The Spirit in Human Evolution - Waldorf Research Institute

More documents

Recommendations

Info

anomalous. In fact it appears that Modern behavior was well on the way long before the Human Revolution. In fact the Blombos discovery also made it possible to reconsider even earlier evidence for human symbolic behavior. A collection of some 450 crayon-shaped black manganese sticks, which had been found in the Pech de L’Aze cave some 30 years ago have been reassessed in the museum where they have lain since their “anomalous” discovery. These sticks show all the signs of having been used as pigment for drawing on either animal or human skin. The fascinating thing about them is that they were found in association with Neanderthals at a time when Neanderthals could not have been in contact with Modern humans, though at the same time as the ochre was being used in South Africa. Furthermore, it now seems likely that some Neanderthals were capable of making exquisite beads, a clear sign of ornament and symbolic thinking. So it seems that Modern behavior has a deeper history than we have thusfar imagined. Perhaps something of this human quality even incarnated among populations of Neanderthals. The view is increasingly being taken seriously that Neanderthals may well have been capable of evolving higher faculties. They may well have been on that path when they died out, possibly due to an epidemic which either wiped them out or reduced their number so significantly that their genes could not reach contemporary populations. The Biggest Discovery of All, a Real Missing Link Literally as this book was going to the press, the announcement was made in the science journal Nature that hominid fossils found in Ethiopia confirm that Modern humans evolved in Africa. Skulls dated at around 160,000 BP found at Herto in the Middle Awash region of Ethiopia show a suite of modern human characters. As Professor Tim White puts it in Nature; The Herto hominids are morphologically and chronologically intermediate between archaic African fossils and later Modern humans. They therefore represent the probable immediate ancestors of anatomically modern humans. 2 Of course this discovery does not answer all the questions. In fact it opens up many new possibilities for an even more complex theory of evolution. We still do not know if human evolution was a gradual coalescing of forms spread throughout the African continent and perhaps the Near East, or was there a “punctuational” evolutionary event at one particular place? There are always more questions. There will undoubtedly be more such discoveries. We can assume the story of human evolution that is told today will change. Up to now each discovery has pushed back the date at which higher human faculties can be substantiated. The Spirit has been expressing itself in self-consciousness in human beings for at least 160,000 years and perhaps longer. This alone suggests that higher human faculties did not just suddenly occur because of a mutation in brain architecture. The human spirit has been gradually emerging all along. _________________________ 2 Readers can inform themselves of the full significance of this discovery on the Nature website or Nature 423, June 2003, pp742–747. 310
Glossary Abbreviations: BP = before the present in years Mya = million years ago Acheulean: a Lower Paleolithic toolmaking tradition characterized by handaxes (bifaces). Named after the find site St. Acheul, near Amiens in northern France. The Acheulean tradition spanned the entire populated Old World and lasted from around 1.5 mya to about 150,000 BP and is generally associated with Homo erectus and Homo heidelbergensis. adaptive radiation: an evolutionary process that occurs when a group of closely related species adapt to a range of new or different environments or life styles. allometry, allometric: refers to the relative growth of different organs or parts of an organism, or the relationships between different species altruism: used in biology to describe behavior that benefits other members of a species, usually at some cost to the donor apes: a primate group that includes orangutans, gorillas, gibbons, and chimpanzees. They have no tails. arboreal: dwelling in trees Archaic: ancient archaic Homo sapiens, a term used to refer to the ancestors of modern Homo sapiens, now usually referred to as Homo heidelbergensis artifact: any object made, modified or adapted for use by humans and hominids, not only tools assemblage: a collection of artifacts found in a given archaeological setting Aurignacian: the earliest cultural tradition of Modern humans in Europe, named after Aurignac, a site found in the French Pyrenees. Usually dated back to 40,000 BP. It was characterized by the emergence of retouched blades, bone points, spears with exchangeable points and in art by single impressive figures such as powerful animals. Australopithecine: generic name for species of Australopithecus (‘southern ape’), one of the earliest hominid grades found in Africa from around 4 mya up to about 1 mya. There are now believed to have been a number of species, some of which were small and lightboned (gracile) and other which were large-boned and heavy-jawed (robust). 311
