How Humans Evolved Through Fire, Language, Beauty, and Time
Transcendence (2020) is a wide-ranging overview of humanity’s history, from its beginnings on the savannas of Africa to the globe-spanning civilization of today. This multifaceted exploration shows how fire, language, beauty, and time came to define our species.
When the British artist Neil Harbisson was born, he could only see shades of gray. Neil was diagnosed with achromatopsia, a genetic syndrome that limits the eye’s natural ability to perceive colors. But then things changed. At the time of writing, Harbisson can detect more colors than any human in the world.
In 2004, Harbisson had a special antenna implanted in his skull. This amazing piece of technology detects colors and transmits them directly to Harbisson’s brain as musical notes. With this device, he can “hear” a broader range of colors than any normal eye can see.
Harbisson’s ability sounds like science fiction. But the truth is, humans have always been enhanced by tools. Through our culture, we have created ways to complement our biology, and so we have thrived.
The key message here is: Our species is shaped by our environment, genetics, and culture.
Humans are undoubtedly among the most successful species on Earth. Today, there are billions of us spread out across every continent on the planet. Many of us live long, healthy lives, and our diverse, interconnected civilization produces everything from moving art to massive infrastructural systems.
So, how did we get here, while other animals remained in their natural niches? Well, our remarkable ascendance as a species is due to something called the evolutionary triad. This triad consists of three parts: our environment, our genetics, and our culture. The complex relationship between these elements is what allowed our species to transform itself – and the world at large.
Like all species, we emerged from the natural world. The geological and ecological systems on Earth provided the basic backdrop for our lives. Then, through natural selection, our species evolved unusual traits to navigate its environment. These are traits like bipedalism – walking on two feet – and complex vocal chords for speaking. Finally, we enhanced these traits with culture – the accumulated knowledge we pass down through generations.
Human culture has spawned countless innovations over the millennia. But four stand out as truly exceptional. First, there’s fire, which allows us to access more energy than our bodies can create on their own. Second is language, which helps us store and transmit information. Third is beauty, which provides our lives with meaning and structure. And last is time, which aids us in objectively and rationally studying the world around us.
In the next blinks, we’ll dive deeper into each of these four defining innovations.
The interplay of human culture, biology, and environment is creating a new creature… we are becoming a superorganism.
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Blink 3 von 12 - Eine kurze Geschichte der Menschheit
von Yuval Noah Harari
