How Humans Evolved Through Fire, Language, Beauty, and Time
A thorough look at human history.
Humans Were marginal creatures a few millennia ago, barely surviving on the African savanna. However, we have emerged as the dominating species in today's world. It's an incredible ascent, but we didn't do it alone.
These summaries describe humanity's evolution by examining our interactions with four critical forces: fire, language, beauty, and time. This in-depth account of human history uses anthropology, environmental science, genetics, and psychology to explain how homo sapiens learned to master the world around them.
This review covers what to eat in the Australian outback, how sundials set the tone for civilization, and why you can't talk to apes.
1. Our species is influenced by our surroundings, genetics, and culture.
When British artist Neil Harbisson was born, he could only see grayscale. Neil was diagnosed with achromatopsia, a hereditary disease that impairs the eye's natural capacity to see color. But then something changed. Harbisson can detect more colors than any human in the world.
In 2004, Harbisson had a unique antenna inserted in his skull. This incredible technology recognizes colors and sends them directly to Harbisson's brain as musical notes. With this technology, he can "hear" a wider variety of colors than the human eye.
Harbisson's skill resembles science fiction. However, tools have always helped humanity. We have thrived because of our culture's ability to complement our biology.
The main point here is that our species is influenced by our environment, genetics, and culture.
Humans are unquestionably one of the most successful species on Earth. Today, billions of people live on all seven continents. Many of us live long, healthy lives, and our diverse, interconnected society creates everything from moving art to vast infrastructure.
So, how did humanity arrive here while other creatures stayed in their natural habitats? Our incredible rise as a species is attributable to the evolutionary triad. This triad comprises three components: our environment, genetics, and culture. The complicated interplay between these aspects has enabled our species to modify itself and the Earth.
We, like all other species, evolved in nature. The Earth's geological and ecological systems were the foundation for our existence. Then, via natural selection, our species gained unique features to help it navigate its surroundings. These characteristics include bipedalism (walking on two feet) and complex vocal cords for speaking. Finally, we strengthen these characteristics with culture, the accumulated information we pass down through generations.
Throughout the millennia, human culture has produced many advancements. Only four stand out as absolutely extraordinary. First, there's fire, which gives us more energy than our bodies can. The second is language, which allows us to store and transfer information. The third aspect is beauty, which gives our life meaning and structure. Finally, time will enable us to observe our surroundings objectively and rationally.
In the following summary, we'll go deeper into each of these four critical advances.
2. Fire helped humans become more intelligent, social, and robust.
On their own, ngardu seeds could be more appealing. In fact, if improperly prepared, this Australian plant can be highly toxic. However, the Yandruwandha people live in the bush and eat them regularly.
This aboriginal clan understands the proper method for grinding, straining, and, most importantly, cooking these seeds into nourishing bread. Their intricate strategy was refined over generations, allowing them to flourish in conditions that would typically be too harsh for humans.
Culinary traditions like Yandruwandha's exist all across the world. And, by letting us grow food in even the most desert environments, they have helped us spread far and wide. However diverse these traditions may be, they all share one common element: fire.
The main takeaway is that fire helped humans become more intelligent, more social, and more powerful.
It's difficult to overestimate the significance of fire in human history. It's no accident that numerous societies, from ancient Greece to Nigeria's Ekoi people, have tales about gods being the originators of fire. Modern scientists, however, tell a different picture. They think our human ancestors started building fires in East Africa's Rift Valley around 1.5 million years ago.
For various reasons, mankind was transformed by the ability to harness fire. For starters, it allowed us to cook both meat and vegetables. This simple process increases the nutritional value of food and makes it easier to digest. Cooked beef, for example, provides 40% more calories than its raw counterpart. All those extra calories helped our brains grow more extensive, allowing our bodies to devote less energy to our stomachs and more to cognitive functioning.
The physical benefits of fire were complemented by its social benefits. Building and keeping flames is challenging. Therefore, people had to use their larger brains to create gadgets to keep their hearths blazing. And, of course, continuing to reinvent the wheel is costly. As a result, humans had to develop the social skills required to impart and transmit this knowledge. Those tribes that excelled in communicating and improving these strategies went on to expand and spread into other territories.
As mankind's knowledge expanded, so did its technological advancements. As a result, these technologies might sustain more extensive and sophisticated communities. Humans learned to employ fire to convert mud into pottery after they harnessed it. They then utilized the pottery to cook and preserve additional food. This abundance allowed humanity to devote more time to developing better equipment like kilns and plows. As you can see, one single spark set off an upward cycle of innovation that continues to this day.
3. Language enabled humans to organize actions and establish permanent cultures.
Chimpanzees excel in climbing, grooming one another, and catching termites with sticks. But if you attempt conversing with one, you'll see they could be better conversationalists. So, why are we so much more talkative than our nearest ape relatives?
It is partly due to the FOXP2 gene. This small genetic code regulates hundreds of physical and cognitive characteristics related to speaking. Our version of FOXP2 is nearly identical to that of chimps, but the few variances offer us a significant advantage when learning and using language.
Most chimpanzees can be taught a few words and signs. However, the average person can recognize approximately 42,000 words by age twenty. This outstanding communication ability has significantly impacted our history and success.
The essential takeaway is that language enables humans to organize activities and create permanent cultures.
Modern beings are born with the intrinsic ability to master language. This talent is based on mental and physical attributes developed over thousands of generations. Our bipedal position, for example, allows us to breathe more freely, while our low and flexible larynx enables us to shape that air into hundreds of sounds. Our brains have also adapted, developing critical linguistic skills such as pattern recognition and abstract reasoning.
