Nomads with sticks launch rockets into space: what is the difference between us and ancient people

Now let's compare one of these ancient people with his descendants from the 21st century and think how much the gap has increased. Although . . . in some sense, we are the same ancient people. Modern people who fly into space and nomads with sticks - we are all the same! In terms of genetics. An ancient man is determined not by one moment in evolution, since this process is too gradual to determine exactly when we became "people".

Of course, we all have one genetic ancestor, but that does not mean that there were some significant differences between them and their contemporaries. Our ancestors simply won in a reproductive lottery. Judging by fossil residues and DNA data, people similar to us (anatomically modern) appeared in Africa about 300,000 years ago.

But archaeological findings of tools and artifacts indicate that they began to behave as we (modern) only 50-60 thousand years ago, after a thousand generations of stagnation. This sharp shift is sometimes called a "big jump forward". Experts diverge in their thoughts how to explain the lag of the anatomical and behavioral development of a modern man. For some reason, it seems that people have reached intellectual climax only after they look like us in most other aspects.

If we compare ourselves with people to a "jump", then we will find huge differences. Take, for example, the development of the concept of symbolism: the use of objects, images and signs to represent ideas is a huge part of what makes us people. It is a key that has discovered language, as well as cultural, religious and technological innovations. That is why archaeologists are always looking for evidence of "symbolically indirect behavior", such as ritual burials, bone flutes and rock drawings.

Another distinctive feature of modern behavior is the ability to solve problems and to carry out long -term planning. In the archaeological chronicle, this was manifested in the form of a sudden splash, which began about 60,000 years ago, in the production of such advanced artifacts as fishing hooks, meadows and sewing needles. At about the same time, our species rapidly colonized the planet, including travel to Australia and other Pacific Islands, which required the experience of navigation.

What caused such unprecedented success that the whole world has swept away? According to cognitive archaeologists Frederick L. Kulidge and Thomas Winn, "the matter was not only in their technologies. It was something in their mind, the ability they owned, but which they did not have in their relatives.

" This "something", in their view, is an executive function - a set of complex mental processes that, in particular, allow us to achieve our goals, planning in advance, focusing attention, thinking abstractly and self -control. The neuropsychologist Muriel Lesak called it "the basis of all socially useful, personally significant, constructive and creative abilities.

" It is doubtful that our species would be able to move far without the executive function inherent in the frontal proportion of the brain that has recently emerged evolutionarily. These abilities made it possible for ancient people to improve tools, coordinate difficult hunting and even go to far, unprecedented lands. But this is not the whole story. Since the emergence of modern behavior at the end of the Stone Age, a number of serious changes have taken place.

The mental landscape of our ancestors from the Upper Paleolithic may have been like ours, but in many plans they were still closer to the earliest people than those who live today. One possible explanation that has changed since then is that we have not really changed as a person. Evolutionary psychologist Nicholas R. Longrich notes that the great thinkers of antiquity, such as Aristotle and Buddha, were clearly as endowed with intelligence as everyone who lives now.

What has changed is more and more global networks in which we live. "Most of the differences between our ancient, ordinary societies of hunters-harnesses and modern societies, reflects the fact that we have become much more and there are more connections between us," the scientist says. This is important because innovations are growing with the population.

The fact is that the more people, the greater the likelihood that one of them will be a genius, launching a complex feedback chain in which the culture develops to the highest level of complexity. And a few special innovations, such as agriculture and writing, truly pushed human progress, launching us far beyond the horizons of previous generations.

In other words, it is not that our cognitive equipment has improved since the first behavioral people of modern people, but that we have been enjoying the benefits of a thousand years of knowledge accumulated over thousands of years. As for the appearance, looking at any diverse crowd, we can make sure that evolution was in full swing as people settled on the continents.

Having gone on a long journey from Africa, our ancestors encountered all sorts of new conditions and were forced to adapt constantly. Genetic mutations for dark skin allowed people to withstand the scorching sun, and small noses were better warmed by cold air, which they inhaled in the northern climates. Other adaptations were thinner, but no less influential.

For example, lactase persistence developed in populations with livestock, which enabled them to digest milk throughout their lives, not just as a child. And in the mountain Tibet, people who live at high altitude have developed larger lungs to effectively use the sparse air of this region. Against the backdrop of all the changes that have taken place in the last few millennia, monumental shifts in our world and lifestyle, it is amazing how much we have remained.

Much in our behavior is proven according to the habitat of ancestors, which has long passed, and now we often face evolutionary mismatch - many features that have helped our ancestors have negative consequences for us today. Take, for example, our almost indomitable attraction to delicious food. Ancient people often faced the problem of food shortages, so it was logical to eat for every convenient opportunity.