A few days ago, a book by the anthropologist and archaeologist Timothy Taylor, The Artificial Monkey, was published in the UK, in which the scientist puts forward a rather controversial, but interesting concept
According to Taylor, modern man is a product of technological development, and his evolution was largely - if not completely - determined by them. We offer our readers a translation of Taylor's interview with the British newspaper The Guardian, in which he sets out his views on human evolution.
Ever since our ancestors learned how to make primitive tools, the species Homo sapiens and the technologies it created have existed in close symbiosis. This point of view is shared by Timothy Taylor, author of The Artificial Ape. If there were no technology, then people would be completely different creatures.
Anthropologist and archaeologist Timothy Taylor works at the University of Bradford. In his new book, The Artificial Monkey, he argues that the moment our ancestors began to work stones to make tools from them, they unleashed a new force - technology - that played a fundamental role in the formation of the species Homo sapiens. Human inventions have changed the way people feed, cook, use physical strength, and shape culture. According to the 50-year-old scientist, it was not people who created technology, but technology created people.
What can we learn about human nature and evolution if we consider the role that technology has played in human evolution?
There is a widespread belief that, thanks to technology, mankind suddenly found itself in a completely new world, and this world is a little scary (meaning technologies that appeared during the period from the industrial revolution to the computer age). Some fear that computers will one day take over people, but such fears have arisen in humans long before computers were introduced. The genus Homo itself is a product of technology. They are the ones that underlie the evolution and transformation of a person into a highly developed being. This is why I call Homo sapiens an artificial monkey.
When did this process begin?
From the analysis of archaeological artifacts, we know that our ancestors knew how to make primitive stone tools already 2.6 million years ago, even at the "monkey" stage. Before that, they also used stones to process objects, but only during this period did primates learn to make tools of the shape they needed from stones, which could be used to solve a variety of tasks. This was the turning point that marked the beginning of the social revolution.
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How can technology lead to human change?
For example, a milestone was supposed to be the invention of a sling in which mothers carried newborn babies. While there were no slings, the body of women spent much more energy to carry the baby in their arms than to provide the baby with milk. Now imagine that people create weapons suitable for making arrows, with which you can kill animals. Slain animals are skinned using newly invented knives. And from this skin it is already possible to make a sling for carrying a baby.
The significance of this invention must have been enormous, as it allowed children to continue to develop after birth, outside the womb, and their brains continued to grow. The brain was no longer limited by the size of the mother's pelvis and could gradually increase in size. Accordingly, this made it possible for a more intensive development of intelligence. Thus, although people gave birth to children whose mental development was incomplete, their brains could continue to grow after the baby was born.
Of course, we can only assume that events developed in this way. There are no slings in the archaeological finds, since the skin or internal organs from which they were made have long decayed.
In addition, after people mastered the manufacture of tools, they were able to create weapons with which they killed animals. The protein-rich diet has further enhanced the brain from century to century. Thus, it was technology that triggered the process that eventually allowed people to grow big brains. The advent of technology does not explain why humans developed large brains, but it was thanks to them that the possibility of brain development appeared.
And since then we have not rolled back?
In fact, over the past 30,000 years, our brains have shrunk a bit, and I believe that a lot of this is due to the existence of technology. The caveman (he just appeared 30 thousand years ago) no longer needed to remember how many mammoth tusks he owed to his neighbor. He could just mark it somehow on the cave wall. Humans have reached the stage of development where they have learned to use symbols. In other words, recently, technology has begun to help people lose the need to enlarge their brains.
We are now inventing devices that replace our brains at an ever-increasing rate. The increasingly powerful personal computers are a typical example. I’m not afraid to assume that over the long term people will gradually become less intelligent, but this is not necessarily a bad thing.
Let's consider this thesis using the example of vision. On average, it is gradually deteriorating in humanity. If my survival depended on how well I can distinguish deer in the bushes and how accurately I shoot them with a bow, then we would not be talking to you right now. But I can see not only deer, but also microbes and distant galaxies - using microscopes and telescopes, respectively. So my vision is better than that of a caveman or an ancient hunter-gatherer, but only if we speak of me as a product of biotechnology. It is they who allow me to expand my capabilities. This is why I believe that humans are the weakest primate when compared directly, but with technology they become the strongest.
Maybe it's time for us to start worrying about our growing dependence on technology?
Yes and no, depending on whether you are an optimist or a pessimist. It may well happen that in the distant future, the Earth will become uninhabitable, and if we do not create technologies that will allow us to find another planet, humanity will face an unenviable end. For example, in the absence of appropriate technologies, we will not be able to overcome the consequences of a collision with another meteorite. On the other hand, with the help of technology, we can destroy the planet to such an extent that we cannot live on it. Balance is very important here.
But one thing is clear - the genie has already been released from the bottle. We can no longer go back to nature. Too late. We have to learn how to deal with technology and be responsible for the consequences of its use.
