Hominoid Evolution: Intelligence and Communication

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Hominids have undergone great changes from the primitive man to one capable of thinking logically and systematically like the modern man. Human evolution was marked by bipedal movement and occurred between four and five million years ago. This period was also characterized by the increased size of the brain and therefore the ability to think, unlike the other animals. The hominids during the period migrated from the tropics and moved to the equator where conditions were favourable.

In the development of the intellect and communication skills in man, the environment contributed significantly to this endeavour. In the environment, a stimulus was present for a man to elicit a given response. The development of language as a tool of communication came about as a result of the interaction of man with the environment. Before the development of language man used to give gestures so as to communicate with other people. (Handwerker, 313 1989)

Archaeological studies have revealed how man interacted with the ever-changing environment in search of food and surviving in the physical world. Interaction between the hominid and the environment was characterized by feedback. It is the feedback that contributed towards the development of the cognitive system especially through visualization of all that took place in the environment. During this time the sense played a very significant role. It is through the use of senses that the hominids interacted with the environment. as feedback came from the environment internalization was done through the brains and thus facilitating the development of the cognitive aspect of the hominids.

Man as an intelligent form of life engaged in processes and experiences that led to more intelligence. This improvement was in the way he gained access to forms of energy and how he utilized nutrients within the environment. Hominid knowledge came from the application of concept building cognitive processes to the external stimuli he came into contact with. Through the sensory system of the body, the perceptions are built up in the mind. As a result of material and cultural gains in the environment, human knowledge reinforces itself by building on its products.

Many views have been put forward trying to explain the origin of hominid intelligence for instance according to a scientist called Joshua Lederberg it is an intraspecific competition that was responsible for the development of hominid intelligence. As a result of this, he argued that war needed very quick interventions so as to prevent further complications. To plan for the competition the body requires some kind of verbal competition which is very inventive. This kind of scenario is mostly found in young animals that are not adapted to suffer from the consequences of their actions. Territorial behaviour is very common in social animal’s men and hyena being examples of such animals. Territories are a form of conflict formed between social animals so as to compete for scarce available resources. (Jerison, 1973)

Therefore communication came in a better way of allocating the resources amongst the hominids. Before communication and intelligence came about, there must have been some stimuli behind the drive to communicate. According to J Desmond Clark University of California, the demands for communication were the forces behind the need for the early hominids to develop intelligence. Increased use of stolen tools went on at the same time with the development of the brain as it increased its capacity.

During this time when man used stone tools, there was the manufacture of artefacts which was an indication that the hominids had developed complex social structures and consequently an improved communication system. As the older generation engaged in the artefacts and other early forms of industry the knowledge behind the production of commodities had to be transferred to the young ones and this could only be achieved through learning.

Motor coordination can also be the cause of the increased cranial capacity of early men. This is according to John Eisenberg. This is so because man is a very organized and well-coordinated hominid and he has the capacity to manipulate the fingers and limbs so easily and this gives man have the great objective capability. Manipulation of limbs and fingers developed more because of the need to carry out predation especially in the Savanna.

This led to increased motor coordination and increased or more complicated social structures within the hominid family. This was a great advancement from the ancestors of the hominids who lived in an environment that could not allow these developments to take place because there were so many limiting factors. For instance, monkeys cannot control their own projectiles as the hominids could do.

Therefore scientists have called the ability of the hominids to control their fingers independently a very important characteristic of the hominids family. The demands of the environment in the savannah for instance the need for food through hunting and also the creation of shelter contributed significantly to the development of technology and intelligence in the hominids society. However, it is vital to make it well known that the savannah was not an automatic requirement for the development of intellectual skills in the hominids. (Bednarik 1997)

This is so to say that not all animals that were found in the savannah at that time developed the important attributes of technology and intelligence. This is because exploration of the environment was entirely based on animal’s adaptations towards the environment. It is only those animals or organisms with suitable adaptations that could explore that habitat well and develop the technology and intelligence characteristics.

Such animals with suitable adaptation were said to have been preadapted to the savannah.. The evolution of intelligence and communication in hominids was essentially stimulated by the existence of the planet earth with a lot of diversity of environments that can be inhabited by different kinds of animals. With such diversity in habitats, it meant that more species can be given rise to by different animals and this would eventually lead to a lot of competition within ecosystems. To survive within the stiff competition within the habitats, only the individuals with suitable adaptations such as technology and intelligence would emerge successfully and continues to dominate in the society.

The various different environments could be found on different planets. Planets had the ability to develop technological and intelligence advancements. Planets with homogenous environments were not capable of evolving intelligence as compared to heterogeneous ones. Isolated landmasses have been characterized by low evolution of intelligence for instance in areas such as Madagascar appear to have been left behind in the development of intelligence in hominids. In fact, scientists have noted that no mammals with large cranial capacity like man developed in the said areas. (Lewin,2005)

Mammals with large bodies and cranial capacities could only be found in planets with contiguous landmasses. It has also been noted that aquatic environments were not suitable for manipulation and motor development therefore the evolution of intelligence and technology did not occur in such environments.( FaIk, 1987) The entry of hominids into space sparked another evolution of extraterrestrial intelligence. AS man explored space more interactions have been made and as his curiosity is satisfied intelligence is developed.

In conclusion, I can say that the environment played a very significant role in the evolution of intelligence and communication in hominids. The motives or driving forces for the development of communication abilities and intelligence in man are a consequence of hominids interaction with the environment. Adaptations to the environment also were fundamental for the development of cognitive ideas in hominids and thus facilitated the development of intelligence in hominids. In natural environments such as the savannah competition for scarce resources led to the development of intelligence and technology in hominids.

The power of manipulation and motor abilities in hominids were significant in the development of communication and intelligence in the hominids. Hominids possessed pre-adaptation attributes that enabled them to suit in different habitats and this facilitated their development of communication and intelligence characters.

References

Bednarik, R. G. 1997. The origins of navigation and language. The Artefact 20: 16–56.

Craig Stanford, John S Allen & Susan C Anton,Biological Anthropology (2009).

Davidson, I. and W. Noble 1989. The archaeology of perception. Traces of depiction and language. Current Anthropology 30: 125–55.

Evans PD, Gilbert SL, Mekel-Bobrov N, et al. 2005. Microcephalin, a gene regulating brain size, continues to evolve adaptively in humans. Science, 309, 1717-1720.

FaIk, D. 1987. Brain lateralization in primates and its evolution in hominids. Year-book Handwerker, W. P. 1989. The origins and evolution of culture. American Anthropologist 91: 313–26.

Jerison, H. J. 1973. Evolution of the brain and intelligence. Academic Press, New York.

Lewin, R (2005) Human Evolution: An illustrated introduction (5 ed) Oxford: Blackwell.

Mekel-Bobrov N, Gilbert SL, Evans PD, et al. 2005. Ongoing adaptive evolution of ASPM, a brain size determinant in Homo sapiens. Science 2005;309:1720–1722.

Marshack, A. 1988. The origin of language: an anthropological approach. Paper presented at the Nato Advanced Study Institute, Cortona, Italy.

Noble, W. and I. Davidson 1996. Human evolution, language and mind. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

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Hominoid Evolution: Intelligence and Communication

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