Comments

7 Comments so far

1. Annette Jacobson on April 4, 2010 3:10 pm

   Thank you for this, Andrew. It looks like an amazing research work and also ground-breaking new exploration and observations into the mysteries of human evolutionary progress. (I will have to replay this introduction many times before I attempt to read the text)

2. grace Richardson on April 6, 2010 3:44 pm

   The book sounds fascinating and I look forward to reading it.What you say about neoteny strikes me right away because I have long found this an especially interesting as[ect of the evolutionary process–it explains so much–but of course I was thinking strictly of biology. However, one of my characters in an unpblished (and unpublishable) novel likes to think of this process as going beyond the purely biological. I didn’t write this seriously (at least, I thought of it as just a casual remark by a character who is smart but a bit of a smartass)–however, all of a sudden I see that it has far greater ramifications (and maybe that character was smarter than I realized); what you say sounds convincing as well as interesting. It’s also an exciting idea, suggesting an exciting destiny, or continuous path, for humanity (so long as we don’t poison ourselves first or blow ourselves up). Thanks for the video as well as the announcement and, most of all, the book itself.

3. grace Richardson on April 6, 2010 3:46 pm

   I hope you got my comment (I just sent it).

4. Eric Lester on September 21, 2010 1:47 pm

   I can’t dance :’(

5. Ben Richards on February 16, 2011 9:22 am

   I am more convinced by the memetic explanation proposed by Dawkins and Blackmore.

   Brain evolution being driven by the necessity to imitate action, then to imitate imitation. Consequently larger brains become preferred by mates >> neoteny

6. Steven on March 27, 2011 1:41 pm

   I thought the video was very interesting. I reminded me of something I read by Joseph Campbell in one of his books. I think maybe it was “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” He had made a comment about how one of the key attributes of mankind was how we staid in the early learning stage much longer than any other mammal (I’m paraphrasing).

   Ben, I don’t think Neoteny contradicts Dawkins or Blackmore. I don’t think it has to be an either/or kind of thing.

7. Michele Rubatino on February 11, 2012 7:30 pm

   I am curious how female birth control is affecting the timing of estrogen, as well as women choosing to have babies much later in life. Also, how pornography through oxytocin is affecting the testosterone levels of men, and if you know at all how that will alter our future evolution.