New Evolution Tale: Mixing Ideas Made Us Human

Human beings can use existing parts to create new objects. This Tree of Life was made by artists in Mozambique from discarded parts of machine guns and other weapons.



Joel Kontinen

It is no secret that humans are special. We differ from all other living beings on this planet of ours.

For Darwinists, this is a huge dilemma because they believe that all life sprang from a common ancestor.

Why, then, are we so different?

Writing in New Scientist, professor Mark Turner suggests that we became humans by blending concepts:

“About 50,000 years ago we started to mash up incompatible concepts – and everything from science to fashion is the result.”

Prof. Turner, whose expertise is in cognitive science, explains:

“At some point, perhaps in the Upper Palaeolithic era, which began around 50,000 years ago, we developed the ability to blend ideas that are in strong conflict, or incompatible. This advanced blending capacity is the source of our creativity.”

As an example, he mentions an ivory figurine found in Germany that combines the features of a man and a lion.

So, in a Darwinian dream world, man can use his cognitive prowess to become truly human. One might ask whether this is logical, and the most obvious answer is that it isn’t.

We are special because we were created in the image of God. Darwinian just so stories might be interesting, but that does not make them true.


Source:

Turner, Mark. 2014. Our blender brain: How mixing ideas made us human. New Scientist 2957. (26 February).