Anthropology is the study of humanity. One of the questions the discipline has striven to answer from it's very conception is the question of what it is that ultimately makes us human. Where is that unique distinction that takes us from being just another creature populating the world and the fossil record and pushes us that next step to something more?
According to Donald Johanson in his book From Lucy To Language,
A human is any of the species Homo sapiens (“wise man”), the only modern living member of the family Hominidae. The Hominidae, or hominids, are a group of upright-walking primates with relatively large brains. So all humans are hominids, though not all hominids could be called human. (1)
Under this definition, we are in some ways the last of our kind, though without doubt the most prolific. Yet it does beg the question of what was it exactly that changed us from “upright-walking primates” and turned us into the “wise man” of today. Some Anthropologists argue it is the formation and use of complex tools – except further research has shown all primates and even some other species grasp the concept of making and using tools. Others say it is our capacity for higher, rational thought – except current research into other non-primate species is showing again and again a grasp of abstraction and other cognitive capacities we formerly believed were the domain of humanity alone. So, now, the researchers’ theories have reached further into the abstract. Perhaps it is our capacity, our need, to believe in something; to possess a mythology, a history beyond history, to explain our existence and the existence of the world around us. Our concepts of symbolism, a belief in a spirit world and those people who have the ability to ...
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Johanson, Donald C., and Blake Edgar. From Lucy to Language. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2006. Print.
Marshack, Alexander. The Roots of Civilization: the Cognitive Beginnings of Man's First Art, Symbol and Notation. Mount Kisco, N.Y.: Moyer Bell, 1991. Print.
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Dr. Goodall is a well-known British primatologist who has discovered a substantial amount about primates in her many years of research. She has written numerous books, including one that we will be going into depth about called, “Through a Window.” Her book contains personal experiences, research findings, and even pictures to help the readers visualize her scientific breaking moments from her thirty years with the chimpanzees of Gombe. She states that there is are minor differences, and several similarities between humans and the chimpanzees. We will discuss these differences and similarities through their social behavior, intellectual ability, and emotions. To conclude, examine Goodall’s research to adopt what her findings can tell us about our early ancestors, and whether or not her study coincided to the steps of scientific methodology.
The evolution of man is constantly in question. While we are reasonably sure that modern humans and primates are both related to the same common ancestor, there is constant debate over what initially caused the two species to split into early hominids and apes. According to some, our longest and most popular theory on the division of man and ape is profoundly wrong. However, those same individuals usually offer an equally controversial theory as a substitute, one that is almost impossible to scientifically test or prove. Both the Savanna Theory and the Aquatic Ape Theory offer solutions to how and why humans evolved into bipedal toolmakers. But with enough questioning, each loses its accountability to rhetorical science.
How can it be that something so uniquely human and commonplace in our everyday existence as language, could transcend the limits of our immediate understanding? We all know how to speak and comprehend at least one language, but defining what we actually know about that language an infinitely more demanding process. How can a child without previous knowledge of the construction and concepts of language be born into the world with an innate ability to apprehend any dialect? Mark Baker, in his book The Atoms of Language, seeks to address these unsettling questions, proposing as a solution, a set of underlying linguistic ingredients, which interact to generate the wide variety of languages we see today.
The ancestral lines of Neanderthals and modern humans is split roughly about 800,000 years ago, making them our closest relatives in the hominid ancestry. Neanderthals inhabited Europe and parts of the Western Asia before going extinct around 30,000 years ago. Neanderthals made and used a range of tools, they were able to control fire, make and wore clothing, were very skilled hunters of large animals however also ate plant foods, they lived in shelters, and occasionally made symbolic or ornamental objects, which no previous hominid species, had ever practiced this representative and complex conduct. Over this essay we will be covering some elemental information on Neanderthals, their differences and similarities anatomically with modern humans, along with their differences in behavior, and finally giving some possible implications for the timing of the development of culture.
Monkey see, monkey do. Apes have always been thought to have an increased level of intelligence. Over the years, researchers have attempted to understand the degree of intelligence these primates possess. However, it is essential to understand the definition of intelligence in order to determine the amount of intelligence primates have. Intelligence is the capability of obtaining knowledge and being able to utilize it in everyday situations. There are many hypotheses that focus on the evolution of intelligence in primates that view a number of factors including brain size and modernism. Primate intelligence has been a topic of interest to many because it will allow us to further understand the close relationship between humans and primates. Additionally, we will be able to understand the difference between human and primate cognition. Some studies suggest that the human and primate brains possess many similarities. This demonstrates why primates tend to respond to stimuli in a manner that is closely related to humans. Researchers have conducted a number of studies in an effort to understand primate cognition.
