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Humans began to rapidly accumulate technological knowledge 600k years ago

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Re: Humans began to rapidly accumulate technological knowledge 600k years ago

#141

Post by Y_Y »

seszett wrote: post #124
MattPalmer1086 wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it? This is literally the first time Ive seen the word human applied to other hominids. I see many discussions about neanderthals and denisovians and so on. I have never seen them referred to as human.

> I have never seen them referred to as human. I have never seen anything else. But then in French, they are called Neandertal men and Denisova men . So pretty clearly humans.

I think it's typical in non-technical English to use "humans" to refer to homo sapiens only, unless you qualify it, like "archaic/early humans". Without additional context I wouldn't assume somebody talking about humans meant to include e.g. Neanderthals.

Re: Humans began to rapidly accumulate technological knowledge 600k years ago

#143

Post by Stratoscope »

MattPalmer1086 wrote: post #104
AlotOfReading wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The word human is commonly used for both modern humans and members of the entire genus Homo. Hominids is a more general superset that isn't strictly correct here. The term hominin is more appropriate in this context and what they actually use in the abstract. In my opinion though, "human" is the better word here for conveying the right mix of informality without implying the specific semantics of "Hominini sans Pan".

Is it? This is literally the first time Ive seen the word human applied to other hominids. I see many discussions about neanderthals and denisovians and so on. I have never seen them referred to as human.

Wait a minute. I am part Neanderthal.

Does this mean I am only part human?

Re: Humans began to rapidly accumulate technological knowledge 600k years ago

#144

Post by ambrose2 »

p51-remorse wrote: post #62
trescenzi wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fun thing is that for those of us who cannot it’s as hard to believe others can conjure images. Yes the idea of mental imagery is deeply ingrained in our language but I’d always assumed it was allusion till I learned of aphantasia when I was 30. One of the more cliche, and not super useful tests, is “imagine a ball on a table, someone pushes the ball and it begins to roll. What color is the ball?” For me that was…

So for me I definitely visualized a ball on a table, but the color wasn’t resolved, if that makes sense. After hearing the question asked it kind of snaps out of superposition into a red color (but there was definitely a color-choosing step that happened after hearing the question). Same thing happens if you ask “what surface is the table on” or “what country is this image in”. It’s layers I can add to the mental sta…

My ball was kind of an indeterminate grey, too, but it was on a granite countertop of a kitchen island in an open concept kitchen/living room. Like one from a Bounty commercial or something.

Re: Humans began to rapidly accumulate technological knowledge 600k years ago

#146

Post by guide42 »

Vespasian wrote: post #90
Earw0rm wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's culture, and it's known to exist among animals in a limited way. We don't really know what the upper bound for non humans is, because we don't know exactly what's being communicated by, for example, whale song.

I wonder whether we (as human) are merely the first species that managed to overcome initial barriers to developing culture and tech and thereby preventing any other species to do the same (for now). It feels like bipedalism, opposable thumbs and strong social behaviour and other factores were the perfect storm at the perfect time.

This is what the book Ishmael by Daniel Quinn proposes. Interesting read.

Re: Humans began to rapidly accumulate technological knowledge 600k years ago

#147

Post by vasco »

dTal wrote: post #140
vasco wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with the only caveat that the universe should have a maximum amount of precision it uses to calculate every next frame, and at the margin of error of these calculations, non-determinism may arise.

Even if those assumptions were true (and why should they be? the universe is not a computer, does not have "frames") what would that have to do with "free will"?

Why should yours? It seemed like you liked musing about this topic so I added a bit.

You (and I) have no idea if the universe is or not a computer. If you don't see the connection of free will to error margin of a deterministic system then I'm not sure how else to put it. Just imagine a deterministic program getting a bit flipped by a cosmic ray and turning non deterministic and apply that to the universe's system of laws.

Re: Humans began to rapidly accumulate technological knowledge 600k years ago

#148

Post by thfuran »

aurareturn wrote: post #43
thfuran wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If there are people who can’t picture and people who don’t have an inner dialogue, I think it lends more credence to the idea that we don’t have free will That seems like a bizarre leap. What's the connection?

Because it implies that we only behave based on how we feel, not how we think. The thinking part is an illusion. Therefore, our “consciousness” has no effect on how we behave. I’m not willing to die on this hill by the way so if someone else comes along and argues otherwise, I’m open to other ideas.

It only implies that some people think (or perceive thinking) differently.

Re: Humans began to rapidly accumulate technological knowledge 600k years ago

#149

Post by darby_nine »

MattPalmer1086 wrote: post #104
AlotOfReading wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The word human is commonly used for both modern humans and members of the entire genus Homo. Hominids is a more general superset that isn't strictly correct here. The term hominin is more appropriate in this context and what they actually use in the abstract. In my opinion though, "human" is the better word here for conveying the right mix of informality without implying the specific semantics of "Hominini sans Pan".

Is it? This is literally the first time Ive seen the word human applied to other hominids. I see many discussions about neanderthals and denisovians and so on. I have never seen them referred to as human.

I'll admit this is the first I've encountered the concept that "neanderthals and denisovians and so on" are not human. Maybe not biologically modern humans, but I'd certainly consider them fundamentally human.

Re: Humans began to rapidly accumulate technological knowledge 600k years ago

#150

Post by thfuran »

vasco wrote: post #147
dTal wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if those assumptions were true (and why should they be? the universe is not a computer, does not have "frames") what would that have to do with "free will"?

Why should yours? It seemed like you liked musing about this topic so I added a bit. You (and I) have no idea if the universe is or not a computer. If you don't see the connection of free will to error margin of a deterministic system then I'm not sure how else to put it. Just imagine a deterministic program getting a bit flipped by a cosmic ray and turning non deterministic and apply that to the universe's system of…

I'm also not seeing the connection to free will. Did the program choose to be broken by a cosmic ray? Did the cosmic ray choose to break the program? Stochasticty doesn't imply volition.
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