Page 1:
The S pirit in Human Evolution M a
Page 4 and 5:
Published by: The Association of Wa
Page 7 and 8:
Foreword The Evolution of a Book A
Page 9:
and education studies to university
Page 12 and 13:
12 in evolution and creationism by
Page 14 and 15:
not the case development could not
Page 16 and 17:
to expression in the developing ind
Page 18 and 19:
The distinction is important. For a
Page 21 and 22:
Chapter 1 Self-Knowledge, Truth and
Page 23 and 24:
distinction between knower and know
Page 25 and 26:
have taken from our earliest beginn
Page 27 and 28:
The biologists, anthropologists and
Page 29 and 30:
Later still the young person will w
Page 31 and 32:
science reveals such a universe. As
Page 33 and 34:
Changing Views of Change How did th
Page 35:
in the twentieth century, despite t
Page 38 and 39:
Psychologists and therapists are fa
Page 40 and 41:
human origins amply demonstrates. T
Page 42 and 43:
careers being made from the discove
Page 44 and 45:
to the human being and not only as
Page 46 and 47:
in breaking a human cell down into
Page 48 and 49:
I have to admit that reductionist t
Page 50 and 51:
species, at some age, season or yea
Page 52 and 53:
The classic (because extreme but by
Page 54 and 55:
phylogenetic history of humankind,
Page 56 and 57:
Mind Matters The reader will have n
Page 58 and 59:
iology by Ernst Mayr to describe go
Page 60 and 61:
Stories Despite the universal rejec
Page 62 and 63:
follows: the evolutionary stream fr
Page 64 and 65:
cultures … ought to produce creat
Page 66 and 67:
66 animal, by stating what the one
Page 68 and 69:
This is a harsh judgment, and I wou
Page 70 and 71:
I have no judgment as to what exten
Page 72 and 73:
The impotence of Darwinian theory i
Page 74 and 75:
etheric forces, in contrast to the
Page 76 and 77:
obviously has a deep evolutionary h
Page 78 and 79:
This is the very heart of the probl
Page 80 and 81:
complex phenomena and having a sens
Page 82 and 83:
part of the organism itself. This c
Page 84 and 85:
interaction between groups of neura
Page 86 and 87:
When human beings are only beginnin
Page 88 and 89:
world, during which the “new cont
Page 90 and 91:
external reality of the senses, but
Page 92 and 93:
of such ancestors as seemed best fi
Page 95 and 96:
Chapter 4 First Steps Over a period
Page 97 and 98:
Fig 4.1 Time chart showing the curr
Page 99 and 100:
Planet of the Apes Ten million year
Page 101 and 102:
apes and thus ideal conditions for
Page 103 and 104:
“lake.” It is highly likely tha
Page 105 and 106:
Fig 4.5 Lucy: a reconstruction of t
Page 107 and 108:
genetic processes. The organism may
Page 109 and 110:
evolved rapid digestion of high pro
Page 111 and 112:
other mammals who were originally t
Page 113 and 114:
Therefore the possibility of one fo
Page 115 and 116:
evolution? Is not this not spiritua
Page 117 and 118:
to experience the separation of sub
Page 119 and 120:
Chapter 5 Lucy, Flatface and Friend
Page 121 and 122:
Small, Clever, and Alert If we assu
Page 123 and 124:
than in the elephant expresses the
Page 125 and 126:
Fig 5.1 Comparison of what several
Page 127 and 128:
Fig 5.2 Comparison of australopithe
Page 129 and 130:
is, the smaller animal would make m
Page 131 and 132:
Bifacial Chopper Hammer Stone Disco
Page 133 and 134:
Fig 5.6b Examples of pebble tools A
Page 135 and 136:
Fig 5.7 Diagram showing an example
Page 137 and 138:
early Homo. Australopithecines arou
Page 139 and 140:
anches of trees out of sight of the
Page 141 and 142:
Now it is true that, at the level o
Page 143 and 144:
How did this increase come about? W
Page 145 and 146:
expansion of brain size, especially
Page 147 and 148:
That is exactly what the spirit doe
Page 149 and 150:
to such environmental pressures, th
Page 151 and 152:
Apes have the least birthing proble
Page 153 and 154:
Space does not permit fuller discus
Page 155 and 156:
