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| Homo Sapiens |
Homo sapiens have been around for about 200,000 years. (i) The homo erectus, now extinct, was around about 1.9 million years ago, (ii) but they are not modern humans. This seems like a really long time until we compare it to some well-known fellow creatures on earth. The whale has been around 50 million years. That's 250 times longer than us. The elephant had been on earth 55 million years or 275 times longer than us. (iii) That's pretty awesome but that doesn't compared to the crocodile at 105 million years (525 times longer). Wow! You think that's amazing, how about the shark at 409 million years or 2,045 times longer than homo sapiens?! We're not done. The horseshoe crab has been on earth for 480 million years. That's 2,400 times longer than us. (v) If the time-line of earths existence was marked out on a football field, the appearance of homo sapiens would be less than an inch from the goal-line.
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| Homo Sapiens cave art |
But I bet you knew all of that. It does make us stop and think about our development as a species. A number of new things showed up in homo sapiens. The expansion of our neocortex, most especially the association cortex, has enabled us to develop spoken language, have self-awareness, problem solving and abstract thinking. (vi) One of the things which most fascinates scientists is the development of symbolic behavior like cave art, jewelry and statues. We still share a great deal with others in the hominidae family; orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees and humans. Some argue that at least the gorillas and chimpanzees are actually the same genus, but that's really a mute point in this context. While the greater and lesser apes began developing into sub-categories almost 18 million years ago, our oldest known ancestor was first found about 1.9 million years ago. We were obviously the last of the family to develop and, as a result, demonstrated these new attributes.
But there turned out to be some really negative aspects to this new animal species. We have developed a taste for killing for fun. We are wasteful. We have become an invasive species. We think we are better than nature and end up hurting nature. We think we are the most important creature and kill others for no reason, destroying entire ecosystems for our simple comforts. This is very much contrary to other animals, including those of our own genetic family. The definition of a invasive plant species is a plant that grows exceptionally rapidly, in a place where it was not intended and therefore is in conflict with indigenous species. We definitely fit this definition in the animal world.
In a Quora.com article about the difference between humans and other animals, the author cited greed as perhaps the greatest difference.
Greed! Most animals, excluding the human animal, survive on a subsistence level. As long as their basic needs are met they are content. There may be territorial disputes or disputes over mating rights or squabbles over food, but these are survival drives. There seems to be a lot of peace and serenity once these desires are satisfied.
Humans, on the other hand, are never satisfied. There is a constant struggle for more. It is not enough to have the necessities of life provided, there is always an insatiable hunger for excess. Mankind seems to have been born with a giant hole in their spirit that they strive through life to fill with STUFF (money, possessions, sex, drugs, status, amusements, food, etc., etc., etc.) This crazed hunger has propelled many great achievements, also some of the world's greatest atrocities. We can't stand to be less than the best or for others to have more or better than us. We'll fight tooth and nail to get ahead, or at least keep up. Most people die never having experienced true long term satisfaction in life. A momentary satisfaction with finally getting “one" is soon displaced with a “need" to have the whole set. It is this greed for more that separates us from the “wild" animals. (vii)
Just because we, as a species, have the ability to abstract is in no way scientific or even logical evidence that we are special, created by some deity or more entitled than any other species. At best it is evidence that we are the new species on the block and evidence that species do evolve. The question can be asked: are we an evolutionary success or are we going to be naturally eradicated because we're an invasive species run amuck. My money is on the latter.
FOOTNOTES:
(i) Smithsonian. "What does it mean to be human? http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-sapiens
(v) Smithsonian Magazine. "The top 10 greatest survivors of evolution."
#homosapiens #evolution #humans #science #anthropology #invasivespecies #oldconservationist
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