Tidbits:
Stories, Quotes, and FAQs.
The wisdom builder tidbits that feed the columns, articles, and trainer.
PREHISTORY
Featured Story
Updated This Week
Science
Story
2.3 Million BCE
Homo habilis: Our Intelligence Settles.
92,000 Generations Ago
Ancient Humans
To understand the mind, we have to remember that thought evolved. Homo habilis reminds us that intelligence did not arrive all at once with modern humans. It settled in gradually: hand, eye, memory, planning, and need working together. The human mind began as survival, then slowly became imagination.
Featured QUOTE
History
Quote
“Natural selection acts solely by the preservation and accumulation of small inherited modifications, each profitable to the preserved being.”
- Charles Darwin
- 1859
Evolution
Evolution is not about desire, nor is it a contest of strength, or intellect. It’s about reproductive success. The individuals, and species, that possess traits best suited for the current environment are more likely to survive, and to pass on those traits. Over millennia, these traits accumulate, leading to races, sub-species, and eventually separate species unable to interbreed.
Featured FAQ
Philosophy
FAQ
Were neanderthals artistic?
Ancient Humans
Neanderthal art matters because it reveals symbolic thought, creativity, and complex identity—traits once thought unique to modern humans. Evidence of cave art and personal ornaments shows that human-level intelligence extends far deeper into our lineage than once believed, reshaping how we understand both our ancestors and ourselves.
Prehistory
The last period of the paleolithic.
50,000 BCE to 4000 BCE
Prehistory begins when our current cognitive abilities had largely settled, around 50,000 BCE—a date that will move as science refines our understanding. This period tells the early modern human story before written records. It ends at 4000 BCE, a deliberate marker placed near the midpoint of major creation narratives, separating mythic origin stories from recorded history.
Deep-Dive Articles
Holistic Paleolithic Framework: A New Look at Prehistory
A new look at dividing up the paleolithic era switches from lower, middle, and upper to Stone, Fire, Cultural, Symbolic, Cognitive, and prehistory ending specifically at 4,000 BCE.
The Evolution of Vocabulary in Ancient Humans
The evolution of language is the evolution of communication. From touch which evolved about 800 million years ago to human words. Along the journey, communication included things like gestures, postures, and grunts.
The Evolution of Vocabulary in Ancient Humans
The evolution of language is the evolution of communication. From touch which evolved about 800 million years ago to human words. Along the journey, communication ...
Dawn of Humanity: Sapiens in Their First Millennia
Our first 1,000 years as Homo sapiens were not crude half-humans waiting to become us. From the beginning, we were already remarkably capable, adaptable people ...
Human Extinction: A New Look From Homo habilis to the Neanderthals
Human extinction is not the story of one straight line leading neatly to us. It is the story of many ancient human species living at ...
Must-Reads
Ancient Humans
The Evolution of Vocabulary in Ancient Humans
The evolution of language is the evolution of communication. From touch which evolved about 800 million years ago to human words. Along the journey, communication ...
Ancient Humans
Neanderthal Clue: Reassessing Intelligence Beyond Human Bias
Neanderthals were not dim, brutish failures of human evolution. Growing evidence shows they were intelligent ancient humans with symbolic thought, culture, and abilities that challenge ...
New Ideas
Ancient Humans
Holistic Paleolithic Framework: A New Look at Prehistory
A new look at dividing up the paleolithic era switches from lower, middle, and upper to Stone, Fire, Cultural, Symbolic, Cognitive, and prehistory ending specifically ...
Ancient Humans
EQ: The Story of Ancient Human Brains
Ancient human brains evolved gradually over millions of years, with important bursts of change, producing minds that were often far more capable than traditional stories ...
Updated Articles
TST COLUMN
05 May 2024
Debut
History
Article
Human Extinction: A New Look From Homo habilis to the Neanderthals
Ancient Humans
Sun 5 May 2024
(2 years ago)
Updated 3 days ago.
TST COLUMN
29 May 2024
History
Article
Dawn of Humanity: Sapiens in Their First Millennia
Ancient Humans
Wed 29 May 2024
(2 years ago)
Updated 3 days ago.
TST COLUMN
21 Jan 2026
History
Article
The Universe Before the Telescope
Astronomy
Thu 11 Apr 2024
(2 years ago)
Updated 4 months ago.