Eternal Embryo It was that widely r
Page 157 and 158:
Though infant fossils from earlier
Page 159 and 160:
The degree of juvenilization seems
Page 161 and 162:
Fig 5.12 A schematic representation
Page 163 and 164:
that animals pass through the equiv
Page 165 and 166:
What we know of human life historie
Page 167 and 168:
The Nature of Imitation The actual
Page 169 and 170:
Chapter 6 Working Man Making fossil
Page 171 and 172:
Fig 6.1 The Trinil thighbone (right
Page 173 and 174:
Fig 6.3 These fossils skulls have a
Page 175 and 176:
New Dates for Out of Africa In 1989
Page 177 and 178:
Whatever the dates or the route, th
Page 179 and 180:
for niches. Then later in drier cyc
Page 181 and 182:
As mentioned above, in apes birthin
Page 183 and 184:
With the onset of the wet season, d
Page 185 and 186:
Making or Just Using Fire? A “mid
Page 187 and 188:
mental pictures and all the concept
Page 189 and 190:
The studies show an almost perfect
Page 191 and 192:
ather than the core which was disca
Page 193 and 194:
individuals who made them, or rathe
Page 195 and 196:
Language: a Formative Principle The
Page 197 and 198:
Fig 6.10 A drawing showing a compar
Page 199 and 200:
will be needed to produce the same
Page 201 and 202:
More Complex Animal Communications
Page 203 and 204:
extremely simple, others highly com
Page 205 and 206:
overtly stated in full language, fo
Page 207 and 208:
Most of these processes involve rep
Page 209 and 210:
Charles Darwin was the first to poi
Page 211 and 212:
Language and Culture As we have see
Page 213 and 214:
Chapter 7 The Ancients: an Overview
Page 215 and 216:
Not only have the remains of some 3
Page 217 and 218:
Fig 7.3 A range of fossil skulls in
Page 219 and 220:
The Levallois Technique A quite dif
Page 221 and 222:
immediate environment. We experienc
Page 223 and 224:
Darwinian psychology or socio-biolo
Page 225 and 226:
The Archaics: refers to hominids in
Page 227 and 228:
Paleolithic cultures. At High Lodge
Page 229 and 230:
and the cheeks were inflated rather
Page 231 and 232:
hard work, rigorous movements and w
Page 233 and 234:
The Impact of the Ancients on Their
Page 235 and 236:
Perhaps the most compelling evidenc
Page 237 and 238:
Neanderthal Language Their spoken l
Page 239 and 240:
Chapter 8 The Moderns Over the last
Page 241 and 242:
een interchanging genes for 600,000
Page 243 and 244:
Modern Africans Modern Europeans Mo
Page 245 and 246:
A Modern Anatomy Anatomically moder
Page 247 and 248:
Western Eurasian race, has no real
Page 249 and 250:
Certainly the genetic evidence sugg
Page 251 and 252:
A B C D E F G Fig 8.5 Early Modern
Page 253 and 254:
Fig 8.7 Drawing showing how blades
Page 255 and 256:
around for a long time before 40,00
Page 257 and 258:
might have meant, it is useful to t
Page 259 and 260: complexity of artifacts have become
Page 261 and 262: When one considers the conditions u
Page 263 and 264: paintings in the Chauvet Cave in th
Page 265 and 266: Fig 8.11 The “portrait” carving
Page 267 and 268: We cannot hope to know how the arti
Page 269 and 270: The Fall But this emancipation was
Page 271 and 272: with the world which characterized
Page 273 and 274: Fig 8.13 A collection of handprints
Page 275 and 276: A C B D E Fig 8.15b A compilation o
Page 277 and 278: Fig 8.16 A detail from the Panel of
Page 279 and 280: The circumstances of the finds in t
Page 281 and 282: The Gravettian/Pavlovian Phase (27,
Page 283 and 284: A C B D Fig 8.25 Venus or Gaia figu
Page 285 and 286: The rhythmical lines that apparentl
Page 287 and 288: Fig 8.30 The shaft scene from Lasca
Page 289 and 290: B C A D Fig 8.33 A collection of ca
Page 291 and 292: A B C D Fig 8.34 A selection of eng
Page 293 and 294: Is Not Art a Construct of the Moder
Page 295 and 296: We have absolutely no way of knowin
Page 297 and 298: however they were distinguishing th
Page 299 and 300: Fig 8.38 Map showing the areas of S
Page 301 and 302: Western Asia, but otherwise both Mo
Page 303 and 304: species, as I have shown in the exa
Page 305 and 306: portion of his brothers behind on t
Page 307 and 308: too did hominids. The higher, or mo
Page 309: Chapter 9 Postscript Day by day imp
Page 313 and 314: flora: the plant life in a given ec
Page 315 and 316: Moderns: informal term referring to
Page 317 and 318: Bibliography Further Reading The li
Page 319 and 320: Edelman, G.M., 1992, Bright Air, Br
Page 321 and 322: www.modernhumanorigins.com a very u
show all

The Spirit in Human Evolution - Waldorf Research Institute

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?