What makes us human, and we know it someday?

There are many theories about what makes us human – some of them are linked or interconnected. Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle tried to answer this question, as countless philosophers after them. With the development of science had a new theory. Although definite conclusions can not be, there is no doubt that people are really unique. In fact, the very ability to reason about what makes us human, unique, as no other species are not capable of anything like that. But besides the obvious intellectual abilities, people have a number of physical, social, biological and emotional qualities. Most likely, many of them you have not even considered.

The Two bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 killed about 200,000 Japanese. No other type never possessed such power and neither species could to possess it. The technology underlying the atomic bomb, there is only thanks to the joint intellectual work of hundreds of scientists and engineers working together. The same unique intelligence and cooperation are also the basis of the more positive achievements of modern civilization.

human Evolution

Most species that have ever existed on our planet have become extinct, including early human ancestors. Evolutionary biology and scientific data tell us that all humans descended from APE-like ancestors over 6 million years ago. The information obtained from the fossil remains of ancient people and archaeological finds, suggests that several million years ago, there were 15 to 20 different kinds of ancient people.

These kinds of called homininae, migrated to Asia about 2 million years ago and then to Europe. The rest of the world was settled much later. Anyway, today there is little evidence that any other hominini created ... art. Only our ancestors began to produce superior cultural and technological artifacts, and our stone tools gradually became more complex.

over time the shape of the skull changed

The Results of a study published in the journal , suggest that our technological innovations were a key factor leading to migration from Africa. Around the same time, we began to assign symbolic meanings to objects, such as geometric patterns on the plates and rock paintings. Well, if you for some reason doubt that man evolved from apes, I recommend reading our article entitled

Anyway, from the point of view of physiology and genetics, we have much in common with other primates, especially chimpanzees and bonobos – with them we spent the most time in the phylogenetic tree. However, no matter how much we were similar to them, the differences between them are huge. So, theories from different research areas, including biology, psychology and anthropology, posited that certain traits are exclusively human.

What does the ability to speak

It's Not clear when and how to develop it. But it is likely that its development is partly caused by another uniquely human trait: our excellent social skills. Thus, comparative studies between humans and chimpanzees show that, although both will work, people will always help more. We know that chimpanzees are also working together and sharing their food clearly disinterested. However, according to , Michael Tomasello from the Institute of evolutionary anthropology of max Planck in Leipzig, Germany, believes that they will cooperate only in the case if something will get in return.

Bipedalism and teamwork has made us who we are

It Also appeared that human children are less selective regarding with whom they share. But the chimps mostly share only with close relatives, partners or potential partners. Researchers believe that something was going to happen in our evolution that people are increasingly dependent on each other. Our brain need fuel to be more cooperative hunting, may have played a key role in this.

mind Reading

Our cooperative skills are closely related to the capacity for empathy and recognition of emotions of other people. We understand what others think, based on our knowledge of the world. Although we are not the only creatures who understand that others have intentions and goals, we are certainly unique in the level of abstraction with which we can reason about the mental States of others.

This tells us something profound about ourselves – if you combine the incomparable language skills, the ability to make inferences about the mental States of other people and the instinct of cooperation, the result will be something unprecedented – Homo Sapiens. We tell stories, dream, imagine things about ourselves and others and spend a lot of time thinking about the future and analyzing the past. Moreover, our fundamental urge to link our minds allows us to use the experience of other people, their thoughts and imagination to intelligently manage their own behavior.

Chimpanzee –our nearest ancestor.

science and technology

The Rapid development of technologies has allowed us to instantly share information. This transfer of ideas helps us to learn more about the Universe and ourselves. Of course, we are able not only to good – our technology can destroy all life on the planet. As he wrote in his famous work “the Origin of species,” Charles Darwin, humans and animals differ only in degree, not kind – so, gradual changes make us special and lead to radically different possibilities of thinking.

And despite the fact common, that is, between us and other mammals, we are the only creatures that are trying to understand where we came from. We were also able to look into the past and predict the future. No other species can do it. But most importantly, perhaps, lies in our ability and desire to do good and the ability that you can call home.

Millions of years of evolution has made us special. But how?