Perhaps the Salt Vampires of whom Nancy was the last specimen dwindled to extinction after suffereing an intellectual "devolution" (just as certain of our comparatively feeble muscles were no doubt more developed in our robust pre-hominid ancestors, so may the brains of our descendents be much feebler than those we now have) and thus would be akin to the aquatic humans of Vonnegut's Galapagos or the green Sleestak of Land of the Lost (as opposed to Eneg the brown time traveler). Intellect may have evolved into a razor fine animal cunning. (This kind of evolution of intelligence seems highly plausible to me--look how far such a mutation took George W. Bush and he's successfully reproduced. See also C.M. Kornbluth's "The Marching Morons" and even Idiocracy.)
I've read Kornbluth's story and apparently understood him far better then you seem to understand.
I've also read this:
http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2008/June/Pages/Waning2235.aspx
Not that I like President Bush's peculiar politics, or his governing style (incompetence), either, but that was just about the most scientifically indefensible comment you've written, that I've read in a long time.*
This is The Trek Nation, not the DailyKos!
* Suffice it to say that you might not know the exact difference between the cultural progression of mores and customs, versus actual biologic common descent.
