# How Scientists Discovered the Staggering Complexity of Human Evolution

**URL:** <https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/how-scientists-discovered-the-staggering-complexity-of-human-evolution/11748>\
**Category:** Conversation\
**Tags:** Science, Article\
**Created:** [September 16, 2020, 2:22pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/how-scientists-discovered-the-staggering-complexity-of-human-evolution/11748 "2020-09-16T14:22:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![swamidass](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/swamidass/32/3_2.png) [@swamidass](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/swamidass)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 2:22pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/how-scientists-discovered-the-staggering-complexity-of-human-evolution/11748/1 "2020-09-16T14:22:14Z")

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> **[How Scientists Discovered the Staggering Complexity of Human Evolution](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-scientists-discovered-the-staggering-complexity-of-human-evolution/)**
>
> Darwin would be delighted by the story his successors have revealed

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/peacefulscience/original/2X/8/8de16fa30c05e67b9ec6463ab780813e5675934c.jpeg)

> Of _Homo sapiens_ , Darwin made only a passing mention on the third-to-last page of the tome, noting coyly that “light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history.” That’s it. That is all he wrote about the dawning of the single most consequential species on the planet.

> **Such discoveries make for a much** more interesting picture of human evolution than the linear account that has dominated our view of life. But they raise a nagging question: How did _H. sapiens_ end up being the sole surviving twig on what was once a luxuriant evolutionary bush?

> One wonders where the next 175 years will take us in the quest to understand who we are and where we come from. We may have found our place in nature, located our twig on the shrub, but we are still searching for ourselves. We’re only human, after all.

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/peacefulscience/original/2X/e/e27b615c911e92459f347b4f6a3fc2b886716193.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![John\_Harshman](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/john_harshman/32/1121_2.png) [@John\_Harshman](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/John_Harshman)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 2:59pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/how-scientists-discovered-the-staggering-complexity-of-human-evolution/11748/2 "2020-09-16T14:59:53Z")

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> [@swamidass](#):
>
> That is all he wrote about the dawning of the single most consequential species on the planet.

Think a lot of yourself, don’t you?

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**Author:** ![Roy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/roy/32/3799_2.png) [@Roy](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/Roy)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 3:22pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/how-scientists-discovered-the-staggering-complexity-of-human-evolution/11748/3 "2020-09-16T15:22:08Z")

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Maybe Josh is a blue-green alga? On the internet you can’t necessarily tell…

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**Author:** ![Ashwin\_s](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/ashwin_s/32/4017_2.png) [@Ashwin\_s](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/Ashwin_s)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 12:26pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/how-scientists-discovered-the-staggering-complexity-of-human-evolution/11748/4 "2020-09-18T12:26:00Z")

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> [@John\_Harshman](#):
>
> Think a lot of yourself, don’t you?

Well, why not… Since human beings are the only species known to be able to think a lot about oneself and express these thoughts…

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**Author:** ![John\_Harshman](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/john_harshman/32/1121_2.png) [@John\_Harshman](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/John_Harshman)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 2:18pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/how-scientists-discovered-the-staggering-complexity-of-human-evolution/11748/5 "2020-09-18T14:18:35Z")

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We’re also the only species known to be able to make nuclear weaspons. Doesn’t mean we should do it.