If Fuxi existed as one person, that person likely lived sometime between 8000 and 7000 BCE. Fuxi is a legendary figure in Chinese mythology, considered one of the Three Sovereigns. He is credited with creating humanity, inventing writing, and teaching people to fish and hunt. Fuxi’s contributions laid the foundation for early Chinese civilization and culture, embedding the importance of knowledge, survival skills, and societal organization in Chinese thought.
Wisdom Builder
Three Tidbit Stories
Topic:
Cognitive Biases
Timeless ideas at the intersections of science, philosophy, critical thinking, and history.
MODE:
Cognitive Biases.
3 random tidbit stories in about 3 minutes.
Idea 1.
A Cognitive Biases Story.
Circa 8000-7000 BCE
I wrote that Cognitive Biases Story,
and posted it to TST 2 years ago.
Idea 2.
A Cognitive Biases Story.
born 121, died 180 CE.
76 generations ago.
30 Philosophers, Chapter 13: Marcus Aurelius and Stoicism.
Stoicism began centuries before Marcus Aurelius. Zeno placed virtue at its center, especially the four cardinal virtues of wisdom, courage, justice, and temperance. Later Stoics refined the tradition. Chrysippus emphasized virtuous intent and accepting results outside our control, while Epictetus developed the Dichotomy of Control and the Three Disciplines of desire, action, and assent. By the time Marcus was born in 121 CE, Stoicism had developed into a rich philosophy of virtue, self-command, and living well within reality.
Marcus Aurelius inherited that tradition under extraordinary circumstances. Raised within Rome’s ruling class, he eventually became emperor of a vast empire. Yet he continually reminded himself that power did not make him fundamentally different from everyone else. He tried to live as Plato’s philosopher-king: using reason and virtue to guide his decisions while remaining conscious of how those decisions affected others. His famous reminder captures the practical spirit of his philosophy:
“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”
Marcus did not merely write about Stoicism; he tried to practice it while governing. His private reflections, preserved in Meditations, reveal a man repeatedly working on his judgments, responsibilities, relationships, and character. In my book, I frame his Stoicism through the Stoic Virtue Framework: one goal of virtue, the Dichotomy of Control, the Three Disciplines, and the four cardinal virtues. Marcus stands near the end of a long Stoic tradition, but he gave that tradition one of its most enduring examples: focus on what is yours to govern, accept what is not, and try to act with virtue anyway.
I wrote that Cognitive Biases Story,
and posted it to TST 5 years ago.
Idea 3.
A Cognitive Biases Story.
146,000 Years Ago
In the lush landscapes of northeastern China, the discovery of the Homo longi skull has opened new chapters in our understanding of human evolution. This skull, dating back to approximately 146,000 years ago, represents a pivotal moment in prehistory. Homo longi, also nicknamed “Dragon Man,” showcases a unique blend of archaic and modern traits—marked by a large, broad face and pronounced brow ridges. This solitary but exceptionally well-preserved fossil suggests that Homo longi could have emerged as a distinct species much earlier, potentially around 200,000 to 300,000 years ago. The timing and features of Homo longi indicate it might represent an earlier migration out of Africa, preceding or running concurrent with other known migrations. The implications extend further, hinting at a possible influence from Homo antecessor, which may have shaped the evolutionary path of humans more profoundly than previously recognized. The Homo longi fossil, while singular, provides a critical piece of the puzzle in tracing the intricate web of human ancestry and migration across continents.
Recent research has complicated the picture even further. A 2024 synthesis in Nature Communications proposed grouping several Middle–Late Pleistocene East Asian fossils—including Xujiayao and related finds—under a new name, Homo juluensis. Some researchers suggest that Homo longi may belong within that broader East Asian archaic lineage, while others argue it could represent a Denisovan population. At present, we lack ancient DNA from the Harbin skull, so its exact placement remains uncertain.
What is increasingly clear, however, is that eastern Asia between roughly 300,000 and 100,000 years ago was not occupied by a single, simple lineage. Instead, it likely hosted a braided population structure—Denisovans, regional archaic groups, and perhaps early modern humans—all overlapping in time. In that context, Homo longi may not rewrite migration narratives so much as reveal how incomplete and regionally complex those narratives have always been.
If Homo longi is Denisovan, it dramatically expands the known physical appearance and geographic range of Denisovans. If it represents a distinct lineage, it strengthens the case that eastern Asia maintained long-standing regional continuity alongside waves of migration from Africa. Either way, the fossil underscores a growing realization: human evolution was not a ladder, nor even a simple branching tree—it was a network.
Size: 5’5″ (Tentative. This is based on a single fossil find.)
Brain Size: 1400-1750 cc (larger than Homo sapiens at 1300-1400 cc)
Brain to Body EQ: unknown (Homo sapien is 7.4 to 7.8)
I wrote that Cognitive Biases Story,
and posted it to TST 2 years ago.