A 60,000 Year Explosion of Invention?
Most readers of this blog have heard of the "10,000 Year Explosion" by Harpending and Cochrane, which convincingly describes how evolution can quickly work to change an insular breeding population of humans. Something similar -- the evolution of invention -- may have taken place on a global scale, after early humans moved out of Africa sometime over 60,000 years ago.
Before relatively recent contact with outside cultures, Subsaharan Africans did not invent the wheel, did not invent writing, developed minimal art, or agriculture, lacked musical instruments beyond simple percussion, and came up virtually empty in terms of math, science, and technology. Why the almost complete absence of invention and development?
The map of world IQ at top provides a tentative answer to the question, but the map raises a more central question: Why do SubSaharan African populations test so low, on average, on tests of IQ, executive function, and impulse control? Is it possible that a significant part of the development of the human "superbrain" -- which makes invention and modern advanced civilisation possible -- developed only after humans left the African birthplace?
The dispersal of modern humans from Africa to Europe [60,000 some] years ago provides a “minimum date” for the development of language, Hoffecker speculated. “Since all languages have basically the same structure, it is inconceivable to me that they could have evolved independently at different times and places.”The absence of sophisticated invention or innovation prior to the human diaspora out of Africa, or in SubSaharan Africa since that diaspora, suggests a potentially deep distinction in the way that humans inside SS Africa think in comparison to how Eurasian humans learned to think.
A 2007 study led by Hoffecker and colleagues at the Russian Academy of Sciences pinpointed the earliest evidence of modern humans in Europe dating back 45,000 years ago. Located on the Don River 250 miles south of Moscow, the multiple sites, collectively known as Kostenki, also yielded ancient bone and ivory needles complete with eyelets, showing the inhabitants tailored furs to survive the harsh winters.
The team also discovered a carved piece of mammoth ivory that appears to be the head of a small figurine dating to more than 40,000 years ago. “If that turns out to be the case, it would be the oldest piece of figurative art ever discovered,” said Hoffecker, whose research at Kostenki is funded in part by the National Science Foundation.
The finds from Kostenki illustrate the impact of the creative mind of modern humans as they spread out of Africa into places that were sometimes cold and lean in resources, Hoffecker said. “Fresh from the tropics, they adapted to ice age environments in the central plain of Russia through creative innovations in technology.”
Ancient musical instruments and figurative art discovered in caves in France and Germany date to before 30,000 years ago, he said. “Humans have the ability to imagine something in the brain that doesn’t exist and then create it,” he said. “Whether it’s a hand axe, a flute or a Chevrolet, humans are continually recombining bits of information into novel forms, and the variations are potentially infinite.” _SB
It would be good to be able to research this puzzle, but unfortunately, the straitjacket of Political Correctness prevents the raising of such questions -- even for purposes of objective scientific research. Which means that those of us who are curious will have to conduct our investigations under the table, so to speak.
Is that not always how it is, when intelligent and curious humans are faced with oppressive and authoritarian culture-reichs, such as the modern quasi-left postmodern PC culture?
More: Some links to websites listing some ancient inventions:
Ancient Inventions
Inventions of Ancient China
Top 10 Ancient Inventions
Adapted from an earlier article at abu al-fin
Labels: Africa, evolution, invention, IQ
posted by al fin at 10:23 am
6 Comments:
I read a theory by an anthropologist that you posted and I think some of his explanation has merit. His theory is that in cold harsh climates those that were able to innovate survived, while those who could not either migrated, froze to death, or starved to death. This process is known as "Nature culling the herd," and resulted in many innovations, like sewing clothing, making cloth, pottery for food storage, food preservation, and the most important innovation of all, culture. Many equatorial regions are communistic in their view of property, with in the extended family group and tribe. Those that live in cold climates could not afford to share, especially with those that made stupid choices. This resulted in communistic societies with little innovation, as the consequences of such a lack was never so high in equatorial regions, and societies in harsh climates developed innovation,the concept of personal property, and elevated IQ.
n modern affluent nanny states with cradle-to-grave benefits and safety nets, there is virtually no "culling of the herd."
Exploding public debt and collapsing demography of such nations may be the result of such counter-evolutionary sociological trends, which may bring about a "great leveling" at a much lower level of aptitude and capability.
My point is that where ever communism is practiced it acts as a time capsule, forever preserving the culture at the time of communisms inception. Communism was first introduced in tropical regions where consequences aren't as dire, the result has been the preservation of the hunter gatherer society. In fact one could say communism has been holding people back for..well...ever. While places in north Africa are designated as theocratic their economies are socialistic, which acts like a damper in the system of progress holding the people back. Not just technologically but intellectually, that is not to say that there are not shining stars in those societies, just that they are fewer and farther between.
My point is that where ever communism is practiced it acts as a time capsule, forever preserving the culture at the time of communisms inception. Communism was first introduced in tropical regions where consequences aren't as dire, the result has been the preservation of the hunter gatherer society. In fact one could say communism has been holding people back for..well...ever. While places in north Africa are designated as theocratic their economies are socialistic, which acts like a damper in the system of progress holding the people back. Not just technologically but intellectually, that is not to say that there are not shining stars in those societies, just that they are fewer and farther between.
If it's genetic, then why are there latitude-correlated IQ variations all around the globe?
Seems a lot more likely that it's disease-related. When humans moved out of Africa, they left a lot of diseases behind. When they move to colder climates, they exclude yet more diseases.
Chris: It is not "either-or." First you look at Africans whose families have been away from the tropics and tropical diseases for many generations, with access to decent education, nutrition, and health care. Once the environments have been matched as well as possible, heritability becomes more important.
Upper class North American blacks who are highly advantaged have children who score lower than disadvantaged North Americans of European or Asian descent, on aptitude and IQ tests.
Genomes take longer to change than the time it takes to simply move to higher latitudes. Perhaps over the next 10,000 years, Africans who have moved to higher latitudes will evolve higher levels of intelligence to reflect their lesser disease levels?
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