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Underworld discovery casts doubt on our understanding of human evolution

21 points by docmechanic 3y ago

docmechanic 3y ago
'Did an extinct ‘small-brained ape-man’ species develop a sophisticated culture millennia before we did?'
- deleted 3y ago
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WantonQuantum 3y ago
Peer reviews are skeptical: “imprudent and incomplete” “These claims are inadequate, incomplete and are largely assumption-based – rather than evidence-based” “do not present convincing evidence” “I have no issue with the idea that non-Homo sapiens species disposed of their dead, but I do have an expectation that there is robust scientific evidence to support such statements before scientists go on massive media campaigns regarding these ideas” https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jul/22/small-brained-early-humans-homo-naledi-cleverer-storm https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jul/22/small-braine...
phkahler 3y ago
That's an awful lot of speculation (more like projection) about what someone believed or thought 300k years ago. And why "scientists" and not "archeologists"?
- docmechanic 3y ago
  The funerary rituals and possible cosmology apply to anthropology, and a small brain capable of such cognitive ability counters current thought in evolutionary biology. I’m sure I’m leaving out other scientific fields with an interest in the veracity of this find.
x86x87 3y ago
Watch "unknown: cave of bones" on netflix. The first bones were found more than a decade ago and this documentary is based on a recent expedition there. The cave itself has an interesting story. You can judge for yourself the evidence and how it is presented.
taylodl 3y ago
Not being an anthropologist I picked up on the article repeatedly saying homo naledi wasn't a direct descendent of ours and had a brain half the size of a modern chimp - which leads me to wonder are we missing the funerary behaviors of the Great Apes? Do we really know the other Great Apes as well as we think we do? If we do, then why did their funerary behavior evolve to be so different?

21 points by docmechanic 3y ago

docmechanic 3y ago

'Did an extinct ‘small-brained ape-man’ species develop a sophisticated culture millennia before we did?'

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

WantonQuantum 3y ago

Peer reviews are skeptical: “imprudent and incomplete” “These claims are inadequate, incomplete and are largely assumption-based – rather than evidence-based” “do not present convincing evidence” “I have no issue with the idea that non-Homo sapiens species disposed of their dead, but I do have an expectation that there is robust scientific evidence to support such statements before scientists go on massive media campaigns regarding these ideas” https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jul/22/small-brained-early-humans-homo-naledi-cleverer-storm https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jul/22/small-braine...

phkahler 3y ago

That's an awful lot of speculation (more like projection) about what someone believed or thought 300k years ago. And why "scientists" and not "archeologists"?

docmechanic 3y ago
The funerary rituals and possible cosmology apply to anthropology, and a small brain capable of such cognitive ability counters current thought in evolutionary biology. I’m sure I’m leaving out other scientific fields with an interest in the veracity of this find.

x86x87 3y ago

Watch "unknown: cave of bones" on netflix. The first bones were found more than a decade ago and this documentary is based on a recent expedition there. The cave itself has an interesting story. You can judge for yourself the evidence and how it is presented.

taylodl 3y ago

Not being an anthropologist I picked up on the article repeatedly saying homo naledi wasn't a direct descendent of ours and had a brain half the size of a modern chimp - which leads me to wonder are we missing the funerary behaviors of the Great Apes? Do we really know the other Great Apes as well as we think we do? If we do, then why did their funerary behavior evolve to be so different?