CARTA - Anthropogeny (Video)

Steve Mithen (Univ of Reading) discusses what the archaeological and fossil records tell us about the similarities and differences between the minds of Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24980]

Morality is a social behavior seen in mammals, and some birds, which depends on an interlocking brain organization shaped by four factors. Patricia Churchland (UC San Diego) discusses how the importance of these factors can vary between species, as a function of natural selection operating on subcortical structures, and of the degree of flexibility of the cortical organization. For example, increased capacity for impulse control is a feature of frontal brain expansion. Social benefits are accompanied by social demands; we have to get along, but not put up with too much. Hence impulse control – being aggressive or compassionate or indulgent at the right time – is hugely advantageous. In different contexts and cultures, expression of sociality may vary, as local factors limit solutions to the social problems of getting along and prospering despite competition between individuals. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24985]

In this talk, Daniel Povinelli (Univ of Louisiana at Lafayette) suggests that “desperately seeking explanation” is a uniquely human mental function. In science, this “explanatory drive” can be properly regarded as a mania, which, as it proceeds largely uncontrolled, will continue to yield products that both improve, and threaten, our very existence. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24979]

Why is human thought so flexible? Although many features of human brains can be attributed to selection for novel cognitive functions (e.g., for symbolic language), relaxation of selection on other attributes has additionally contributed to de-differentiation of certain brain functions. Here a parallel process is described by Terry Deacon (UC Berkeley) involving domestication and birdsong. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24978]

Cognitive abilities often regarded as unique to humans include humor, morality, symbolism, creativity, and preoccupation with the minds of others. In these compelling talks, emphasis is placed on the functional uniqueness of these attributes, as opposed to the anatomical uniqueness, and whether these attributes are indeed quantitatively or qualitatively unique to humans. Merlin Donald (Queen’s Univ) begins with Skilled Performance and Artistry, followed by Terry Deacon (UC Berkeley) on Symbolic Communication: Why Is Human Thought So Flexible?”, and V.S. Ramachandran (UC San Diego) on Inter-Modular Interactions, Metaphor, and the “Great Leap.” Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24975]

Cognitive abilities often regarded as unique to humans include humor, morality, symbolism, creativity, and preoccupation with the minds of others. In these compelling talks, emphasis is placed on the functional uniqueness of these attributes, as opposed to the anatomical uniqueness, and whether these attributes are indeed quantitatively or qualitatively unique to humans. Nicholas Humphrey (Darwin College, Cambridge) begins with Entering the “Soul Niche,” followed by Steven Mithen (Univ of Reading) on An Evolved and Creative Mind, and Daniel Dennett (Tufts Univ) on Humor. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24974]

Cognitive abilities often regarded as unique to humans include humor, morality, symbolism, creativity, and preoccupation with the minds of others. In these compelling talks, emphasis is placed on the functional uniqueness of these attributes, as opposed to the anatomical uniqueness, and whether these attributes are indeed quantitatively or qualitatively unique to humans. Colin Renfrew (McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research) begins with the Archaeological Evidence for Mind, followed by Daniel Povinelli (Univ of Louisiana at Lafayette) on Desperately Seeking Explanation, and Patricia Churchland (UC San Diego) on Moral Sense. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23910]

For many species, including humans, matings occur among a restricted pool of partners. In humans, restrictions on the choice of partners are culturally determined and frequently are the result of homophily, namely, contacts among individuals that are similar on some dimension. Marcus Feldman, Stanford University, discusses how the dimension may itself be culturally transmitted, and its transmission may affect the transmission of other characters, which may be genetically determined, but have nothing to do with the dimension on which the mating choice is based. Socioeconomic choice of consanguineous marriage is an example; it has important consequences for genetic variation in many populations around the world. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24113]

Kristen Hawkes, University of Utah, discusses the grandmother hypothesis, which links the evolution of human longevity to ecological changes that left ancestral youngsters unable to get enough food on their own. Help from grandmothers allowed mothers to bear their next baby sooner while setting novel social problems for both mothers and offspring. These connections link grandmothering not only to the evolution of our long lifespans, but also to other features of human life history, physiology, and behavior. Even if only some are correct, they make human postmenopausal longevity much less of a puzzle after all. But how do we do it? Estrogen is crucial to the maintenance of many physiological systems aside from fertility. Yet ovarian estrogen secretion depends on menstrual cycling which ends at similar ages in all great apes including humans. Like most mammals, other primates display geriatric symptoms while still cycling and rarely survive their fertile years while women remain strong and healthy beyond menopause. The contrast points to non-ovarian sources of estrogen in somatic maintenance. A likely nominee is an adrenal androgen that circulates at a higher level in humans than any other hormone and is estimated to be the precursor for most of the estrogen in women’s peripheral tissues even before menopause. Chimpanzee levels of this steroid are much lower, consistent with the hypothesis that shifts in adrenal function are an important mechanism for slowed aging in our lineage. Comparisons with other apes also reveal intriguing puzzles about somatic maintenance in our closest living relatives. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24114]

Language is a hallmark of modern humans: only humans have language. Yet, while no human society lacks a language, individual languages exhibit wide variety. In this, language differs greatly from bipedalism, the other hallmark of humans. Mark Aronoff, Stony Brook University, and Carol Padden, UC San Diego, explore the question of whether there is a relation between the variety among languages and genetic variation, concentrating on the emergence of sign languages in societies with a high incidence of deafness due to genetic traits. They show that the emergence of sign languages in such societies is also tied to a number of preexisting cultural factors. This type of interaction, where genetics and culture, both separately and together, provide the foundation for a particular type of language, has not previously received attention. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24115]