Give him a break. He tried to start a land war in Asia.

Personally I see a person looking "like a giant purple rabbit" that had flexible thinking and problem solving in many different areas and environments a better bet on surviving than someone classifying that choice as ridiculous. Besides the possible physical benefits (fur insulation, better hearing, veganism), they would probably be a hell more fun to hang out with.

Much of humanity is already "degenerate" by this definition. In times and places without written language, some people who passed information orally believed writing was decadent and would ruin the human ability to memorize.

The industrial revolution introduced mass production of material goods and food which changed everything Unless you make homemade soup by scavenging, or planning the raising the plants and animals you put in it then use animal skin that you harvested and tanned to hold it over the fire to cook it then go to sleep under a blanket that you weave from thread you spun as soon as it gets dark.

The digital revolution changed everything again making more information increasingly available and changing the way humans store and access it.