The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice. As someone who isn't able to find an objective basis for morality, I've often wondered what that means for the above statement from Martin Luther King. It certainly feels like we're making moral progress, that the status of previously oppressed or marginalized people … Continue reading Is there a moral arc to history?
Tag: Human evolution
The power of symbolic thought
One of the things I've pondered a few times on this blog is our ability to recognize another intelligence, such as an extraterrestrial intelligence. On the face of it, this seems straightforward. Do they form societies, use technology, manipulate their environment, and overall show signs of intelligence? Except an alien intelligence may be so different from … Continue reading The power of symbolic thought
First Peoples and Neanderthals
This weekend, I finished off the last of the 'First Peoples' PBS miniseries on prehistoric humans. If you've watched other documentaries on human prehistory and found them interesting, then you'll want to watch this one to get the latest findings. It was fascinating. (A lot of people have mentioned 'Becoming Human' to me, which I've … Continue reading First Peoples and Neanderthals
Religion, the Axial Age, and theoretic culture
I recently read the late Robert Bellah's 'Religion in Human Evolution: From the Paleolithic to the Axial Age.' Although the title of the book seems to narrow it to just religion, in ancient societies, religion was just about everything, so the book ended up being about the development of cultures, which isn't too surprising given … Continue reading Religion, the Axial Age, and theoretic culture
World’s Oldest Art Identified in Half-Million-Year-Old Zigzag
I've noted before that I think capabilities like human language didn't pop into being 50-75 thousand years ago, but developed over hundreds of thousands of years (if not millions). Well, it looks like another piece of behavioral modernity may predate anatomically modern humans: World's Oldest Art Identified in Half-Million-Year-Old Zigzag. A zigzag engraving on a … Continue reading World’s Oldest Art Identified in Half-Million-Year-Old Zigzag
Is the human species still evolving? Of course.
It looks like Bill Nye, the science guy, is coming out with a new book on evolution, with an excerpt at Popular Science: Is The Human Species Still Evolving? | Popular Science. We cannot step away from evolution. Our genomes are always collecting mutations, and we are always making mate selections. Are humans preferentially mating with … Continue reading Is the human species still evolving? Of course.
Who was the first person to have an afterlife?
Click through for full sized version and the red button caption. via Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. The idea that only humans have an afterlife has always been one that I find interesting. If only humans have them, at what point in our evolutionary history did we obtain them? Did Neanderthals have them? What about Homo-erectus? If … Continue reading Who was the first person to have an afterlife?
Extinct human cousin gave Tibetans advantage at high elevation
It looks like ancient humans got around. It's pretty well known now that most of us have Neanderthal DNA, but apparently a lot us also have Denisovan DNA: Extinct human cousin gave Tibetans advantage at high elevation -- ScienceDaily. Tibetans were able to adapt to high altitudes thanks to a gene picked up when their ancestors … Continue reading Extinct human cousin gave Tibetans advantage at high elevation
Vitamin D apparently has nothing to do with skin color
This article is a reminder that in science, nothing is certain until you have evidence (even then, nothing is totally certain): In human evolution, changes in skin's barrier set northern Europeans apart -- ScienceDaily. The popular idea that northern Europeans developed light skin to absorb more UV light so they could make more vitamin D -- vital … Continue reading Vitamin D apparently has nothing to do with skin color
The Paleo delusion, and a delusion about that delusion
Today at lunch I listened to the latest Point of Inquiry podcast, which was an interview of Marlene Zuk about her new book on common delusions about evolution and the paleolithic life style. These misconceptions usually run along the lines of assuming that since we evolved to be hunter gatherers, that we should live like those … Continue reading The Paleo delusion, and a delusion about that delusion
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