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 Posted - 05/06/2007 : 16:15:14
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| Slide 11 |
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| Administrator
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Posted - 05/06/2007 : 21:42:16
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Cave Drawing
I would welcome your comments concerning this slide.
Lecture Notes:
When our early ancestors almost became extinct 150,000 years ago; they must have faced terrible food shortages. This forced them to adopt a hunting strategy that was a total departure from that of other social primates (e.g., chimpanzees, gorillas etc.).
Usually, social primates don't venture far away from the other members of their troop when they are hunting or gathering. The whole troop stays together for protection at night. Every few days the whole troop moves to look for food elsewhere. It appears our ancestors evolved a totally new hunting strategy.
Our ancestors divided into two groups: hunters and non-hunters. The hunters would go away on a hunt for days or weeks. The non-hunters (e.g., mothers with children and the elderly) would stay in a camp during the hunters' absence.
- Our hunter ancestors adopted a "manic" hunting behavior. This new hunting technique allowed our ancestors to kill even the biggest mammals.
First, our ancestors wounded their prey; forcing the wounded animal to flee. The hunters then followed the wounded animal relentlessly day and night for days or weeks. When in pursuit, the hunters had almost super-human energy and drive. They went nights with little or no sleep. Eventually, the pursued animal would drop with exhaustion and be killed. The hunters would then butcher the prey and often walk for days bringing the meat back to their families at camp. This hunting technique is still used by aboriginal hunters in the north of Canada.
- Our non-hunter ancestors adopted a "depressive" waiting behavior. When food was scarce, the non-hunters in camp would often go without food for days or weeks while the hunters were away. Thus their best chances for survival would be to conserve energy by going into an inactive "mere survival mode". In this nearly immobilized state, the non-hunters would stay in camp to await the return of the hunters (and food). It was very important that the non-hunters didn't leave camp while the hunters were away for days or weeks; otherwise the returning hunters wouldn't be able to find and feed the non-hunters.
Forty thousand years ago, our ancestors did something that no species had ever done before. They developed "symbolic logic", and started drawing pictures on rocks. Their brains had somehow become "re-wired", and they developed the ability to draw an abstract symbol that stood for something else (e.g., a horse drawn on a cave wall symbolically represented a real horse standing outside the cave).
Without this ability to use "symbolic logic"; humans would never had developed speech (auditory symbols) or writing (visual symbols). This evolutionary breakthrough dramatically increased human intelligence.
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| EmergingArtist
Incredible Member (2000+ posts)
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Posted - 05/07/2007 : 14:55:16
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| I've been unsuccessfully trying to get rid of my symbolic logic for years now. |
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| firebird
Amazing Member (1000+ posts)
1555 Posts
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Posted - 05/16/2007 : 12:54:28
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Don't throw you symbolic logic away EA, you may need It.
The theory makes sense. When I am more hyper I run a lot I feel I have to get rid of the energy or I go crazy. One of my favorite things to do when I run a long distance Is to daydream. Running can be really boring on its own. I go off road and one of the things I fantasies about is imagining I am hunting something or running to rendezvous with someone. Running on a tarmac road can be tedious so I like to go on rough ground and make my feet work twisting and turning over rocks and boulders and I get an excited feeling imagining I am on the tail of something. My fantasy gets even more enjoyable when I have a friend run with me. When I see some wild chickens I think I bet I could get one of those. It feels good if you have had a bad day at work you think no matter what happens in the world I could still get a meal. Could it be the reason women suffer more depression than men as they were often the ones who stayed and waited In camp? But women still hunted because they get mania too. Interestingly of female runners I have heard that after menopause woman's endurance goes up and many surpasses men's. Many women over 40 are better than men runners that age. Could it be that when they finished their child rearing days they joined the men in hunting for the group?.
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| CompassionateVegan
Starting Member
45 Posts
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Posted - 06/21/2007 : 23:15:40
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'Depression-like Waiting Behavoir' ... the heroin junkie too sick to get a fix waiting on someone to get it for him.
Ethically Vegan ~ For the Animals and Our Earth |
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