31–40 of 68 posts
Though there is ongoing debate regarding the reliability of the dating method, some scholars believe the earliest human burial dates back 100,000 years. Human skeletal remains stained with red ochre were discovered in the Skhul cave at Qafzeh, Israel. A variety of grave goods were present at the site, including the mandible of a wild boar in the arms of one of the skeletons
Interesting as this is, the article nurtures an old misconception (with roots both in religion and classical philosophy) that there are some traits that distinctly separates humans from other animals, and by extension, finding the time when humans developed that trait is when we became truly humans. In reality the evidence reveals that all such traits, be it burial, toolmaking, artistry, abstract thinking etc, is som…
I'd add that I think that scientists in the digging-up-stuff business are far too ready to assign motive and behavior rather than simply describing the physical results.
To be fair, it's part of the marketing they have to do to keep that bit of grant money flowing.
Interesting as this is, the article nurtures an old misconception (with roots both in religion and classical philosophy) that there are some traits that distinctly separates humans from other animals, and by extension, finding the time when humans developed that trait is when we became truly humans. In reality the evidence reveals that all such traits, be it burial, toolmaking, artistry, abstract thinking etc, is som…
>the article nurtures an old misconception .. that there are some traits that distinctly separates humans from other animal There are a number of traits that make humans a unique animal, it's not a misconception. Humans: - Are aware of the existence of good and evil and have the capacity for moral reasoning - Have language - Are aware of the existence of the distant future, and can plan for it beyond the instinctual…
It would be great if the people who are downvoting you would tackle any of your bullet points.
We are certainly descended from animals, but we are also wildly unique from anything else we've ever seen in the biological world, past or present, mostly due to our cognitive capacities for art, science, morality, math, language, you name it.
Our capacity for language (and its core property of digital infinity) alone, as pointed out by Chomsky, doesn't seem to have an analogue anywhere in the biological world down to perhaps the level of DNA.
That's a great puzzle and mystery, we shouldn't run away from it but rather we should embrace it with humility and awe.
We should stop digging up graves.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
>the article nurtures an old misconception .. that there are some traits that distinctly separates humans from other animal There are a number of traits that make humans a unique animal, it's not a misconception. Humans: - Are aware of the existence of good and evil and have the capacity for moral reasoning - Have language - Are aware of the existence of the distant future, and can plan for it beyond the instinctual…
I was going to leave a similar comment, you've done much better at expressing my own objections to the OP. I've tried to upvote you but I don't have very much karma (not sure that that matters?). Sorry to see this sort of thing happen on HN too :( It would be great if the people who are downvoting you would tackle any of your bullet points. We are certainly descended from animals, but we are also wildly unique from a…
Interesting as this is, the article nurtures an old misconception (with roots both in religion and classical philosophy) that there are some traits that distinctly separates humans from other animals, and by extension, finding the time when humans developed that trait is when we became truly humans. In reality the evidence reveals that all such traits, be it burial, toolmaking, artistry, abstract thinking etc, is som…
There clearly are distinct characteristics of what it means to be human, as opposed to not just other animals, but other hominin species as well. For instance, the mutation in prefrontal cortex development that allowed us to acquire a complete recursive language (a Turing-complete communication system), along with all of its benefits for large-scale coordination and strategy. This mutation is likely 70k year old and has caused a cascade of civilizational advances, from complex culture, to myths, to arts, etc.
Interesting as this is, the article nurtures an old misconception (with roots both in religion and classical philosophy) that there are some traits that distinctly separates humans from other animals, and by extension, finding the time when humans developed that trait is when we became truly humans. In reality the evidence reveals that all such traits, be it burial, toolmaking, artistry, abstract thinking etc, is som…
There is also a new misconception (with no real roots except egalitarianism taken too far) that everything is the same as everything else "to varying degrees." That isn't very interesting though. I live in the US. To "some varying degree" I live on the east coast; but that degree is nil because I live far west of the mississippi. Human language, use of tools, artistry etc. are so massively remote from the animal cases that it's worth labelling it a "distinction" and not a "difference."
Interesting as this is, the article nurtures an old misconception (with roots both in religion and classical philosophy) that there are some traits that distinctly separates humans from other animals, and by extension, finding the time when humans developed that trait is when we became truly humans. In reality the evidence reveals that all such traits, be it burial, toolmaking, artistry, abstract thinking etc, is som…
> evidence reveals that all such traits, be it burial, toolmaking, artistry, abstract thinking etc, is something we share with other species to varying degrees If actual achievements speak louder than words, then "varying degrees" is a huge gap between human and other species. Yes, we know that numerous animals exhibit intelligence and emotions, but that does not change the fact that humans are very different when it…
The assumption might be that it takes time to develop, but those species never move beyond simplistic uses of language and tools despite their ancient ancestry.
Whatever your thoughts are on the evolution and biology of life, something is happening in the prefrontal cortex of humans that is fundamentally different.
Interesting as this is, the article nurtures an old misconception (with roots both in religion and classical philosophy) that there are some traits that distinctly separates humans from other animals, and by extension, finding the time when humans developed that trait is when we became truly humans. In reality the evidence reveals that all such traits, be it burial, toolmaking, artistry, abstract thinking etc, is som…
My takeaway is that this isn’t looking so much for the dividing line between our species and others in terms of traits but more about determining when cultural evolution began to eclipse biological as the primary force driving our species development.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It isn't an inevitable product though. E.g.[1]: > Mongolian culture is famous, along with Tibetans, for "sky burial," which leaves the body of the deceased on a high unprotected place to be exposed to the elements and devoured by wildlife. It's part of a Vajrayana Buddhist outlook about the needlessness of "respecting" the body after death. Personally, I'd prefer if this was what would happen to my body than any West…
It's not Buddhism per se, The Zoroastrians (religion of pre-islamic Persia) also practice this by leaving the bodies in "towers of silence" for birds of prey to devour them.