The Hominid Lineage
Not so long ago it was possible to convincingly
arrange all fossil hominids on an “ascending line” from the small early
Australopithecines to Homo sapiens (a
treatment that is still frequent in popular writing). Not only were our early
dating methods crude, but also no one could possibly envision the explosion of
hominid forms unearthed in the past two decades. In the past five or six
million years, hominids rejoiced in their own
impressive radiation - showing many different adaptations and many
histories leading to a dead end. At
many periods quite a number of these species were contemporaneous, and there is
considerable speculation on how they might have competed with each other. Over
the millions of years various hominid ancestors zigged and zagged, finally
coughing up H. sapiens. There is
almost no agreement as to which of these successive ancestors should be
anointed as “leading to H. sapiens,”
nor how these closely related species were competing with each other. To
properly explain and document the arguments hinted at above would require a
very large volume. A summary of the argument I have sketched is that evolution
is perceived by evolutionary biologists as blind, uncaring, natural selection.
It is viewed as historical, including all the contingencies that such an
interpretation suggests. Nothing in what scientists know about evolution
provides a shred of evidence for any cosmic process guiding the history of
evolution to creatures like ourselves. On the contrary, because of the many
extraordinary historical contingencies that led to prokaryotes to eukaryotes to
chordates to mammals to primates and finally to Homo sapiens, the evidence strongly suggests a fortuitous and
completely unique history of the development of human intelligence. I therefore
believe that our chances for meaningful communication with other creatures in
the universe are infinitesmally small.
Acknowledgement
Without the tireless energy, goading, and
forgiving nature of Meg Lynch, this manuscript would never have been completed.
Contributed by: Dr. Irven DeVore
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