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PRE-SUMER COGNITION: Did writing or even agrian civilizations start before Sumer? This timeline presents possible evidence for pre-Sumer advanced thinking including early human cooperation, settlement, and the development of culture. In “30 Philosophers: A New Look at Timeless Ideas,” I speculate about pre-Sumer civilizations, writing, and possible oral philosophical traditions going back 10 or 20 thousand years and potentially back to the cognitive revolution 50,000 years ago. I ask readers to keep an open mind as archealogists uncover the past. For example, the metropolis of the City of Catalhoyuk, circa 7100 BCE, is from more than 9,000 years ago! It was “rediscovered” in 1958 with the work of James Mellaart. What other socities or civilizations are underground right now awaiting discovery.
In the book, while I do present solid evidence for writing going back at least 6,000 years, I also speculate about it this way: “My personal conjecture, though speculative, is that writing emerged much earlier, potentially appearing multiple times between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago.” A bit later I write: “The earliest known advanced writing system is cuneiform dating back to about 3100 BCE (about 5100 years ago). Before this I’m sure many humans had advanced ideas that were spread using oral tradition. It’s likely some included some form of writing or drawings to facilitate teaching. It’s plausible some of them, at times, attempted to draw illustrations in dirt, on animal skin, wood, or stone. Perhaps some even made copies and distributed them. Unfortunately, none survived the test of time. These ideas and records were lost to time. I know, speculative, but this is a philosophy book.”
30 Philosophers Timeline: Pre-Sumer
End of timeline. Review…
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