Different in degree or kind: Egnor's take (Introduction)

by David Turell , Friday, September 30, 2016, 02:38 (2977 days ago) @ dhw


> dhw: How gradual is gradual, and how sudden is saltation? How many generations count as sudden? For all we know, once humans found the need to make new sounds, the anatomical changes could have perfected themselves within what, three, four, five generations? - For anatomic changes the saltations are results of larger jumps in phenotype. You are again suggesting slight changes in fossils; not found! This article discusses development of brain usage, that is the brain of 200,000 years ago, the same size as yours or mine, through the property of plasticity, had to learn how to be used: - http://nautil.us/issue/40/learning/the-modern-mind-may-be-100000-years-old - "So by around 200,000 years ago, people were living in Africa who were just like us: anatomically modern humans. Physically they looked the same as we do, and their brains were identical in size to ours. What we don't know is if they were already thinking like us—or when they started to. They don't appear to have been burying their dead, or wearing jewelry, or making decorative marks on their tools, or anywhere else for that matter. We don't find evidence for any of these practices for another 80,000 years. - "In other words, they were us, but at the same time maybe not quite us. I often wonder what it must have been like to be one of the first modern humans to walk this earth. Frankly, even as a paleoanthropologist, I find it hard to wrap my head around what that question actually means: If they didn't yet know how to use their imaginations, or make art, or use symbols, then what did they think about? Did they experience self-awareness? How did they interact with each other? Could they tell jokes? Did they believe in worlds beyond what they could see?" - Comment: Brain use is no different than speech development. Great very long article, worth a read.