rationalskepticism.org

Oldskeptic wrote:

JayJay wrote:

And for another thing the slide show misses the point about human origins; by ignoring the significance of our un-beastly apparent vulnerability. A much shorter slide show based on ecology could have told far more:

Slide 1 About 8 million years ago grasslands that used a new more efficient way of using the sun’s energy spread over much of Africa. Two types of primates appeared who were able to access the grasslands resources without paying too high a price to the grassland predators. These primates were several species of baboons and hominins.

Slide 2. Unlike baboons, the small canines of hominins from about 6 million years ago showed that they had replaced the last-resort defensive biting that make most primates dangerous to attack, with hand-weapon use. We don’t know exactly how they defended themselves but it was probably by using sticks to stop a predator, take the initiative from it and confuse it, and then use a large river stone to smash the predator’s skull. The hominins probably fought in groups, like some of their predators.

Slide 3. The more efficiently the hominins protected themselves the more grassland areas they could forage in, in smaller numbers, at times of day and seasons that suited their foraging. That efficiency depended on them being able to handle objects with the force, accuracy and speed equivalent to that of a biting hyena or of alternative prey like the baboons. The hominid genus of Australopiths were highly adapted into that efficiency, with bipedal gait so they could carry weapons while foraging, hands adapted to grasp sticks and stones and a long back to stand taller than a predator.

Slide 4. From about 3 million years ago the efficiency of the australopith stand-off defense was reliable enough for them to develop a hairless sweaty skin that was vulnerable to a bite or scratch, but enabled them to avoid being exhausted by their predators. Their skulls were already protected by the same habit and they were in a position to protect their young during a long period of helplessness. The path was clear for them to develop a larger brain needed for speech.

Slide 5. From about 2.5mya we see our own genus homo broken away from australopithecus and exploiting the opportunities for developing a larger brain and protecting slow-maturing infants. That trend ended about 120 000 years ago with an animal that could rapidly connect words into sentences together and rapidly make sense of sentences. We don’t know quite how this language faculty arose, but it may be connected to the fact that the brain centres of speech and hand control are close to each other, while the warning cries of primates come from the part of their brains that controls emotion.

Slide 6: The human faculty for speech enabled any amount of precise knowledge to be taught and shared between any number of people, enabling large societies to develop with cultures. On the downside, the human ability to counterattack other animals that are themselves prepared to fight, and for access to territorial resources, has led to an endless succession of wars of increasing destructiveness. The biological success of tool-making combined with language has made an imbalance in nature that threatens many other species and even the creative capacity of the planet.

You really think your fantasy deserves treatment on BBC?