What Made Early Humans Smart

[Klaralven]

Talking to Jeremy DeSilva about human evolution was so fun. As was reading his recent book, First Steps: How Upright Walking Made Us Human. I learned something new and fascinating on every page. Do you picture our hominin ancestors as hunters? I did. Not so much. “They were the hunted,” DeSilva writes. Let’s take another look, as modern paleoanthropologists have, at the Taung child’s skull, one of paleontology’s most famous fossils, the remains of a child from the species, Australopithecus africanus, discovered in 1924. A reanalysis of the Taung child, DeSilva tells us, showed talon marks in its eye sockets. “A bird of prey, probably a crowned eagle, must have plucked the Taung child from the ground and carried it off to be eaten.” See, I told you. Fun!

I might summarize DeSilva’s book and our interview as, “Everything I thought I knew about why humans walk upright is wrong.” And DeSilva, a paleoanthropologist at Dartmouth College, is an insightful and genial guide. I told him I was moved by his admission in First Steps that “for the first few minutes of every visit with a new fossil, my calipers, camera, and scanner remain idle. I just sit, alone, with the remains of my ancestors.” He smiled. “I love fossils,” he said. “When I first sit with a batch of fossils, I think of them as individuals. I think, ‘Hey, a million years from now, if I’m lucky enough to be a fossil, and there’s some paleontologist standing over me, I hope they take a moment to think about me as an individual, and apply everything that they can possibly think of scientifically to squeeze information out of my bones, to retell the story of what my life was like.’ That’s what we do as paleoanthropologists.”

https://nautil.us/issue/102/hidden-truths/what-made-early-humans-smart

[Bayard]

1. Talon marks in its eye sockets!

My gawd! They are still around as an endangered species. Female: 7.1 – 10 lbs, Male: 5.6 – 9.1 lbs. They must have downsized.

[eppur_se_muova]

5. Or a scavenger picked up the detached head/skull. nt

[Warpy]

11. Sounded a little silly to me, too

They'll take cats and little lap dogs, but not kids. Chances are better that kid was already dead from any of a hundred different diseases and the carrion eaters found its body. Exposure burials were common in prehistory, the quicker a body was stripped to the bone, the quicker the process of death was completed.

However, ditching the technology to try to experience the environment is sound practice, although the environment is not what the people who once used those fossilized bones experienced. Africa has always experienced rapid and extreme climate change, one of the things suggested as a driver for human evolution.

[Klaralven]

21. The child would have been in the upper weight range of animals preyed on by eagles

The creature stood 105 centimetres (3 ft 5 in) tall and weighed between 9 and 11 kilograms (20 and 24 lb). It had a cranial capacity of 400–500 cc.[32]

In 2006, Lee Berger announced the Taung Child probably was killed by an eagle or other large predatory bird since the similarity of damage to the skull and eye sockets of the Taung Child is of that seen in modern primates that are known to have been killed by eagles. There are talon marks in the eyes as well as a depression along the skull that is common in creatures that have been preyed upon by eagles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taung_Child

Golden eagles sometimes attack large mammals; deer and pronghorns of all ages have been observed being attacked or killed by eagles. Records also exist of bighorn sheep, coyotes, bobcats, and foxes being killed. Occasionally, golden eagles kill calves, sheep, or goats. However, attacks on animals that weigh more than 30 to 40 pounds (14 to 18 kg) are uncommon. Where golden eagles prey on domestic animals, they usually take lambs and kids, but some become persistent predators of domestic livestock as large as 500 pounds (227 kg).

https://wildlife-damage-management.extension.org/how-large-of-an-animal-will-an-eagle-attack/

[Bayard]

26. I never thought a bird of prey would go after something much bigger than itself

But recently, we had our ancient old China White goose attacked by a hawk. He was 15-20 lbs, and we don't have very large hawks around here. But our Chief had very deep wounds on his back, and smaller ones around his head. He lived one day. Happened mid-morning. Had to be what got him.

We really miss him.

[Ziggysmom]

2. A fascinating read. I'd like to ask Dr. DeSilva his opinion regarding what is making today's

humans becoming stupid, leading to our own demise.

[KS Toronado]

8. The answer to that question is very simple.....

reQublicans, FQX noise, 7QQ club, OANN, Breitbart, Qanonsense, oligarchs, etc.

[Thunderbeast]

13. Our primitive brain stem is taking over again!

[certainot]

14. sex on the wrong brain. humans started 50-50 right and left handed like our apish ancestors but

now we're 90-10. sex on the wrong brain theory suggests it makes a difference which hand/brain hemisphere we associate sex with and those differences - fear of uncertainty, greed, lower empathy, etc were advantageous in times of conflict and scarcity.

the sowb theory suggests populations selecting for particular preferred sowb symptoms basically means predispositions for greed, racism, sexism, extremism, authoritarianism etc are heritable, especially in 'old world' descendants.

that basically means isis, taliban, proud boys, trumpism, etc are just manifestations of a masturbation cult

from sexonthewrongbrain.com/theory/

EVOLUTION, RIGHT HANDEDNESS, AND THE ‘SOWB GENE’

Anthropologists believe early human ancestors started out about 50-50 right and left handed, like the chimps and apes of today, but have had little success explaining why humans became increasingly right handed. Eventually about 100,000 years ago humans settled into about 90% right handed.

Right handed dominance is sometimes attributed to tool-making and language development but sex on the wrong brain has been part of human evolution for millions of years before those developments might have become relevant and may offer anthropologists and handedness researchers a better explanation.

