I think they went extinct because we were horrified by them. Horror movies are most terrible when the creatures there are mostly human, but somehow different. Humans don't like different kinds of humans.
If a human being sees another human that is different enough to fall into the horror movie monster category, we immediately kill it. I think that humans would have this reaction to the other human species, otherwise why are our horror movies dominated by humanoids, and not by animals?
Other animals that have such horror reactions are snakes, rats, cockroaches and spiders which are also horror movie material. Of all the bad stuff in the horror movies, the only one that is not directly around right now is the strange looking humanoid.
> I think that humans would have this reaction to the other human species, otherwise why are our horror movies dominated by humanoids, and not by animals?
For the same reason that Dr. Who/Star Trek aliens (not all intended to be horrific) are humanoid - they are played by humans in a costume.
If we killed off other humanlike species because they terrified us, wouldn't we have also killed off other species that terrify us, like snakes, rats, cockroaches and spiders?
I can't find a reference right now but I remember reading somewhere that European Homo Sapiens contain genetic evidence of interbreeding with Neanderthals, and Asian Homo Sapiens contain genetic evidence of a second, later round of more interbreeding with Neanderthals. I think that suggests we didn't find them all that horrifying :)
Snakes, rats, cockroaches and spiders are very difficult to kill off. If we could, we would wipe them off, but even with modern technology, we can't get rid of them, back in the past it would not have been possible.
The reference to interbreeding with neanderthals is a single DNA study, and it does not say what you think it says. It says that non-african humans share a more DNA with neanderthals than africans. The shared DNA could have come from the exit point from Africa or some other location where everyone leaving Africa passed through (like the horn of Africa). The neanderthal breeding theory is not credible at all, because the strongest overlap between neanderthals and modern humans on a DNA basis comes from the far east, where there is no skeletal history of neanderthals existing.
Might as well kill all the flowers and plants too and just make food directly from organic chemicals in processes powered by solar panels and cut living organisms out of the equation completely.
Not quite -- we simply drew down the population of Anopheles enough that malaria was unable to spread. DDT is a very effective insecticide, but resistance has been described and can spread if it is overused; in fact it is estimated that agricultural use of DDT causes more deaths from malaria by contributing to DDT resistance in Anopheles and thereby affecting vector control operations.
All of those other species you mentioned can hide from us easily, can reproduce relatively quickly, and/or can live in environments that humans can't survive in. Not so with humanoids.
Evolutionarily, that would make sense as well: creatures similar to us are likely to be competing for the same resources -- and as they are different they can't be trusted to collaborate.
If I had met another hominid on my way, I doubt I would want to kill it right away because it horrifies me. I would rather expect the natural trigger that prevents me from killing other people to turn on.
I'm not saying that different species of hominids didn't kill each other, I just think that the main reason behind killings was fight for food and other resources, not the low level fear instinct that we experience during encounters with spiders, snakes and worms.
Your applying your modern-day, urban culture to ancient tribal societies. Studies of our remaining modern day tribal societies in Papua New Guinea disagree with you. I suggest reading "Guns, Germs, & Steel"
If a human being sees another human that is different enough to fall into the horror movie monster category, we immediately kill it. I think that humans would have this reaction to the other human species, otherwise why are our horror movies dominated by humanoids, and not by animals?
Other animals that have such horror reactions are snakes, rats, cockroaches and spiders which are also horror movie material. Of all the bad stuff in the horror movies, the only one that is not directly around right now is the strange looking humanoid.