The Human Spark

The most unique thing about humans is our imaginationWe have an ability to imagine the world we cannot see and believe in concepts like dying of the afterlifeThis imagination helps us to invent new tools and ideas and helps us prepare for future scenariosHowever we are not the only animal with the ability to do soCertain animals such as chimpanzees have demonstrated a capacity for imaginationThe video mentions how chimpanzees care for "rock dolls"They treat these dolls like baby chimps, despite the fact that they are rocksThis demonstrates a capacity for imagination and fantasy

Humans can understand and theorize about non-physical concepts such as gravity and time, our ancestors were able to too.Being able to understand these concepts helped us develop new technologies and predict environmental changes as well as cause and effect.In addition these concepts helped us to hunt food in unorthodox ways, such as pushing rocks onto large animals like mammothsStudies have also shown that certain animals, like apes. Are able to understand the concept of gravity As shown in the linked article, apes are able to infer from the weight of objects their contentsFrom a survival perspective this helps them tell which food items contain more food than othersBut it also demonstrates a small understanding of the concept of weight and gravity Archerfish are another animal that understand metaphysical concepts They know how to aim their controlled jets of water to hit pray in motionIn addition they shoot more water for bigger targets showing an understanding of weightIn the video we can observe how the archerfish adjusts its shot to account for further away targetsThey understand optical distortion and can account for it

One of Humanity's key defining features is our complex and full language Enables us to transmit information more effectivelyFunction better in groups As mentioned in the image, human words can be used to string together infinite sentences and ideas (some more nonsensical than others)Other animals have languages with various degrees of complexity Chimps can communicate simple commands and feelings using both physical gestures and calls Dolphins are a species with an extremely complex language Like humans they are able to string together words to form sentencesThey use various pulses and hums to transmit messages

Humans form many meaningful relationships in our lifetimeOur relationships are all part of a complex social structure which was developed over many generationsGroup power dynamics and political relationships enabled us to survive more effectively as a speciesAs our brains evolved we became able to communicate better and develop our languageThis helped us to form bands and teams and function as societies, which was key to surviving in a rapidly changing climate. I chose this image as it is a recreation of a primitive human band gathering around a fire, it shows them conversing and working together to survive.All sorts of animals today are able to form complex social structures and power dynamicsChimpanzees demonstrate group politics and political thinkingChimps have been observed to form coalitions to increase power within groupsThey understand the importance of forming relationships to increase one's survival and power and reproductive fitness

Cooperation was key to the survival of early humansMany of our evolutions, such as language, good memory and expressive eyes help us succeed in social and group settingsBeing able to cooperate helped us:Share information hunt and gather food more effectivelyIncrease individual powers within a groupThis image shows an example of early humans teaming up to kill a bigger animal which I thought was a good example of primitive teamworkMany animals especially pack animals demonstrate teamwork, some examples are:WolvesLionsHyenasMeerkatsAltruism is another important social power humans developed Acting altruistically increased ones standing within the group and demonstrated good characterForming alliances and using favors contributed to the complex groups primitive humans developed and gave one advantages in power strugglesDemonstrating good altruism and social skills made one more reproductively fit and increased the likelihood of getting a mate (pretty sure it still does)Once again Chimpanzees can demonstrate altruism to improve political power and personal appeal

Homo sapiens and or ancestors were never really specialistsWe evolved in a way that ensured we could always adapt to new threats Becoming a specialist can lead to evolutionary dead ends and overreliance on a certain climate or conditionThe P. Boisei was an example of a specialist Strong teethPowerful stomachCapable of eating dry roots during droughtsHowever they became too specialized and stopped evolving, leading to their extinction when the climate changed.Homo Sapiens's ancestors never dominated in a particular area, but there continued evolution allowed them to grow and adapt to any threat they faced.Struggle leads to adaptation and adaptation leads to success

Humans have the most complex brain of any animal on earthTo deal with struggles and new environments, primitive humans had to evolve their brainAs shown in the image, we progressively developed bigger skulls to house our brainsAs we grew smarter and gained access to better foods we were able to support bigger brainsHaving bigger and more complex brains enabled us to adapt to new environments and solve problems more effectivelyIn addition it gave us longer memories which ensured that we could function better both socially and in new environmentsBetter brains also enabled us to form more complex social groups, invent better and more effective tools and coo-operate and communicate more effectivelyStudies have shown that our brain size increased fastest when the world was most unpredictableNatural selection left only the smartest primitive humans alive, so it was those that were most fit to reproduce.

Tools were extremely important in our development as a species.Many other species today have been observed to make and modify parts of their environment in order to make tools. These include:Crows and RavensOctopusesApes such as chimpsCertain species of fish have been observed to use toolsCan smash hard shelled prey against rocks to break them open (as shown in the above video)Use precise shots of water to knock prey off of leavesUse sand to clean or hide objectsTool-making and use use to be the key defining feature of humans that separated us from other animalsWe know now that it is not a trait exclusive to humans or even primates.

Problem solving is another trait originally thought to be uniquely human Many animals are unable to spontaneously invent a new way to do things or refine age old techniquesAs shown in the video, some birds such as crows and Ravens, have the ability to solve problems They can fashion and modify toolsUnderstand cause and effectAdapt to solve problemsApes have also demonstrated problem solving skills, so have some fishOnce in a controlled environment, cod were taught to pull on a string to receive foodA cod figured out that it could loop the string around its identification tag and pull it by swimming This allowed it to gain access to the food slightly fasterSoon all the other cods in the tank were doing it tooThis demonstrates a capacity for flexibility and innovation

I am a note

The transmission of knowledge is what allowed humans to succeed as a society We learned and grew as a speciesNew discoveries quickly became wide spread due to our communication Animals tend to learn through mimicry:Apes watch others use tools and learn how to use the tools by proxyAs seen earlier with the cods the other cods figured out how to use the tag by watching the innovative fishIn this way animal knowledge can be spread around a localized areaHowever some species show a capacity for true teaching Apes have been observed sharing tools with their young, especially when the tool was more complexCheetahs have been observed teaching their young to hunt by capturing a young prey animal and letting the cubs attempt to hunt itMeerkats teach their young how to destinger a scorpion by handing it an incapacitated one and progressively hand them more and more lively scorpionsAnother species with the capacity for teaching is the Rock AntWhen a rock ant finds a new food source it returns to the nest and then proceeds to guide other ants to said food sourceIt does this using a method known as tandem runningThe two ants run together with the teacher ant leading the way at a slower pace while the student ant followsThe teacher ant lets the student ant survey the environment and explore before receiving a cue from the student to keep moving

What we have as humans that makes us unique is our advanced cultureOther animals do have cultures, they:Form societies and bandsSpread techniques and innovationsDemonstrate teamwork Have politicsHowever we are currently the only species to create a written languageAs demonstrated by the image our ancestors had a sense of culture They developed a written language They created works for other people to learn fromMapsSpiritual artWhile other animals can teach and learn and invent and communicate and problem solveIt is only humans that have created such a rich and sophisticated culture of written knowledge and works and that is one of the few things that still make us unique