When and how did the human mind evolve?

Is there anybody here who doesn't believe in evolution?

news.bbc.co.uk...

When and how did the human mind evolve?

Fossil remains of A. afarensis ("Lucy"), a possible human ancestor, were found at Hadar, Ethiopia
These are two of the big questions researchers from the UK universities of Liverpool and Southampton will tackle from October.

They will undertake a project called Lucy To Language: The Archaeology Of The Social Brain.

Sorry if this is in the wrong place.



[Edited on 10-9-2003 by John Nada]

I think the human mind existed long before lucy or any other creature. (in another way though)

The mind and the brain are not the same thing. Some scientists still refuse to accept this.

If there was no alien influence on the development of humanity, then from what I've read is that walking upright started brain development. Doing so freed up two limbs to concentrate solely on environment/tool manipulation. This limb freedom gave way to intelligence enhancement. The smartest creatures that made the most effective tools for survival passed on their genes. Social contact is also a giant driving force for intelligence, but not as much as environment manipulation.

there may have been primates that exsisted...
man and his mind is another thing...
and not on this planet, this is our habitat not our
alpha and omega...

Originally posted by bigsage
.... this is our habitat not our
alpha and omega...

That was beautiful.

you seem like a beautifull being as well...

You both seem very spiritual beings, can I have some of what you've got?

it took a lotta hard work..
and it dislike to just give it to you it may harm your soul...
but i will try...

The problem I have with evolution is following:

In order to transfer a certain characteristic to your child it has to be written in the DNA of either egg cells or sperm. No matter how much you develop your brain in course of your life, you cant pass it on unless the information is stored in those 2 types of cells.
Females are BORN with egg cells carying information, they have they from birth, and do not produce them later, they just use them one by one, the info is already written in stone there.
That leaves us with sperm, which, as we all know, is produced many many times, but with information already set.

So how in the world have those pregressive mutations in the course of evolution occured??!
Specially that we know mutation that occur in human beings are not progressive ( creating a more adapted individual) but are degenerative ( creating a being less capable to adapt, down syndrom for example).

Any experts here?

I'm not an expert but I do know that the evolution doesn't happen overnight.. It takes a reeaaallly long time. And the DNA slightly changes in every generation.

For an example, thousands of years ago a person was lucky to be as tall as 160cm. Some individuals reached 170cm.

^^ I saw that on TV.

Evolution is a man-made construct/concept....
Just as Time is a man-made construct/concept....

regards
seekerof

In meiosis, the diversification takes place...

www.biology.arizona.edu...

Evolution is a lucky mistake. Every generation there is the chance that a mutated cell may be passed along. Due to the extraordinary complexity of humans these mutations are usually bad. If they are to bad there is no chance for life and the fetus is aborted before even being born. Other times it is bad but life is possible, such as down syndrome. Once in a rare while it will result in a improvement. because it is not a hindrance there will be offspring that continue on this mutation and proliferate with it. Imagine billions of years ago man was just a dumb ape. One day another man is born with a genetic mutation that causes his brain to be more receptive to retaining knowledge. This is a non-life ending trait and not outwardly obvious to his fellow humans so he grows as normal. However this improved mental ability makes him a better survivor. He would earn his way to being a more prolific father, spreading his seed around. His offspring carrying this mutation would also be slightly better than normal men and would also thrive well and spread the mutation. Eventually they get to be half the population and those without the mutation are noticeably less successful in their primitive lives. As those without the mutation slowly dwindle the more successful eventually replace them all. Not necessarily through killing off, they may not have even been aware of the difference, some just thrived better.
Now I'm in no way saying that we evolved form nothing. I never ruled out creationism at some point. I'm just pointing out the very easy to reach conclusion that evolutionary improvement is possible. They say that our DNA is 97% exactly the same as a chimp. That 3 percent is a lot of genes changing, but I can believe it possible one at a time over billions of years. Billions is a concept that many people underestimate.