What does it mean to be human? To most people it means being high on the food chain; or having the ability to make our own choices. People everywhere have a few things in common: We all must obey Natural laws, and we have preconceived ideas, stereotypes, and double standards. Being human is simply conveyed as human nature in “The Cold Equations”, by Tom Godwin, where the author shows the common ground that makes each and every one of us human.
The first group of primates was the Ardipithecus group. They were the earliest humans closely related to other primates. The Ardipithecus group evolved in Africa and took the first step upright on two feet. Sahelanthropus tchadensis was the first human species to ever walk the earth. They were the building block of more complex species to come. There were many species that started the human race such as the Orrorin tugenensis. This species was nicknamed the Millenium Man and live 5.8-6.2 million years a...
... drawn. What makes us human? Through the examination of human evolution, both biological adaptations and cultural adaptations which are distinct to humans can be recognized. Biologically speaking, humans are unique in that they are bipedal, they have larger brain sizes, and longer leg length. When examining the cultural evolution of humans we have a complex language system, we live in communities, engage in symbolic behavior, and act through emotional impulses. While we are often considered to be superior to all other animals, it is important to recognize that while we are animals, we have very distinct characteristics and adaptations that separate us both biologically and culturally from all other animals.
There is no linear line of its origin and advancement, nor did it arise universally across the globe in one specific time or space. To understand these symbolic practices is to acknowledge its production as the result of various causes. According to “Part 1 Steps to the present” of Clive Gamble’s work titled Origins and Revolutions, many revolutions took place prior to symbolic expressions, such as the use of fire and the production of tools. It was the course of millions of years where we find origins and innovations that act as evidence towards untangling how hominids transitioned into modern humans. However, what it means to be a modern human and what modern human behavior constitutes is a continuous subject of debate amongst researchers. Gamble provided a table constructed by Sally McBrearty and Alison Brooks in “Chapter Two the human revolution” that attempted to outline what separates modern humans from other animals and how to define fully modern human behavior. Under the table numbered 2.2, Brooks and McBrearty list cultural and cognitive terms and archaeological traces in Africa. Focusing on the cognitive capabilities and skills, they note that planning depth, symbolic behavior, abstract thinking, and innovation are over lining characteristics of modern humans. While the table is
Author Yuval Noah Harari has a unique way of reviewing the past fourteen billion years in his monograph Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. His intention for writing this book is mainly to bring up the conversation of the human condition and how it has affected the course of history. In this case, the human condition coincides with the inevitable by-products of human existence. These include life, death, and all the emotional experiences in between. Harari is trying to determine how and why the events that have occurred throughout the lives of Homo Sapiens have molded our social structures, the natural environment we inhabit, and our values and beliefs into what they are today.
Language is like a blooming flower in adversity – they are the most rare and beautiful of them all as it struggles to express itself. It blooms and flourishes in strength, awe, and passion as the riches of thought is imbibed from the seed and into a finished beauty. For others, a non-native person speaking in a language that they are not familiar with sprouts out like a weed – the way its thorns can puncture sympathy and comprehensibility. Amy Tan, however, addresses the nature of talk as being unique under its own conditions. In Tan's “Mother Tongue”, she discusses how her mother's incoherent language is “broken” and “limited” as compared to other native English speakers. When focusing on Amy Tan, she grows noticeably embarrassed with her mother's lack of acuteness in the language, which then influences Tan to “prove her mastery over the English language.” However, she soon learns from herself and -- most importantly -- her mother that a language's purpose is to capture a person's “intent, passion, imagery, and rhythm of speech and nature of thought.” With such an enticing elegance...
Humans are members of the Earth's community of life in the same sense and on the same terms as other living things.
Creationists believe that humans were always humans. Humans are classified in the mammalian family Primates. In this arrangement, humans, along with our extinct close ancestors, and our nearest living relatives, the African apes, are sometimes placed together in the family Hominidae because of genetic similarities. Two-leg walking seems to be one of the earliest of the major hominine characteristics to have evolved. In the course of human evolution the size of the brain has been more than tripled.
Human nature is that quality that sets us apart from other living things; it is the definition of what we are.
Being human, we hold certain identifying characteristics that separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom. Modern day humans are able to walk upright and our bodies are able to withstand long distance running. More over, our heads are big and round, our jaws do not protrude out. Most importantly, we have face forward facing eyes. These are just certain physical characteristics that makes us human. Before us, we can see that our ancestors had primitive features, who were adapted to living in trees. In addition, the use of tools and other skills allowed early humans to adapt to new areas. The use of tools allowed for