Our modern Brain today operates with 3 very simple concepts (simple is probably the wrong word )

The ability to cross connect ideas.

What does this mean. Here is a simple test. If I ask you:

'What is the difference between a stone and a branch ?' You could correctly reply: 'They are 2 entirely different compounds'

'What is the difference between a bone and water ?' 'Why you idiot they are 2 entirely different compounds'

What is the difference between water and sand ? 'You numbskull ... they are 2 different compounds

'OK .. what is the difference between Water and Ice ?'

Did you pause ? ... thats because you made a cross connection in your brain. Lucy could not do this ... she would have replied that water and ice are 2 entirely different compounds. Her brain was smaller, (specifically her memory banks) not much bigger than a chimps. This was not her fault, the neurons required to cross connect the paths in her memory had not yet evolved. She was doing the best she could ... She was our ancestor ! She felt pain, loss, grief, happiness, and she loved ... but she did not know why !!

She would never leave Africa, she had no need to. 2.5 million years ago (mya) she and her kind disappeared from the fossil record.

Now, in the fossil record four new contenders for a modern brain appear.

Homo Rudolfensis. Australopithicus Gahri Australopithicus Africanus Homo Habilus (Handyman)

Lets leave out the first 3 and just talk about Handyman. He was just a little guy, only coming up to our waist ... bullied and pushed out of the good territories. The only way he could get food was to scavenge and keep out of everyone else's way.

He made an incredible discovery ... He did this because he was incredibly curious, starvation makes you investigate every possible source. (his memory banks were larger than Lucys) By waiting his turn, until all the other predators had left the kill site, he collected the bones. Using rocks he smashed open the bones in a safe location and feasted on the marrow. He was the only, and the first, creature that worked this out.

Marrow and Brain are made from the same matter.

He had found a continuous source of food, easily collected. His brain, owing to this rich diet of pure brain matter grew in size and the cross connections grew with it. The single leg bone of a Giraffe can contain 10kgs of marrow !

He was the first of our ancestors to make cross connections. He had made a connection between Stone and Bone to release food. They were 2 different compounds but in some way that he did not really understand, they were connected. Even tho he was only a little, small timid curious fellow, he now stood tall amongst all others. He could organise, and he did. Working like a trained commando unit, they would throw rocks at Lions and Hyenas that had made a fresh kill. The lions were bigger and stronger, but they were frightened by the swarm of Handyman and missiles approaching.

He would never set foot outside of Africa, he had no need to. He disappears from the fossil record about 1.8 mya.

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IMAGINATION

What does this mean.

Lets use an easy explanation. Firstly we can cross connect apparently unrelated events or objects, we can group these events or objects into notions.

Imagination is nothing more, nor less, than the ability to create notions that DO NOT EXIST in reality. Picturing footprints that you have not seen. Going on a successful Hunt, only in your mind .... and then .... communicating it to others .. and carrying it out. Looking at a massive gorge in a Mountain range and deducing that it looks similar to a Snake Trail... ergo ... A Dreamtime serpent made this gorge when he crawled thru here. Explaining events that have no explanation using your existing notions. Becoming Spiritual, religious ... this is Imagination.

For this you need a very BIG Brain with HEAPS and HEAPS of memory space.

Homo Ergaster did not have imagination. He did not develop jewellery, art work, religion, sophisticated burials ... His tools were masterpieces, but he did not know that ... for him they were purely functional.

You could not tell Ergaster a joke ... imaginary notions were not part of his brain process.

But the two descendants of Ergaster could do this. Neanderthal in a limited way. Homo Sapiens in a limitless way.

When Homo Ergaster disappeared from Africa we find the first fossils of Homo Sapiens.

When Homo Ergaster disappeared from the rest of the occupied world we find the first fossil of Neanderthal.

An Ice age descended on Europe and the Northern Hemisphere. Neanderthal adapted to make a living (just) in this environment. The physical requirements for Neanderthal were so hard that his imagination was put on the backburner.

But Homo Sapiens was in even Bigger trouble. The water that was being locked up in the glaciers of the northern hemisphere meant that no water was available in Africa. Africa started to dry out.

Something had to be done. What did Homo Sapiens do. He died, and he died, and he continued to die.

It can be shown that as any species draws towards extinction, the fitness of the remaining population increases. This is inversely proportional. In other words when things get tough, the toughest get going, they are all that remain.

Homo Sapiens, our Ancestors, approached extinction until there was only around 300 to 1000 of us left. We know this from our DNA Markers.

What did these few, these mighty few do ? They used their imagination.

To start with they had to get out. But how, you cannot travel without water, and there was none in the northern escape route.

They decided to carry it. Sounds simple. Sounds really simple. Listen, they were the first to ever think of it, no one, no creature had ever had a need to devise such an outlandish thing before.

They created water banks, hollowed out ostrich eggs, bark containers, and they fought their way out. They used their imagination to picture a notion that did not exist in reality. ie: water in the desert. Then they followed the coastlines to everywhere ...

Some of them never stopped until they reached Australia 60,000 years ago. The record of their journey is contained in their 'Dreamtime'. the dreamtime is not a religion, it is the oral history passed down thru the countless generations so that the descendants may survive.

The DNA proof of their journey is that they carry a special DNA marker unique to Australian Aboriginals. This DNA Marker has recently been found, by the human genome project, in 2 citizens of Chennai (Formerly Madras, India). These two citizens were born, and have lived all their lives in Madras, as well as all their forebears for as far back as can be traced. This has been taken to show that the Australian Aboriginal passed that way on his incredible journey.

The reason that the Dreamtime is not a religion is that it NEVER makes a prediction for the future, it only tells the story of the journey of man, and the creation of the world. it has no God. It is full of Serpents and creatures of mythical status ... but versions of these creatures exist all around such as snakes and emus and crows and kangaroos.

The Dreamtime lays down Dreaming Paths that are followed to this day by Aboriginals on walkabout. There are very good reasons, scientific reasons, why these paths should be followed and certain actions, such as burning, are to be carried out.

The Dreamtime is not just the Aboriginal story, it is ours, yours and mine too.

When you have the 3 things required for a modern brain ... you can legitimately say that you are SAPIENT (homo sapiens) Today we are starting to realise that their are many other species that show degrees of Sapience. Nearly all of them are mammals, whales, bears, dolphins, etc. The species that are not mammals but have some degree of Sapience are the Octopus, Squid, Cuttlefish and possibly those last remaining dinosaurs ... the birds

Zac da Black.

Kat wrote on Jul 9^th, 2012 at 2:39pm:


Sorry I missed you ... thanks for leaving your name.

Zac da Black

Kat wrote on Jul 9^th, 2012 at 2:39pm:


PS: No ... not yet ... But I have delusions of grandeur myself .. I believe I'm Zac da Black.

I saw a documentary about octopus last year. They are pretty smart creatures.

SOB

Mutawintji wrote on Jul 9^th, 2012 at 3:02pm:


Yep we certainly are...

Ex Dame Pansi wrote on Jul 9^th, 2012 at 7:37pm:


Why not Pansi??......Do you believe that man is NOT a species from Earth??

... wrote on Jul 10^th, 2012 at 10:49am:


We are just apes with big brains.

When I look at other mammals I feel they too have many huiman characteristics.

I could tell when my dog was sad.
When he was in pain.

I have seen monkeys plot and scheme to get food. Work together.

They must have an imagination otherwise they could not invent ways to solve problems.

We are different, as all animals have some charactistics that enable them to survive. Our brain is more developed for our type of survival strategy.... when survival was ensured by our society we could apply our free time to dealing with other problems.