JtS and I were discussing this last night. He was having some problems with my use of the word 'primitive' also, and he was asking some questions about it. He wanted to know if being primitive in the way I was using the word, suggested lesser intelligence than less primitive. I told him that it did not. Birds are more primitive than mammals (in terms of development), but many kinds of birds are far more intelligent than some mammals. I think some people just don't understand how the word primitive is used in this kind of context.