Want to know the history of social networking? Look at the stages of human evolution, from cavemen extinction to social media. Watch out for trolls!
The slow evolution of cavemen
Three million years ago, Lucy, the most famous Australopithecus Afarensis, was still climbing trees and just starting to walk upright. Humanity took one million more years to learn how to make tools out of stones. Add another million years before our ancestor Homo Heidelbergensis gained control of the fire, built shelters, and used wooden spears.
Homo Heidelbergensis evolved differently between regions, They became the Neanderthal 400,000 years ago in Europe/Asia, and the Homo Sapiens in Africa some 200,000 years ago.
The Neanderthals lived fast and died young. They hunt large animals to survive in cold weather. As a result, they developed muscle and broader frame. They also grow large eye sockets to compensate for the short days with reduced visibility. However, these large bodies and enhanced vision used most of their brain activity.
The first bloggers in the history of social networking
About 60,000 years ago, Homo Sapiens started migrating from Africa into Europe. With their smaller bodies, Homo Sapiens were more mobile. Given their more limited visual capability, they also had more brain power available in their frontal lobes to develop social networking, artistic skills and symbolic thinking.
Homo Sapiens adapted better thanks to their superior communication, innovative weaponry, cooperative hunting, extensive trading and broader diet. Furthermore, they had a longer childhood, hence more time to learn from parents, which contributed to longer lifespan. In the end, the outperformed Neanderthals gave away their territory to the more adaptable new comers.
The cavemen in us
There was no real co-habitation between Neanderthal and Homo Sapiens. Nonetheless, some interbreeding may have taken place at the fringe. Given the lack of full biological compatibility, the male hybrids were infertile. Some Neanderthal genes survived after all through the female offspring, mostly the ones related to insulation to cold (e.g. skin and hair).
In the end, Neanderthal specie disappeared within 5,000 years. Thanks to the sequencing of DNA found on old bones, scientists were able to determine that 1 to 4% of the non-African modern humans genome can be traced to Neanderthals. Interestingly, modern diseases such as lupus, crohn, and type 2 diabetes are related to these genes. Some kind of a time bomb, I guess, left by the defeated cavemen.
Soundtrack for the cavemen video. The music evolves from simple tribal percussion, towards more elaborate salsa to finish in modern hip hop
Finally, our 10 survival tips
Modern bloggers and cavemen share similar issues to get started, develop tools, evolve and outperform competition in an environment with scarce resources. Here is the list of our 10 best survival tips:
- Stand up, take baby steps, and grow your territory.
- Use tools to develop and create. Rosetta Stone is a good start.
- Safety first. Build secured sites, add firewalls, and set up alerts.
- Work on your communication. Stay in touch with friends and relatives.
- Eat healthy. Improve life expectancy, and work life balance.
- Keep an open mind. Explore other place and culture. Enjoy tourism.
- Meet others. Share experience on your travel, and photo blogs. Create do-it-yourself, and how-to guides. Post spiritual thoughts, and visual art.
- Follow, and like the leaders.
- Focus on sustainability. Even Neanderthal dna survived in modern humans.
- The Punch Line: social networking may accelerate evolution, but mind trolls that linger around.
