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‘Homo sapiens is too arrogant: call us Homo faber, the toolmaker’


Still Waters

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We need to dispel the arrogant and misguided idea that modern humans are superior to earlier human species. It is thanks in part to all our predecessors such as Neanderthals that we are who we are today. This is what Marie Soressi, Professor of Hominin Diversity Archaeology, will argue in her inaugural lecture on 23 May.

The image of simple Neanderthals has shifted considerably in recent decades. For long, this human species, which is thought to have disappeared some 40,000 years ago (after giving us some genes), was considered far less intelligent than modern humans: Homo sapiens, the wise human. Since the publication of the neanderthal genome in 2010, we have discovered that we all still have a piece of neanderthal DNA. We should be pleased with this, says Soressi: some of these old genes help boost our immunity and fight disease. She has had her own DNA tested: ‘I’ve got four per cent neanderthal DNA, which is double the average two per cent that most Europeans have!’ 

https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2022/05/homo-sapiens-is-too-arrogant-call-us-homo-faber-the-toolmaker

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22 minutes ago, Still Waters said:

We need to dispel the arrogant and misguided idea that modern humans are superior to earlier human species.

We survived (for now) they didn't. 

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But...toolmaker would also be misleading, considering other hominids also made tools (or at least I know the Neanderthals did) Maybe something like "city builder" instead?

1 minute ago, XenoFish said:

We survived (for now) they didn't. 

Well we interbred with some of them. Isn't that where my large nose and your red hair comes from?

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1 minute ago, Orphalesion said:

Isn't that where my large nose and your red hair comes from?

It's a step up for survival. What will humans (if our species lives long enough) call themselves in 10,000 years? If we colonize worlds and have diverging evolutionary branches, what will they call themselves. Who's junk dna will keep going on? 

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2 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

It's a step up for survival. What will humans (if our species lives long enough) call themselves in 10,000 years? If we colonize worlds and have diverging evolutionary branches, what will they call themselves. Who's junk dna will keep going on? 

For all we know, if we get to the point of being a multi-planet species we might splinter into a whole bunch of species again, each adapting to their new home worlds. In fact, unless FTL travel is a possibility, such a splintering would be pretty much inevitable.

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3 minutes ago, Orphalesion said:

For all we know, if we get to the point of being a multi-planet species we might splinter into a whole bunch of species again, each adapting to their new home worlds. In fact, unless FTL travel is a possibility, such a splintering would be pretty much inevitable.

That was the whole point in what I posted. A micro increase of decrease in gravity, air density, etc. Small things we would hardly notice. A type of human that is no more than 4 foot tall due to higher gravity, stocky build or a rail thin one with large lungs all attributed to the environment. 

If we wanted to go further out, they might not be anything we might consider as being human. Might even devolve into something different. Even as ascend into a biomechanical species. 

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7 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

That was the whole point in what I posted. A micro increase of decrease in gravity, air density, etc. Small things we would hardly notice. A type of human that is no more than 4 foot tall due to higher gravity, stocky build or a rail thin one with large lungs all attributed to the environment. 

If we wanted to go further out, they might not be anything we might consider as being human. Might even devolve into something different. Even as ascend into a biomechanical species. 

Exactly. There's a book I can recommend you called "All Tomorrows" (maybe you have heard about it, if you watch youtube, it had quite a popularity there) that is a, granted somewhat whimsical, chronicle of far-future humanity splintering into  myriad of outlandish forms, including mechanical species. It has some outlandish scenarios but the overall idea is quite interesting. It gets to the point that some of the branches of humanities progeny don't even recognize each other as lifeforms any more, let alone fellow sapient species.

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1 minute ago, Orphalesion said:

"All Tomorrows"

Seen a few youtube videos about it. It was interesting.

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1 hour ago, Still Waters said:

We need to dispel the arrogant and misguided idea that modern humans are superior to earlier human species. It is thanks in part to all our predecessors such as Neanderthals that we are who we are today. This is what Marie Soressi, Professor of Hominin Diversity Archaeology, will argue in her inaugural lecture on 23 May.

The image of simple Neanderthals has shifted considerably in recent decades. For long, this human species, which is thought to have disappeared some 40,000 years ago (after giving us some genes), was considered far less intelligent than modern humans: Homo sapiens, the wise human. Since the publication of the neanderthal genome in 2010, we have discovered that we all still have a piece of neanderthal DNA. We should be pleased with this, says Soressi: some of these old genes help boost our immunity and fight disease. She has had her own DNA tested: ‘I’ve got four per cent neanderthal DNA, which is double the average two per cent that most Europeans have!’ 

https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2022/05/homo-sapiens-is-too-arrogant-call-us-homo-faber-the-toolmaker

Homo Superciliosus should pretty much cover it.

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Homo vanitatem arrogantia

~

 

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Humans have a vested interest in claiming they're awesome.

"I'm the best!  Just ask me!" :sk:rofl:

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Homo Astronaticus, we can travel to space after all (even if we don’t because …. Reasons).

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12 hours ago, Orphalesion said:

Exactly. There's a book I can recommend you called "All Tomorrows" (maybe you have heard about it, if you watch youtube, it had quite a popularity there) that is a, granted somewhat whimsical, chronicle of far-future humanity splintering into  myriad of outlandish forms, including mechanical species. It has some outlandish scenarios but the overall idea is quite interesting. It gets to the point that some of the branches of humanities progeny don't even recognize each other as lifeforms any more, let alone fellow sapient species.

There's an old book, "First men, last men", or something, written by Olaf Stapleton. It is an old fiction about how humans will evolve, here and on other planets.

Edit:

Here it is:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_and_First_Men

Edited by locomekipkachelfantje
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13 hours ago, Still Waters said:

We need to dispel the arrogant and misguided idea that modern humans are superior to earlier human species.

Why, I'm going to say they were dumb, ugly apes. They don't have hang ups like everyone else, they're dead.

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16 hours ago, Still Waters said:

We need to dispel the arrogant and misguided idea that modern humans are superior to earlier human species. It is thanks in part to all our predecessors such as Neanderthals that we are who we are today. This is what Marie Soressi, Professor of Hominin Diversity Archaeology, will argue in her inaugural lecture on 23 May.

The image of simple Neanderthals has shifted considerably in recent decades. For long, this human species, which is thought to have disappeared some 40,000 years ago (after giving us some genes), was considered far less intelligent than modern humans: Homo sapiens, the wise human. Since the publication of the neanderthal genome in 2010, we have discovered that we all still have a piece of neanderthal DNA. We should be pleased with this, says Soressi: some of these old genes help boost our immunity and fight disease. She has had her own DNA tested: ‘I’ve got four per cent neanderthal DNA, which is double the average two per cent that most Europeans have!’ 

https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2022/05/homo-sapiens-is-too-arrogant-call-us-homo-faber-the-toolmaker

We are the only one not extinct so I think we are OK thinking we are superior to other human species.

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4 hours ago, locomekipkachelfantje said:

There's an old book, "First men, last men", or something, written by Olaf Stapleton. It is an old fiction about how humans will evolve, here and on other planets.

Edit:

Here it is:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_and_First_Men

I had that book once but I gave up early on when....if I remember correctly....the US President and the Prime Minister of China plunged the planet into a world war because they started a dick-measuring contest over some "golden skinned" island beauty who just randomly walked into their conference. Then again, maybe Stapleton just foresaw an alternate timeline ending to the Trump presidency there :P

Does it get better later?

Edited by Orphalesion
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