Lecture 3: The Cognitive Revolution
The cognitive revolution is name given to the remarkable changes that occurred in early man that launched man on the path toward the enhanced capabilities that have outdone all other species and have led man to forge his current dominant role as ‘master of the planet’.
Lecture 3 is an attempt to comprehend some of the factors that started Homo sapiens along the path to the extraordinary series of advances and accomplishments that elevated man over other species and that continue to the present day.
We’ll look at some of the factors involved in the start of the cognitive revolution but with the realization that there is no direct physical evidence and that we rely on deductions based on the rather poorly recorded changes that occurred in the capabilities and lifestyles of early man.
Lecture Outline
1. Introduction
2. Superiority and Colonialism
3. Course sequence
4. Cognitive Revolution
5. The Human brain
6. Nature of the Cognitive Revolution
7. Expansion of mental powers
Imagination
Memory
Prediction
Information sharing
Telling stories
Plotting
Language
8. Shared beliefs
Divine myths
Patriotic beliefs
Religious beliefs
Caste systems
9. Role of Education
10. Some Aspects of the Cognitive Revolution
Timing
Why did this occur?
Fire
Larger bands
11. Shared beliefs
12. Encounters with others
13. Trade
14. Changing myths
15. Summary
Concepts introduced in lecture 3:
- Fairly late in his history, man initiated some profound changes in lifestyle
- These changes resulted in part from an increased awareness of his relation to the environment and to other species
- They led to a dominance over other contemporary species, a dominance that has continued to increase with time
- The changes were not related to any physical attributes but rather to man’s mental capabilities
- They may have been the result of increases in brain size and complexity
- The cognitive revolution involved increased use of what broadly can be called the imagination and the resultant creative abilities
- These changes flourished towards the end of the Ice Age, perhaps some 70,000 years ago
- They were the early steps leading to the dominant role man was to play with respect to other species, to the increasing power and influence of man over his future development, and to his influence over the world around him.