Upright Posture: The Primary Categorical Human Trait

Filed under: Evolution, Language, Uncategorized

This blog maintains that upright posture is the sine qua non human trait because: 1) humanity is defined by a shift to collective functioning; 2) collective function requires a “public” communication system to coordinate the behavior of individuals; and 3) upright posture enabled the face-and-upper-body to become the instruments of the simultaneous-and-continuous communication that is …

Read More

WHY WE STOOD UP

Filed under: Evolution of human motivation, Language

A follow-on to the last post. When multicellular organisms were first expanding their internal complexity five hundred million years ago, neurological systems were evolved to co-ordinate their behavior. The key is rapid and continuous real-time communication to all constituents of the organism. How could such communication have been established in the first hominin group-organisms? To …

Read More
THe Two Mind Hypothesises striking stones

Human Nature – Part V: Upright Posture, Great Big Brains and Only One Hand Ax

Filed under: cognitive capacities, Evolutionary psychology, Group Selection, Language

For a fossil to be designated a hominin there must be evidence of upright posture.  However, any orthopedic surgeon can tell you that upright posture produces extreme vulnerability for injuries to the lower back (perennially among the top ER visits), hips and knees, so it is reasonable that the evolutionary advantages of such a costly …

Read More

Human Nature – Part IV: The New Narrative of Human Evolution

Filed under: Evolution of Emotion, Evolutionary psychology, Group Selection, Human Nature, Justice, Language

Forth in series: click for first, second, or third There is evidence that, in a period of sharply declining temperatures, a collapse in the ape population occurred at the time hominins split off from apes. My view is that in the context of birthrates falling toward extinction, hierarchical dominance competition became a dangerous waste of …

Read More
A Liberal Awakening - Part II

Human Nature – Part II: The Vast Silent Cradle of Our Human Passions

Filed under: Evolution of Emotion, Evolutionary psychology, Group Selection, Human Nature, Justice, Language

Second in a series: Click for first or third It is not generally understood that there is virtually no scientific knowledge about how the mind of apes evolved into our own mind. Huge amounts of scientific knowledge about the minds of apes and humans (particularly children) are neatly being stacked upon the cliffs on either …

Read More
Ian Tattersall

Career Splitter Ian Tattersall Slams Lumpers with a Cheap Shot

Filed under: Evolution of Emotion, Evolutionary psychology, Group Selection, Language, My Favorites, The Ascension of the Human Spirit

My uncle used to work at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. He was an artist in his soul and, among many other activities, designed the dioramas for the various exhibits. His favorite by far was the work he did at the Hall of Human Origins. He would often talk with great …

Read More

***”Our Two Minds, Emotions and Motivations in Human Evolution”*** The Book

Filed under: Author narrative, Dominance and Submission, Emotional Fossils, Evolution of Emotion, Evolutionary psychology, Group Selection, Language, Monogamy, Sexual Selection, Summary of Philosophy, The Ascension of the Human Spirit, The Deep Evolution of Emotion, Two Mind Hypothesis

This alternative view of human nature is a deeper, richer, and far more noble narrative of our exclusively human legacy: that of an indomitable spirit possessed of a will for justice and sustained through the millennia by the bounty that it fosters.

Read More