If P=NP, it would mean we're a bunch of dumb apes

There is a million dollar prize out for proving or disproving the P=NP conjecture. It basically says that if a given problem can be verified efficiently, it can also be solved efficiently. This is a very bold statement and would have very real implications. For one thing, cryptography relies on problems that can be verified but not solved, so the whole field of computer security would be turned on its head. But why did people even make a conjecture like this? And if it were true, why would that mean we're collectively a dumb species?