Projection; the missile of evolution.
Human beings don’t just adapt to their environment, they create and control it. Ever since the early hominids developed an opposable thumb that enabled them to grasp and manipulate objects, they could make things happen. The ability to throw missiles is a metaphor for how we could influence events at a distance, not only in space but also in time. The use of tools to make shelters, to control external sources of energy allowed us to escape the urgent prerogatives of survival and find time to think. Within the space... Read more »
Forged in the fire
It’s our ability to control fire that made us human. This is the message of Richard Wrangham’s new book, ‘Catching Fire’, which was published last year. It’s the latest big idea in evolution, the one that Darwin ignored. Wrangham approaches the subject from the perspective of an anthropologist and primatologist;... Read more »
