The Human Spark : Becoming Us (PBS) Part 2/4 HD

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Broadcast (2010) In the caves and rock shelters of the Dordogne region of France, Alan Alda witnesses the spectacular paintings and carvings that date back some 30,000 years, artwork that archeologists once thought to be the first record of people with minds like our own. When this art was created, Europe had already been peopled for hundreds of thousands of years -- and thousands of lifetimes -- by humans we call Neanderthals. Alan discovers, from visits to sites where Neanderthals once lived, that Neanderthals were tenacious and resourceful. But they appear to have lived in and of the moment; certainly they produced no art, and employed a stone tool technology that changed little over millennia. The people who painted the caves, our ancestors, were strikingly different, possessed of what we are calling the Human Spark, capable not only of art but of innovative technology and symbolic communication. The questions Alan explores: Where and when did the Human Spark first ignite? In these caves, as archeologists have long believed? Or at a much earlier time -- and on another continent?

What is the nature of human uniqueness? Where did "The Human Spark" ignite, and when? And perhaps most tantalizingly, why? In this three-part series, Alan Alda takes these questions personally, visiting with dozens of scientists on three continents, and participating directly in many experiments -- including the detailed examination of his own brain. Bringing his trademark humor and curiosity to face-to-face conversations with leading researchers, he seeks "The Human Spark" -- from archaeologists finding clues in the fossilized bones and tools of our ancestors; to primatologists studying our nearest living relatives to explore what we have in common and what sets us apart; to neuroscientists peering into his mind with the latest brain scanning technologies.

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[jrgenkratz]

The host seems so intent on reinforcing his own preconceptions. It doesn't feel like he is heading into this with an open mind. Homo Sapiens lived the same way for over a hundred thousand years as well, before starting to create art and more sophisticated tools. It doesn't have to be that the neanderthals were somehow inferior, that there was something "missing" that homo sapiens had. And we still have a bit of neanderthal in us, who knows what part that played in our cultural development?

[MCvanVeen]

Could it be that there were more than 30.000 Neanderthal, and that they cremated their dead in order to avoid that wild animals would get attracted by the scent?

[Guitcad1]

Alan Alda speaks French. That is so cool!

[Edella]

@dinkipooxa Hello again.

I would highly recommend a study of epistemology if you are unfamiliar with it. How do we (as a whole) know what we claim to know? How do we acquire knowledge and by what means? Are some means better than others? You seem to be the curious type who might enjoy this kind of study. Karl Popper (IMO) tackled these questions brilliantly. Might be worth your time to look into him.

Peace.

[Edella]

Hi dinkipooxa I'd be curious to know in what sense you think the study of genetics resembles phrenology. Even allowing for hyperbole or epistemological problems with modern scientific approaches to the understanding of the *nature* of living creatures, the comparison seems over the top.

Peace.

[Edella]

@dinkipooxa " all research into DNA and its assumed logical structure, is nought but a sophisticated form, or return if you like, of the infamous phrenology"

So the assertion that, say, the trisomy of the 21st chromosome causes down syndrome is little more that conjecture on par with any 'ol phrenologist's wacky claims? Seriously?

[spartacandream]

We're one really weird animal species, wearing the teeth of our relatives?

I think that maybe neanderthals became too specialized, they didn't need to be able to constantly innovate, there was no evolutionary imperative for it, and then it was too late, humans showed up. We tend to advance whether we need to or not, we just love to create new things. Useful and useless.

[MagnaMater2]

@MagnaMater2 argh, double...

[MagnaMater2]

Fish? Why should NT's eat fish? Weren't fish and smaller animals only used, when after the iceage the woods came back, and stopped the large animals from wandering in big herds?

Were the Rendeers after 11 half-domesticated?