The Paula Gordon Show |
Conversation 1 Ian Tattersall explains for Paula Gordon and Bill Russell the difference between what it means to be human and -- where the problems arise -- when humans became humans. Dr. Tattersall describes as false the perspective created by the classic concept of the ãgreat chain of being,ä with modern humans the pinnacle of evolution. |
Conversation 2 A series of consequences follow from acknowledging that humans are part of the natural world, says Dr. Tattersall, confident that human consciousness itself is part of the evolutionary process. He describes competition among human species. Using the fossil record, he assures us that the co-existence of multiple human species on the planet was the rule, drawing startling conclusions from todayâs dramatic exception -- only one human species on earth. He explains why he is confident Neanderthals were a separate and distinct species and describes their extinction. Dr. Tattersall distinguishes between anatomically and behaviorally modern humans, outlining how complex it is to define a species. |
Conversation 3 Dr. Tattersall describes the process by which paleoanthropologists work. Reminding us that modern humans may be atypical hominids, he urges caution applying our experience, knowledge and behavior to reconstructions of other species. He explains how one can be a hominid (a zoological family 5 million years old according to thefossil record) and not be like modern humans. He explains his belief that it is correct as well as respectful to treat Neanderthals as a separate species, then enumerates features unique to homo sapiens and to Neanderthals. Homo sapiens, he says, may well not be immune to the triage effect which has ended all other hominids. He again challenges the idea that evolution is linear, confident that nature is an ongoing drama of species with no predetermined end. |
Conversation 4 Dr. Tattersall compares adaptation to exaptation, defining the latter and using examples to show how it helps us better understand what distinguishes modern humans from others. He discusses human speech. Modern humans, he says, have looked (anatomically) the way we do for at least 100,000 years. However, the archaeological record shows recognizably modern (behavioral) complexities arising only between 60 and 40,000 years ago, even though hominid dependence on tools can be discerned 2.5 million years ago. Dr. Tattersall assures us that innovation in human evolution has been relatively rare and episodic, with no guarantees of what comes next. He compares what he is confident are the relative abilities of apes and early toolmaking humans. |
Conversation 5 Comparing his technical preoccupation with human fossils to their inherent beauty, Dr. Tattersall describes the progress that has been made in using the fossil record to understand where we came from. The real fascination, he says, is how we acquired consciousness. He elaborates, with descriptions of 4 major steps in human toolmaking -- each step embodying some kind of cognitive leap -- prior to the agricultural revolution. He considers where artistry came from. ÊHe summarizes and gives examples of what currently is known about when modern human anatomy and behavior arose and how this has been discerned |
Conversation 6 Language, Dr. Tattersall maintains, is currently our best candidate for the factor which released our brain's capacity for symbolic thought. He expands, describing how implications are drawn. He reminds us of our constraints in trying to think about pre-linguistic consciousness in modern humans. He describes humans (Neanderthals) who he asserts did very well without language for a very long time, relying instead on sophisticated, intuitive brain processes. |
Acknowledgements Dr. Tattersall graciously welcomed us into the Department of Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History on one of the two days he was in New York during January, 2001. Even jet lag does not diminish the power of Dr. Tattersallâs ideas. ÊWe thank him for his willingness to share them with us under challenging circumstances. The American Museum of Natural Historyâs staff made this conversation possible. Special thanks to Sallie Y. Slate, Senior Publicist in the Department of Communications & Marketing, who was central to making the arrangements; Helen Lazarro, who cordially acted as Ms. Slateâs ãpinch hitterä in the face of competing schedules; Karen Prohigh who got the process rolling; and Ken Mowbray, Dr. Tattersallâs assistant and a Collections Associate in the Division of Anthropology, who cheerfully cleared both space and time to make this conversation possible. We thank them all. |
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