Human evolution: erectus adaptability (Introduction)

by David Turell , Sunday, January 19, 2025, 17:15 (3 days ago) @ dhw

QUOTE: "It's still unknown whether they could talk or had language, he says, but they may have been able to communicate in other ways to find resources such as water or rocks for making tools or fire."

dhw: I always find this kind of speculation irritating. “May have been able to communicate…"? Why "may"? All social creatures MUST have means of communication. Our own languages must have evolved at least partly from our use of sounds (which we only learned comparatively recently to reproduce in the form of writing), and what are words if they are not sounds used for communication? It is pretty absurd to even contemplate the possibility that our ancestors did not use their voices to produce communicatory sounds.

DAVID: I'm sure they vocally communicated.

dhw: Thank you. It’s always nice when we agree on something!

DAVID: A propos of our global warming discussion, this shows our potential for adaptability. Evolution produced a big-brained planner. Surely we can handle the current challenges despite the complexity of our current civilization.

dhw: Yes, we are adaptable. So was erectus. But one theory is that he went extinct because of climate change!.
AIP.ORG
https://ww2.aip.org › inside-science › the-final-days-of-… (Sorry,but once again I can’t get the link!)

DAVID: On my computer it pops right up and is of no value.

dhw: The history of evolution is one of comings and goings via extinctions. If you think erectus’s adaptability was “of value”, then maybe the possible cause of his extinction is also “of value”.

He left, we arrived evolved from him.

dhw: No need to speculate anyway. Even if the human race does survive the consequences of global warming, should we not take every precaution now to save our descendants from the possibly appalling consequences of the practices listed on the “balance” thread?

DAVID: Back to propaganda.

dhw: Back to avoiding the question.

You spew alarmist propaganda and my answer is we can go very slow in any possible mitigation.