Homo sapiens does its best to forget the fact, but it is an animal.
- Yuval Noah Harari -
Until about seventy thousand years ago there was multiple human species on the planet, Homo Sapiens (that's us), Homo floresiensis, Neanderthal, Denisovans, Homo Erectus and so forth, all located in different places: Africa, Eurasia, Indonesia, Siberia and other places. Now...they're all extinct except us. (Note: Wouldn't the world be an interesting place with multiple human species inhabiting it?)
I'm not a paleoanthropologist or scientist however understand that Homo Sapiens (us) evolved from the Neanderthal - We developed our cognitive thought to levels before unseen; the ability to acquire and store information and to retrieve and manipulate it. Neanderthals had such abilities, the ability to understand the benefit of tools and the skill of knapping - the shaping of flint, obsidian and other such materials - but they were underdeveloped when compared to Homo Sapiens. The latter developed those cognitive abilities much further and begun to understand farming which meant we needed to stay in place rather than roaming (hunting and gathering) as the seasons turned and game migrated or plant-life came into or went out of season.
That meant settlements were created and...well, here we are today. We evolved.
A few days ago I watched the (shameful) behaviours of a couple of individuals who should have known better, cognitive thought and all. The behaviours were counter-productive to the greater good of others and the common goal and I wondered what might have happened back in the day should a bunch of Neanderthals have been in the same situation; a quick club to the head? Some form of banishment? I don't know, but humans have survived for a reason and Darwin's theory of natural selection is one of the reasons. I figure that bad actors were dealt with rather harshly back in the day though.
It got me thinking about the human ability to evolve; I have, after all, done so myself throughout my life, as have you.
Maybe evolve isn't the right word for the progression and development through an individual's life though as I'm not sure it can occur, in lasting ways, in such a short period of time, but I've certainly changed my thoughts and beliefs, gained knowledge and understanding and let things fall away as unneeded or unwanted so I could progress in better ways. I've developed personally and professionally, worked to change for the better, have more meaningful relationships and to be a better person to others when they deserve it, worked on releasing negativity and focusing on better thoughts, attitudes and actions...That's evolution-of-self I guess right?
All of these things have been inspired by the experiences I've had in life, no different from a Neanderthal person seeing a wild dog at the watering hole and all of a sudden having the thought that catching then training it to hunt with him could be of benefit; and so he or she began to evolve into something different, better hopefully - that's cognitive thought in action. I figure you've done the same...evolved as an individual over the course of your life and sought a better version of yourself and better outcomes.
There's been a few instances, events and experiences in my life that have brought about great change; not all were initially positive things but the change that came from them has usually been so, eventually. I wonder if you've had similar experiences, or at least experiences that have caused positive change to occur personally and in your life.
If you have and would like to share something please do so in the comments below; don't give away any secrets of course, but feel free to share, or just comment on anything you'd like...maybe an area in which you'd like to evolve and develop.
Design and create your ideal life, tomorrow isn't promised - galenkp
[Original and AI free]
Image(s) in this post are my own - Neanderthal skull, Museum of Natural History, London UK.
