Human evolution: savannah theory fading (Introduction)

by dhw, Friday, March 07, 2025, 11:47 (2 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: If sapiens fossils appear at the same ancient time all over Africa the savannah theory makes no sense. We can conclude various different populations of Erectus all over Africa evolved into Sapiens in the same time frames. This means pre-Erectus forms were also all over Africa, not just in savannahs.

dhw: There seems to be some controversy over whether erectus and sapiens overlapped, but we can certainly conclude that thousands of years ago different forms were all over Africa and not just in savannahs. That is not the point! You have twice emphasized that why and where and exactly when we evolved is “totally unknown”. bbbWe only know where and when sapiens was already alive and spreading himself around.bbb The savannah theory deals exclusively with the origin. What happened afterwards has nothing to do with the origin.

DAVID: The savannah theory was based on finding sapiens evidence solely in savannahs. Now that we have evidence of sapiens all over the place, the savannah theory loses its importance. What you want is a natural setting driving human evolution. But the settings now are everywhere. The human brain could handle all environmental problems. How did it evolve? Perhaps it was designed.

The timing is all important, and we have absolutely no way of knowing where or when the first sapiens made their debut. Evidence of sapiens having spread all over the place provides us with no clue whatsoever to the ORIGIN of sapiens. All you are saying now is that we shouldn’t bother to discuss the possible origin. However, you have previously theorized that your God popped in one fine day and operated on some existing hominids to give them new legs and pelvises. Does the fact that sapiens spread to all parts of Africa invalidate your theory? Or are you now claiming that your God did a pan-African dabble?