Cave Of Bones
Just finished reading "Cave Of Bones - A True Story of Discovery, Adventure, and Human Origins" by Lee Berger and John Hawks, published by National Geographic.
What is the spark, the nuance if you will, that makes modern day humans, human? The standard is the ability to create, manage, and use fire, bury the dead, and make symbols and art, along with brain size. When fossils of Homo naledi, a hominin species that more than likely lived alongside early modern man, was discovered in a barely accessible cave system in South Africa, it was thought that the Homo naledi fossils were the fossilized remains of bodies just dumped into the cave system. Yet all clues pointed to deliberate burial and as years past, it became more and more apparent that the small brained Homo naledi were far more capable of "human" activity than a species with a brain only slightly bigger than a chimpanzee brain should be - including deliberately burying the dead, creating, maintaining, and using fire, and creating abstract art.
Berger creates a compelling case that Homo naledi might be a prime example of non-human "human" intelligence. He might be right and it may be a good idea to re-examine the notion of intelligence among non-human species.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Cave-Bones-Dis...
What is the spark, the nuance if you will, that makes modern day humans, human? The standard is the ability to create, manage, and use fire, bury the dead, and make symbols and art, along with brain size. When fossils of Homo naledi, a hominin species that more than likely lived alongside early modern man, was discovered in a barely accessible cave system in South Africa, it was thought that the Homo naledi fossils were the fossilized remains of bodies just dumped into the cave system. Yet all clues pointed to deliberate burial and as years past, it became more and more apparent that the small brained Homo naledi were far more capable of "human" activity than a species with a brain only slightly bigger than a chimpanzee brain should be - including deliberately burying the dead, creating, maintaining, and using fire, and creating abstract art.
Berger creates a compelling case that Homo naledi might be a prime example of non-human "human" intelligence. He might be right and it may be a good idea to re-examine the notion of intelligence among non-human species.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Cave-Bones-Dis...
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