Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id MAA13193 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Sun, 14 Apr 2002 12:28:05 +0100 X-Originating-IP: [194.117.133.84] User-Agent: Microsoft-Entourage/9.0.2509 Date: Sun, 14 Apr 2002 12:19:41 +0100 Subject: Early Lunch From: Steve Drew <srdrew_1@hotmail.com> To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Message-ID: <B8DF2443.8C%srdrew_1@hotmail.com> Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit X-OriginalArrivalTime: 14 Apr 2002 11:21:55.0774 (UTC) FILETIME=[95A465E0:01C1E3A6] Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Has any one read the article in this weeks New Scientist (13/4/02, Vol 174,
No 2338)?
For those that haven't Richard Coss thinks our transition from ape to human
was kick started not only by leaving the trees, but also because rather than
being the hunter, 5 million years ago we were the hunted. He argues that our
hunting behaviour, social systems all result from the need to devise
defences against creatures the like of which aren't around today.
I find the idea quite reasonable as it provides an answer why did we begin
tool using. Whacking something with a stick or rock that is bigger than you
has a better success rate than shaking a fist at it. As we become more adept
with bigger and better sticks we learnt to fight back which is a good
precursor to learning hunting. If you can clobber a sabretooth, a small deer
(say) becomes a feasible target.
Basically it was an evolutionary arms race with us trying to catch up.
He also argues for certain predispositions of an evolutionary psychology
nature. That is instincts that have become hardwired. In one test he
constructed a virtual model of some savannah and showed it to some
pre-school kids. He introduced a lion to the scene and asked the kids to
pick the safest spot from 3 choices: In a crevice, a thorn bush or on top of
a boulder. Only 1 in six chose the boulder which was the only safe spot. Not
definitive evidence I know, but the article does contain other interesting
ideas and theories.
As has already been noted, in relation to language, he argues that language
evolved from cries of alarm to a proto language exhibited by some apes today
that distinguishes between specific threats through to language proper.
Interesting piece. It also notes that anthropologists are not at all keen on
it.
Regards
Steve
===============================================================
This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Apr 14 2002 - 12:47:09 BST