How was the prehistoric human being different from us living in the present age? An animated movie that describes the origins of human beings

When we replace the history from the birth of the earth to the present day by 24 hours a day, the famous example that "human beings have started spreading from Africa to various parts of the world around 23:59 and 58 seconds as soon as the date changes" There is. Human history is very short in space scale, but about 6 million years have passed from the birth of prehistoric humans to the present age. Evolution of such human beings is "animation movie"What Happened Before History? Human Origins"It is explained in an easy-to-understand manner.

What Happened Before History? Human Origins - YouTube


We feel that the present life where smartphones and convenient transportation networks exist are commonplace. "Human beings have been living like this for a long time, and similar lives will continue in the future."


But in fact it is not. The era in which everything is refined and technologies are developed according to modern demand has not existed in the history of humanity so far. In modern times, many people are living a luxurious life, no longer need to be desperate to survive.


Things necessary for daily living such as food, housing, safety are increasingly becoming to be thought of as "commonplace".


However, such a way of thinking appeared only recently in the whole human history. In more than 99.99% of human history, human life was completely different from that of modern day.


The beginning of human history dates back about 6 million years ago.


From the monkeys who were living on trees,Human family(Hominini) appears and will have different characteristics from apes.


Before 2.8 million years ago, humanHomo sapiens sapiens)Including species leading toHuman genus(Homo) was born.


Sometimes it is said that "Homo sapiens sapiens is the only human being", but this is not a fact.


When Homo sapiens sapiens was born 200 thousand years ago, it is thought that there were at least six kinds of human race in addition.


Among them, there were human beings which succeeded greatly.Homo-electusHas inhabited the earth for 2 million years, which is ten times longer than the time from the birth of modern people to the present.


Human beings other than Homo sapiens sapiens disappeared the last 10,000 years ago.


At the moment we do not know why only Homo sapiens sapiens survived and other human race had become extinct.


Modern people,Neanderthal peopleAnd DNA of other human beings in a few percent, and from thisMating between mankind and Neanderthal peopleIt is clear. However, it seems that it was not a large-scale thing like seeds coalescing.


Human beings other than Homo sapiens sapiens may have been extinct after competing for resources such as food and may have mass massacre.


Either way, we were the only ones who survived.


I will return to the beginning of humanity. Prior to 2.8 million years ago, human beings were using tools, but after about two and a half years tools have hardly made progress.


The instruments began to make dramatic progress after we learned to use fire. Using fire makes it possible to cook ingredients, the brain develops as more nutrition can be taken. The fire also produced brightness and warmth, so the activity time of the day has been extended, making it easier to spend hard winter as well.


Fire was very effective to avoid predators, fire was used for hunting as well.


Three hundred thousand years ago, humankind of different species will each make a small hunter-gatherer society and live.


He had cultures unique to each human being, including fire, wooden tools, stone tools, stockpiles of food, mourning for the dead, and so on.



The most important thing in this era is that human beings were talking to each other. The language used in this era,AncestorIt was called simpler than the modern language.


Even if a time machine exists, even taking children away from 300,000 years ago and raising children in modern times ......


It is thought that it may have slightly different characteristics from modern people.


Anatomically, it is known that modern humans were born approximately 200,000 years ago. However, it is about 70,000 years ago to begin taking actions similar to modern people.


A baby two hundred thousand years ago has not been genetically mutated, it is thought that a gene indispensable to modern babies to learn the words and to think things was lacking 200,000 years ago.


Explosive innovation occurred about 50,000 years ago. Tools and weapons have become more sophisticated, culture has become more complex.



This is because human beings have developed multifunctional brains at this point and languages ​​have evolved to communicate more smoothly.


Thanks to this, we are able to tightly cooperate with each other, so at this point we can distinguish other humans from the earth.


Humans are weaker than other animals and are weak sensations, but we have flexibly cooperated with a large group of people and the development of the brain has made it possible to do what was impossible so far .


For example, it is possible to "quickly communicate knowledge such as how to catch fish", "to leave knowledge inherited from ancestry" and "to gain deeper insight based on past knowledge".


Before the development of the brain human beings have accumulated knowledge in genes just as if squirrels buried the soil in the soil, for example, it was not a very effective way.


From 50,000 years ago to 10,000 years ago, human life seems to have changed little.


The ancestors of human beings were still just a kind of animals.


Mankind, 50,000 years ago, was a living being specialized in survival, familiar with the geography of the range of life.


The five senses are being adjusted for the surrounding environment ......


I knew and remembered a lot of information on animals and plants.


It was able to make complex tools with training for many years, excellent athletic skills and living a rich social life in the group.


Because every ability is necessary for survival ......


The size of the brain seems to be bigger than the modern people.


Considering it as a group, the knowledge amount is better for modern people, but as an individual, the early human race had a lot of knowledge.


Agriculture begins to develop in various places around the world around 12,200 years ago. Everything changed rapidly from there.


Prior to the development of agriculture, both hunters and those seeking food in the forest had essential physical and mental abilities.


However, after the development of agriculture, it became possible to depend on each other's ability to survive. In other words, people who specialize in hunting and agriculture have appeared.


You can concentrate on professional work such as refining weapons, raising grain which is strong against disease, inventing tools.


As agriculture becomes more and more efficient, civilization will emerge.


By doing agriculture, we can predict the amount of food, and we will stock up a large amount of food in human history for the first time. Also, because it can store large amounts of grain, cattle and other livestock can also be raised.


Because food warehouses need to be protected in large numbers, human beings have come to live in small spaces in groups.


A facility for defense is built in the early civilization, and the organization grows.


The larger the organization, the faster the growth speed. The village becomes a city ... ...


Become a kingdom, grow to an empire.


As civilization develops, the connections between human beings spread, opportunities to exchange knowledge occur, the whole human beings rapidly progress.


About 500 years ago,Scientific revolutionWill happen. The mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology, chemistry and other sciences have repainted all the knowledge that mankind knew until then.


The Industrial Revolution followed shortly after the scientific revolution, and built up the foundation of the modern world.


Even in modern times the revolution continues to occur. Invention of computers leads to media innovation.


With the advent of the Internet, the modern world was formed.


It is difficult to know how fast a technical revolution took place, but by analogy in generational numbers, from the birth of humans to the present it is 125,000 generations.


It is 7,500 generations since the same physical characteristics as modern people were born.


Agriculture began 500 generations ago.


Science was born before twenty generations ago.


The Internet became widespread only one generation ago.


Today, human beings live in the most rapidly changing times. Humans change the environment on the planet and threaten the survival of other animals.


Light up the sky with artificial lighting at night ... ....


Sending mankind to outer space and walking on the moon ... ...


Sending a robot to another planet ... ...


It has become possible to observe the past of the universe in detail.


The average knowledge of contemporary high school students is huge than knowledge of scholars several centuries ago.


Humanity itself has not changed much, even compared with ancestors of 70,000 years ago.


However, it is less than 0.001% of human history as a whole that has changed to a life format like modern times.


I do not know what will happen to the future.


Aside from that, if I get over the train, buying a hamburger, it's cold, even if it falls into a queue ......


By remembering how special the modern world looks in the whole history of humanity, you do not have to worry about fine details.