Seventy thousand years ago, our human ancestors were insignificant animals, just minding their own business in a corner of Africa with all the other animals. But now, few would disagree that...
========== Seventy-thousand years ago, our ancestors
were insignificant animals. The most important thing to know
about prehistoric humans is that they were unimportant. Their impact on the world was not
much greater than that of jellyfish or fireflies or woodpeckers. Today, in contrast,
we control this planet. And the question is: How did we come from there to here? How did we turn ourselves
from insignificant apes, minding their own business
in a corner of Africa, into the rulers of planet Earth? Usually, we look for the difference
between us and all the other animals on the individual level. We want to believe -- I want to believe -- that there is something special about me, about my body, about my brain, that makes me so superior
to a dog or a pig, or a chi...