When we talk about the human species, some species are told to be extinct because more advanced species displace them. We believe that evolution favours intelligence because we see our adaptability as the merit of intelligence. However, we are neither more advanced nor more adapted than previous species. We simply grow differently. The mystery of man is hidden in the form of an unknown gene that regulates human growth. Evolution is an essential part of nature, but unfortunately, we are not. Not anymore, because we once refused to accept the usual dominance of nature. All species change according to their environment in nature, but the human exception does not want to change. They are ” afraid of change.
So, can homo sapiens then be considered a proper species at all?
We can also ask, are children a special kind of human being? What about colour blind people? Well, I don’t think so. As much as children are a species, so is the man. Namely, the unique human quality is based on the exceptional nature of the psyche and the functional defects of the senses. If we were to be called some species, then be it homo heidelbergensis and not homo sapiens, because we are remains of the Heidelberg man (homo reliquiae). Human evolution is particularly problematic because we strongly oppose all change. We are trying to make it a purely prehistoric stage on the way to modern man.
If these early humans did not form distinct species different from the mainstream population, modern man could not form either because it is pretty similar to them.
We consider intelligence to be our species trait. We try to argue that earlier species were less intelligent because of their smaller brains. But there is also another possibility: the development of intelligence can therefore be quantitative rather than qualitative. Maybe intelligence used to be rarer because it was not a species trait but just an exception in the past. Yes, we know that it saved man, but it did not mean evolution because intelligence does not evolve but only deepens the gap between man and nature. It makes nature even more distant and alienated.
The Prehistoric Roots of Human Singularity — The Hereditary Deviation Of Early Homo Species
Defective adults comprise maybe 0,1–1 % of population. Defectiveness means the inability to become mentally adult. Tools mark the emergence of the defect (=human mind). Note that stone tools are invented (and mostly made) only by defective individuals. That explains the relatively low tool incidence and development. It also means that there were no cultures before humans. Heidelbergs’ extinction (= the emergence of Homo Sapiens) happened in one or two stages.
The so-called “state consciousness” inherent in all humans and making us “human” (i.e. mentally immature) appeared in the world millions of years ago, even though modern humans did not yet exist at the time. State consciousness occurred in random individuals in various populations. It indeed did not develop but has always been the same. It either appears, or it doesn’t, but it doesn’t change. The talk about the development of consciousness means misunderstanding the function of consciousness. It has only one purpose and is to protect the child from the surrounding nature. The emergence of our species was the result of the radical spread of that trait. We are not a species but a defective trait.
The faulty gene form occurred infrequently and sporadically for millions of years, giving birth to strange and maladapted individuals. Because it occurred less frequently than that, causing normal adulthood, it was probably a so-called receding trait. That can be seen in the number and immutability of the stone tools. No new creative collaboration could emerge. Most populations did not feel the need to influence their environment. If these early humans did not form distinct species different from the mainstream population, modern man could not form either because it is pretty similar to them. The fact that there are many such individuals is no other matter.
Human behaviour is an exception in nature, and therefore it is not a species trait. Furthermore, cultures are not about species but only about those individuals who are unwilling to adapt unconditionally to their environment like the rest of nature. So finally, humans do not form a separate homo species but a large group of exceptional individuals.
Cover photo by Tim Dorr (Flickr)