HON 110:  Evolution of Behavior

Response to “The Mind’s Big Bang” video from the Evolution series produced by PBS

  

Choose one of these and write a 1 paragraph typed response/reaction.  Email or bring to class on Tuesday Nov 25

 

1. Ok, so what does make humans unique?  Tool use was regarded for decades as THE definition of human.  Even though now we know that other species use tools, tool use is still quite a hallmark.  What does tool use indicate?  Why is it so important?

 

2. Why was discovering ornamentation (mass production of beads) such a big find?  What about the decorations of corpses? Do you think these discoveries really shed light on human-ness?

 

3. What did you think about the study on beliefs and deception in small children?  Are non-humans incapable of such reasoning?

 

4. Language, really syntactical language, is now thought of as THE hallmark/definition of human.  Why?  How does language relate to improving our survival?

    5.   Memes- what do you think about these "units of culture"?  Are they really similar to genes?