From space dust to sapiens and beyond.
Evolution
The process of life evolving into new species.
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Stories, Quotes, and FAQs.
The wisdom builder tidbits that feed the columns, articles, and trainer.
EVOLUTION
Featured Story
Updated This Week
Science
Story
Animal Evolution
By moving from a radial (circle) to a bilateral (line) shape, life transitioned from a passive state of “being” to an active state of “doing.” Every complex conflict or cooperation in history is a high-level expression of a 590-million-year-old biological “Source Code.” We are bilaterians first. Our ability to move toward a goal, perceive a threat, and categorize “us versus them” is rooted in the first to crawl through the mud.
Featured QUOTE
Science
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 merely a contest of strength or intellect. It’s about reproductive success. Those born into lines with inherited traits better suited to the current and evolving environment are more likely to survive, reproduce, and pass those traits on. Over millennia, these differentiating traits accumulate within specific lines. Populations can diverge, leading to different “races,” and eventually to separate species unable to interbreed.
Featured FAQ
Critical Thinking
FAQ
Does the absence of evidence prove anything?
God of the Gaps
The fossil record is incomplete, but incomplete does not mean useless, especially when the surviving evidence aligns so well. Good reasoning asks what the available evidence actually supports and what evidence we should reasonably expect to find. Gaps invite investigation, not whatever conclusion fills them most comfortably. Be careful with arguments from ignorance and God of the Gaps. It’s true that the unknown does not prove something, but remember, it does not automatically disprove it either.
Updated Tidbits
Evolution
The Ever-Changing Tree of Life!
From space dust to sapiens and beyond.
The process by which new species arise is well-understood, the evidence compelling and conclusive, our knowledge complete. We can read the fossil record like a book and on these pages we see changes gradually accumulate over millennia.
Aricle Series
Multi-Part Reads
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 ...
Animals
Cultural Transmission: The Sharing of Knowledge from Crows to Libraries
Cultural transmission is the passing of learned behavior, knowledge, and traditions from one generation to the next in all animals.
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 ...
Ancient Humans
Hominin Census: A Speculative Journey to 700,000 and 300,000 BCE
Estimates of ancient human populations of a few hundred are misleading. They lean too heavily on surviving DNA lines. DNA traces direct surviving lines, not ...
Updated Articles
All Evolution Timelines
March to Consciousness: The Soul Timeline
Animal consciousness is the combination of cognition and sensory input, with human consciousness being the most advanced on Earth.
