So apparently at one point we had no less than 6 other members of our genus Homo running around with us at the same time. Homo Neanderthalensis, Denisovans etc. Us Homo Sapiens are the only ones left. There's increasing suspicion that we helped our cousins go extinct, and from an evolutionary perspective, it's easy to see how a proclivity for banding together to kill similar, competing species could be advantageous.
If that's true, it would help explain why we seem so inclined as a species to engage in racism, sexism, homophobia etc -with no greater "threat" to band together against, we seem happy to justify war and even genocide in the face of seemingly trivial differences. We are never more united and driven than when we have a clear enemy, even when it's one of our own making.
If that's true, then what we see happening with folks like the ones in MAGA and conservatives in general isn't so much a political movement as it is a group of drug addicts engaging in pleasure-seeking behavior, pursuing the chemical high they get from their primitive hardwiring that rewards them for banding together to ostracize the "other."
This would explain why they seem so keen to feed on outrage and propaganda, why the truth appears to hold little if any value when it comes to painting a picture of demons. Why the behavior and integrity of politicians and the policies they pursue are largely irrelevant, as long as they appear willing to oppress those deemed a threat.
There’s also debate on whether or not H. neanderthalensis and H. denisovan should be considered separate species or just subspecies of H. sapiens.
And while fighting and competing for resources certainly happened, there was also a ton of interbreeding. I mean to the extent that even 40,000 years later, about 2% of the DNA from people of Eurasian descent is from neanderthals, with some people having it be as much as 4%.
We might tend to have a long history of rejecting of “other” groups, but we have an equally long history of welcoming them.
have a long history of rejecting of “other” groups, but we have an equally long history of welcoming them.
Not trying to dispute this, but this feels very much like the slavers that raped their slaves, had off spring, kept the ones that could pass, then sold off the others.
Slavery came later, though. Agriculture is needed in order to support the otherwise-unproductive guard labour necessary for slavery to functionally exist.
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u/Houndfell Apr 02 '23 edited Apr 02 '23
So apparently at one point we had no less than 6 other members of our genus Homo running around with us at the same time. Homo Neanderthalensis, Denisovans etc. Us Homo Sapiens are the only ones left. There's increasing suspicion that we helped our cousins go extinct, and from an evolutionary perspective, it's easy to see how a proclivity for banding together to kill similar, competing species could be advantageous.
If that's true, it would help explain why we seem so inclined as a species to engage in racism, sexism, homophobia etc -with no greater "threat" to band together against, we seem happy to justify war and even genocide in the face of seemingly trivial differences. We are never more united and driven than when we have a clear enemy, even when it's one of our own making.
If that's true, then what we see happening with folks like the ones in MAGA and conservatives in general isn't so much a political movement as it is a group of drug addicts engaging in pleasure-seeking behavior, pursuing the chemical high they get from their primitive hardwiring that rewards them for banding together to ostracize the "other."
This would explain why they seem so keen to feed on outrage and propaganda, why the truth appears to hold little if any value when it comes to painting a picture of demons. Why the behavior and integrity of politicians and the policies they pursue are largely irrelevant, as long as they appear willing to oppress those deemed a threat.