Alas, All Thinking, the 1935 short story by
Harry Bates, has an equally depressing view of man's evolutionary
fate. Harlan T. Frick travels three million years into the
future and finds that man is a species on the verge of extinction.
Civilisation has collapsed and only a few remnants of the human race
live in a collection of huts. What's happened? Man's
brains got bigger and bigger until it reached the point that when
people reached adulthood they became macrocephalic scarecrows that
must have their heads propped up in frames so that they can literally
contemplate their navels while their skulls collect dust.
The only growth industry of the day is in making
size 42 hats.