Our species' language proficiency gives it a significant advantage over other animals. Using speech and gestures, we can communicate complicated thoughts and coordinate tasks such as hunting, trading, and shelter construction. And, thanks to the introduction of writing some 5,000 years ago, we can accomplish even more. This astonishing breakthrough enabled humans to store and transfer information with high fidelity over long distances and across generations.
Writing allows you to read the 4,000-year-old epic of Gilgamesh like an ancient Babylonian would. Furthermore, you will likely enjoy it. That's because, like language, people have formed a strong bond with storytelling and the narratives it conveys. Across cultures, humans use stories to entertain one another, foster empathy, establish shared ideals, and make sense of the chaotic world around us.
Storytelling is so strong that it may synchronize the brains of both the speaker and the listener. Brain scans reveal that when people visualize the activities or sensations in a novel, their brains engage as if it were all true. This is why information presented as a story is 22 times more memorable than a list of facts. With such an intimate effect, it's no surprise that some of our most ancient cultural traditions are myths and legends passed down through generations.
4. Beauty and aesthetics give humans purpose and motivation.
Imagine someone wearing a piece of jewelry. What are you seeing? Perhaps it's a queen wearing an extravagant crown and scepter. Maybe it's a young woman wearing a sparkling diamond engagement ring. Or it might be a preacher holding a simple gold cross.
In all of these examples, the accessories serve a purpose beyond decoration. They tell the story of who each person is, their values, and where they fit in society. The materials used in each decoration are deeply rooted in humanity's travel, trade, and conquest history.
Our aesthetic expressions are far more than passing trends or superficial fashions. Our need to create and acquire beauty is a driving force in how we act as humans.
The main idea here is that beauty and aesthetics give mankind meaning and inspiration.
Our species is hardwired to value beauty. Humans have sought the most healthy and fertile mates for millennia by looking for health-related visual clues like face symmetry and clear complexions. We virtually universally find these features visually appealing. However, our perception of beauty is primarily subjective and culturally dependent. Furthermore, aesthetics are used for various objectives other than mate selection.
Humans from various cultures employ artificial ornamentation such as dress, jewelry, makeup, and body art to symbolically arrange communities. For example, the Turkana women of Kenya wear colored necklaces to indicate their status: yellow is for unmarried women, and white is for widows. In feudal Japan, only royals could wear silk, while others sought style through brilliant and complex tattoos.
Our desire for beauty has influenced the development of entire civilizations. Europe's quest for valuable metals and exotic spices sparked the first maritime journeys, which led to the growth of the slave trade and the colonization of the Americas. Previously, there was the Silk Road. This vast network of trade channels transported countless commodities, ideas, and diseases throughout Europe and Asia. However, it derives its name from the sumptuous and visually appealing fabric that became its most valuable commercial commodity.
But it does not end there. Our appreciation for beauty may be rooted in architectural and urban design innovations. After all, some of our first permanent constructions are about artistic expression rather than protection. Just consider Göbekli-Tepe in southeastern Turkey. Over 12,000 years ago, nomadic herdsmen created this megalithic temple complex. They also adorned it elaborately. That shows that even before agriculture, humans collaborated to build beautiful settings. The value of aesthetics cannot be emphasized.
5. Our grasp of time allows us to interact with the world sensibly.
Let's travel back 1.5 million years. In Africa, one of our ancestors cuts an antelope carcass with a rudimentary stone axe. She carves meat from the bone and eats her fill. Then she does something remarkable: when she leaves the supper, she carries her axe to use later.
In this case, the most incredible invention isn't the stone in her palm. It's something more intangible that exists in her head. It's the very definition of "later." While most primates would abandon the instrument after one use, this early human envisions a future in which the tool will be helpful again. She understands time.
Thinking in terms of time is a simple concept nowadays. However, it is an incredible cognitive leap that changed the fate of our entire species.
The main lesson here is that our concept of time allows us to interact with the world sensibly.
Like all other species, human bodies are inextricably linked to time. Our circadian rhythms allow us to wake and sleep in time with light, while hormones control other biological rhythms such as heart rate, hunger, and menstrual cycles. However, the conscious experience of time, i.e., the ability to remember previous events and foresee future developments, is unique to humans.
The ability to conceptualize time is one of our oldest and most significant technologies. Understanding past and present connections enabled our forefathers to grasp critical cause-and-effect interactions, such as the link between mating and delivery. Understanding the cyclical pattern of the seasons also helped us predict the optimal times to sow seeds and harvest crops, two abilities that were critical in the development of agriculture.
The amount of work we've used to measure time demonstrates its importance. As history reveals, mankind has always strived to create more accurate timepieces. As early as 38,000 years ago, mankind etched ivory tablets with precise lunar cycle accounts. Later, the Romans refined sundials, which divided days into hours. By the fourteenth century, European towns had gigantic mechanical clocks that kept everyone on the same schedule.
Objectively quantifying time altered every aspect of human life. Accurate clocks made it easier for ships to traverse the seas, paved the way for Enlightenment physics experiments, and allowed industrialists to organize workers hourly. In other words, time is a tool that has guided both our intellectual pursuits and our material output.
Our future route is uncertain, but we know that tomorrow will always come.
Final Summary
In a few short millennia, humanity has conquered the world. Environmental, genetic, and cultural influences have driven our species to surpass the capabilities of every other life form. However, this was only possible with four essential human tools: fire, language, beauty, and time.