!!! (Humans)

by David Turell , Monday, October 26, 2020, 22:41 (1276 days ago) @ dhw

dhw: I proposed that brains expanded when they no longer had enough cells to meet new requirements, whereupon you told us that there were new artefacts found among Moroccan fossils from 315,000, and there were no known new requirements. We now know that in different parts of Africa there WERE new artefacts and new requirements. That’s it. That is the only new development here. We don’t need to go through all the pros and cons of your theory and mine. This particular objection of yours has been squashed by the new discoveries, but you will continue to argue that God operated on the brains in anticipation of new requirements, and I will continue to propose that the brain expanded because of the effort to meet new requirements. We do not need to repeat the rest of the discussion, which has been covered over and over again over the last few months.

DAVID: You have invented artifacts when the article discussed environmental changes as driving the enlargement.

My theory concerns new requirements, of which artefacts are one example. However, in this particular case, artefacts were also found. You should read these articles more carefully.

QUOTE: Then, beginning around 320,000 years ago, people living there entered the Middle Stone Age, crafting smaller, more sophisticated weapons, including projectiles. At the same time, they began to trade resources with distant groups and to use coloring materials, suggesting symbolic communication. All these changes were a significant departure from their previous lifestyle, likely helping early humans cope with their newly variable landscape, Potts said.
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"'Then with humans in the mix, and some of their innovations like projectile weapons, they also may have affected the fauna. It's a whole ecosystem changing, with humans as part of it.'"

dhw: I think we can now close this thread.

Not yet, you are quoting items I knew about, but recognize the Darwin loyalist view sticks them in with no relationship as to timing of brain size and tool appearance. Remember the erectus barbed spear point? Tools pop up in the record with all sorts of brain complexities.

I still will make the same comments I did for the article itself:

https://phys.org/news/2020-10-turbulent-era-human-behavior-years.html

David: Comment: With big-brained H. sapiens dated at 315,000 years ago in Morocco the ability to adapt had to be improved. Darwinists, like the authors, assume it is all adaptability changes, but the appearance of the big brain was undoubtedly was the main factor in human response and inventiveness.

You sucked out a part you wanted out of context and ignored the main points:

While some scientists have proposed that climate fluctuations alone may have driven humans to evolve this remarkable quality of adaptability, the new study indicates the picture is more complicated than that. Instead, the team's analysis shows that climate variability is but one of several intertwined environmental factors that drove the cultural shift they described in 2018. The new analysis reveals how a changing climate along with new land faults introduced by tectonic activity and ecological disruptions in the vegetation and fauna all came together to drive disruptions that made technological innovation, trading resources and symbolic communication¬—three key factors in adaptability—beneficial for early humans in this region.

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"They found that after a long period of stability, the environment in this part of Africa became more variable around 400,000 years ago, when tectonic activity fragmented the landscape. By integrating information from the drill core with knowledge gleaned from fossils and archeological artifacts, they determined that the entire ecosystem evolved in response.

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"With the fluctuations, a broader set of ecological changes also took place. The team found that vegetation in the region also changed repeatedly, shifting between grassy plains and wooded areas. Meanwhile, large grazing herbivores, which no longer had large tracts of grass to feed on, began to die out and were replaced by smaller mammals with more diverse diets.

"'There was a massive change in the animal fauna during the time period when we see early human behavior changing," Potts said. "The animals also influenced the landscape through the kinds of plants that they ate. Then with humans in the mix, and some of their innovations like projectile weapons, they also may have affected the fauna. It's a whole ecosystem changing, with humans as part of it.'"

Second comment: Yes all these changes, but they do not mention how that made a big brain or when that occurred in relation to all that was happening! It is pure Darwinism with environment making humans change.