe strong balk at supporting the weak. The fecklessrnscorn strength once their bellies are full, a state of affairsrnthat soon becomes the norm, for their demands are enforcedrnas their numbers mimic strength and the strong grow ever weakerrnin reciprocal decline. Desperate for order and falsified fairness.rnAuthority prescribes Procrustean beds, devices seductively simplernbut too often fatal to those who lie on their leveling frames.rnThe shaken survivors of these hideous experiments hold seminarsrnaround smoky fires and tug their smelly, yellowing beards.rnSoon another tack is tried, and it too feedsrnmany a happy hyena before the bonesrnof a new crop of victims are bleached by the sun.rnHow then shall we order our affairs,rnwhen the least of us understand nothing,rnand the best not nearly enough?rnMAY 1994/15rnrnrn