Millions of years ago:

Life was short and reproduction began early. Low levels of masturbation and sowb generally.

Selection for sowb and right handedness would accelerate in areas where population densities and fluctuations in resources might cause conflict and favor authoritarian patriarchy over communal cooperation.

Sowb would begin to distort basic hemispheric brain asymmetries as brain complexity and language use increased. Left hemispheric participation increases as right hemispheric participation decreases, limiting patience and objectivity in evaluation and conclusion. Integration and promotion of preferred sowb symptoms begins to influence social structure as well as brain structure and function.

Hundreds of thousands of years ago:

Longer life, higher population densities, and more conflict over resources. Sowb symptoms like greed, fear, intolerance, and authoritarianism increasingly won over curiosity, community, and democratic cooperation. Sowb accelerated as our ancestors progressively began to delay the age of reproduction. Sowb eventually becomes ‘human nature’ and normalized as left handed humans were increasingly ostracized and the proportion of right handed handed humans reaches a 90% dominance about 100,000 years ago.

The last few thousand years:

Longer life, more right handed masturbation and more sowb. Sex on the wrong brain became an increasingly dominant part of the long-lasting authoritarian civilizations which, by default and/or design, created social structures to enforce sexual repression and increase frustration. Populations and cultures could select for particular sowb symptoms that were advantageous for a particular situation or environment, such as for building armies.

So-called civilized ‘Old World’ populations with centuries of sexual repression and frustration might be expected to have more sowb symptoms than ‘New World’ populations and their descendants today. Are differences in cultural attitudes toward nature, uncertainty, and greed apparent in brain function or structure consistent with more vs less sex on the wrong brain?

The last hundred years:

While democratic forms of social organization help growing populations reduce and regulate sowb symptoms like authoritarianism and greed, increased affluence allows more privacy and opportunity for masturbation. The problem is exacerbated by access to mass produced sources of sexual stimulation, such as pornograpy, and use of sexual stimulation for commercial purposes.

Sowb genes?

Geographical, environmental, and cultural preferences for particular sowb symptoms may manifest as inherited characteristics in brain structure and function.

[Tumbulu]

17. This explains a lot- thanks for sharing this

You are amazing! Not only are you spot on about hate media ( and the consequences of Democrats and left leaning intellectuals liberals ignoring it ) you now share this.

Thank you for all your contributions to DU.

[certainot]

24. thanks!

[Politicub]

18. This has to be a joke .

From your link:

Sex on the wrong brain, or sowb, is what happens when impatient satisfaction-demanding sex energy fuels brain functions that require patience and objectivity.

Sowb is caused by masturbation with the right hand, which is connected to the left brain hemisphere. Motion of the right hand is controlled by and can stimulate activity in the left hemisphere. By default, most humans in modern developed societies have their first sexual experiences with the wrong hand. Continued sex with the right hand can program long lasting neural pathways that may continue to divert sex energy to the left brain long after real sex.

[certainot]

23. the theory isn't, been around 30 yrs, but the book is hilarious.

the first sentence there might be better. is 'sex energy' a real thing? and 'associates with' or 'interferes with' might be more accurate than 'fuels'

could anyone get funding to seriously study such a thing in a society plagued and limited by sex on the wrong brain and sexual repression?

[Politicub]

25. I love it, and I am happy you posted it.

It’s fun to find internet ridiculousness. I’m old, and I remember when there was always something new and strange to come across by random internet surfing.

There are lots of memes and things now, but fully fleshed-out content like this is a gem.

[The Magistrate]

28. Makes Me Hungry For A Bowl Of Mr. Kellogg's Cornflakes, Sir

"The influence of coffee in stimulating the genital organs is notorious."

[Hugin]

22. I've been correct all along and didn't even know it...

I've always described what has become Trumpism as an "I'll only do it until I need glasses" mentality gone mainstream.

Heh, yeah... or a "masturbation cult".

[2Gingersnaps]

15. My guess would be that we are becoming less communal,

Darwin's idea of "survival of the fittest" was cooperation within a social group for survival, as opposed to the libertarians ideal of every man for himself. That and our modern lifestyle makes us soft. Sure we have modern medicine to live longer, but the really early humans had a cleaner environment and healthier food, and far more exercise.

[Cracklin Charlie]

3. Need to read later.

Very busy right now.

[Hugin]

4. Unusually clever, maybe.

Smart? I'd say the jury is still out on that.

[Random Boomer]

7. I'm with you

What intelligence we have is often swamped by our emotions and is used to create complex rationalizations for the things we do.

[WarGamer]

6. I'll check it out, I love bio anthropology!!

[PoliWrangler]

9. Good article

Thanks for linking that Klaralven!

[Javaman]

10. ...

[keopeli]

12. Thank you! That was an enlightening read!

[Sneederbunk]

16. Better to ask what makes recent humans stupid?

[alphafemale]

19. The stupid ones did not live long enough to breed.

Stupid is being allowed to creep back into the gene pool because living is pretty easy.

[alfredo]

20. Great post. Thanks

[Hortensis]

27. Enjoyed reading this. Thanks, Klaralven. nt

[JoeOtterbein]

29. Still reading but this paragraph taught me so much and just plain blew me away....

...

Baby chimpanzees and baboons cling to the fronts or wide backs of their mothers. Being upright means we have to physically carry our kids. So now Lucy is physically carrying her kid. Now, in her arms, she’s got this little fleshy meal for any carnivore, and she needs to go find food for herself in an environment littered with predators. And yet she survived! What an amazing testament to the resilience of our ancestors. Their survival is why we’re here.