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I have previously mentioned on HN that I wonder what early Sapiens thought about the Neanderthals. Did they see them as that other tribe that is very strong, bu

by lqet 3y ago

I have previously mentioned on HN that I wonder what early Sapiens thought about the Neanderthals. Did they see them as that other tribe that is very strong, but acting a bit strange sometimes? As we have been the only remaining member of the Homo species for thousands of years now, living side by side with creatures that are only quite like us is an experience that has been lost in the collective human memory. I think it is pretty likely that Sapiens back then just thought of a Neanderthal tribe in a similar way they thought about another Sapiens tribe. I read somewhere that the body proportions of Neanderthals are within the range of body proportions of modern humans, and research suggests that there was interbreeding between Sapiens and Neanderthals. (As a male homo sapiens, I have to say that if Neanderthal women looked like this [0], they may have looked a bit strange, but certainly not repelling or un-human.) [0] https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/scifindr/articles/image2s/000/002/347/large/neanderthal_woman-4x3.jpg?1465000909 https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/scifindr/articles/image2s...

grecy 3y ago
> living side by side with creatures that are only quite like us is an experience that has been lost in the collective human memory I played with and interacted with chimpanzees quite a few times around Africa [1], and spent hundreds of hours watching them and just chilling while they ate, slept and played. Sitting face to face with a large chimp on your lap is an incredible experience, and watching their facial expressions, emotions and reactions while checking out their fingerprints and having them groom your beard is a very powerful experience. To my very core I had the feeling we are them and they are us. Spending time with gorillas was cool too [2], but I didn't exactly play with them! [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mfdo3s8tPUk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mfdo3s8tPUk [2] https://youtu.be/M1vhZ03OKKE?t=84 https://youtu.be/M1vhZ03OKKE?t=84
- RichardCA 3y ago
  I remember an old PBS Nova episode from the 70's. Someone used a PDP-8 to build an icon-based chat mechanism. The chimp caught on pretty fast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwZWWsc5xDk#t=32m https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwZWWsc5xDk#t=32m
  - grecy 3y ago
    It was very clear how intelligent they are. I saw them distract and trick each other (and me), I saw them quickly hone in on my keys in my pocket and try to get them, I saw them be kind, gentle, hurtful, violent, angry, sad, lazy, sleepy. I saw and experienced them being extremely kind, patient and gentle, and very clearly try to communicate to me with hand gestures, smiles, and "follow me" hands. Even the little ones ran over to me and held up their arms for "pick me up!"
samstave 3y ago
You'll enjoy this Why Files episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juyvnVL6V7g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juyvnVL6V7g >Humans are the apex predator. Not an apex predator. The apex predator. Other than a handful of bacteria and viruses, there’s pretty much nothing stronger, more intelligent, or more adaptable than Homo sapiens
- kcplate 3y ago
  One of my favorite youtube channels. Not sure why you are getting downvoted. Apparently there must be a bunch of haters of goldfish with Bronx accents on HN.
stcredzero 3y ago
(As a male homo sapiens, I have to say that if Neanderthal women looked like this [0], they may have looked a bit strange, but certainly not repelling or un-human.) On a couple of occasions, I dated women who were considerably taller than me. One of them had a very big, toothy smile, and liked to wear horns when she went to Renaissance festivals. I used to call her my "wild thing," in reference to the Maurice Sendak book. EDIT: Come to think of it, there's Robert Crumb's drawings of his getting piggyback rides with his wife at the time. Kind of similar in spirit.
- 2-718-281-828 3y ago
  strangely arousing you might say
yencabulator 3y ago
If you live in any modern day melting pot big city, and somehow there existed a Neanderthal that was raised by modern day Sapiens, you might have walked past them earlier today without noticing. Differences within Sapiens are a thing too and we don't really notice them most of the time: https://www.boredpanda.com/tall-people-problems-japan/ https://www.boredpanda.com/tall-people-problems-japan/

by lqet 3y ago

grecy 3y ago

> living side by side with creatures that are only quite like us is an experience that has been lost in the collective human memory I played with and interacted with chimpanzees quite a few times around Africa [1], and spent hundreds of hours watching them and just chilling while they ate, slept and played. Sitting face to face with a large chimp on your lap is an incredible experience, and watching their facial expressions, emotions and reactions while checking out their fingerprints and having them groom your beard is a very powerful experience. To my very core I had the feeling we are them and they are us. Spending time with gorillas was cool too [2], but I didn't exactly play with them! [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mfdo3s8tPUk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mfdo3s8tPUk [2] https://youtu.be/M1vhZ03OKKE?t=84 https://youtu.be/M1vhZ03OKKE?t=84

RichardCA 3y ago
I remember an old PBS Nova episode from the 70's. Someone used a PDP-8 to build an icon-based chat mechanism. The chimp caught on pretty fast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwZWWsc5xDk#t=32m https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwZWWsc5xDk#t=32m
- grecy 3y ago
  It was very clear how intelligent they are. I saw them distract and trick each other (and me), I saw them quickly hone in on my keys in my pocket and try to get them, I saw them be kind, gentle, hurtful, violent, angry, sad, lazy, sleepy. I saw and experienced them being extremely kind, patient and gentle, and very clearly try to communicate to me with hand gestures, smiles, and "follow me" hands. Even the little ones ran over to me and held up their arms for "pick me up!"

samstave 3y ago

You'll enjoy this Why Files episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juyvnVL6V7g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juyvnVL6V7g >Humans are the apex predator. Not an apex predator. The apex predator. Other than a handful of bacteria and viruses, there’s pretty much nothing stronger, more intelligent, or more adaptable than Homo sapiens

kcplate 3y ago
One of my favorite youtube channels. Not sure why you are getting downvoted. Apparently there must be a bunch of haters of goldfish with Bronx accents on HN.

stcredzero 3y ago

(As a male homo sapiens, I have to say that if Neanderthal women looked like this [0], they may have looked a bit strange, but certainly not repelling or un-human.) On a couple of occasions, I dated women who were considerably taller than me. One of them had a very big, toothy smile, and liked to wear horns when she went to Renaissance festivals. I used to call her my "wild thing," in reference to the Maurice Sendak book. EDIT: Come to think of it, there's Robert Crumb's drawings of his getting piggyback rides with his wife at the time. Kind of similar in spirit.

2-718-281-828 3y ago
strangely arousing you might say

yencabulator 3y ago

If you live in any modern day melting pot big city, and somehow there existed a Neanderthal that was raised by modern day Sapiens, you might have walked past them earlier today without noticing. Differences within Sapiens are a thing too and we don't really notice them most of the time: https://www.boredpanda.com/tall-people-problems-japan/ https://www.boredpanda.com/tall-people-problems-japan/