Comments on: Book review – The Creative Spark: How Imagination Made Humans Exceptional

By: Book review – Why Chimpanzees Can’t Learn Language and Only Humans Can | The Inquisitive Biologist

Fri, 08 May 2020 14:52:51 +0000

[…] laid down on bones that suggests hominins started having first dibs on carcasses around this time (Agustín Fuentes also noted this, arguing for a switch from passive to power scavenging about 2 million years ago). It is a neat […]

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By: Book review – Why Chimpanzees Can’t Learn Language and Only Humans Can | The Inquisitive Biologist

Wed, 11 Mar 2020 11:04:16 +0000

[…] arguing for a switch from passive to power scavenging about 2 million years ago, see my review of The Creative Spark: How Imagination Made Humans Exceptional). It is a neat idea, although it does not address why H. erectus evolved a larger brain to begin […]

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By: Book review – Mama’s Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Teach Us about Ourselves | The Inquisitive Biologist

Thu, 29 Aug 2019 11:56:55 +0000

[…] The Better Angels of our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined). As I also mentioned in my review of The Creative Spark: How Imagination Made Humans Exceptional, the recent decline in violence might be true, but the archaeological evidence does not support a […]

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By: Book review – The Book of Humans: The Story of How We Became Us | The Inquisitive Biologist

Wed, 14 Nov 2018 09:13:36 +0000

[…] Brimming with findings from recent research, Rutherford conscientiously steers clear of anthropomorphism and sensational claims, pointing out where the limits of our knowledge are and openly marking the areas where we just do not know the answers. He ultimately refrains from pointing at any one thing to say: “here, this, this switch or trait or development is what makes us uniquely human”. Instead, this book revels in the messy reality that is biology and skillfully navigates the reader through the many traits and developments that, collectively, have made us who we are. Wonderfully crafted, this is a readable, fun exploration of human evolution and how we compare to the animals surrounding us that is recommended if you enjoyed a book like The Creative Spark: How Imagination Made Humans Exceptional. […]

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By: The Creative Spark: How Imagination Made Humans Exceptional – Snapzu Science

Mon, 12 Nov 2018 18:37:42 +0000

[…] Continue reading… […]

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By: Book review – Numbers and the Making of Us: Counting and the Course of Human Cultures | The Inquisitive Biologist

Mon, 15 Jan 2018 13:38:12 +0000

[…] reasons in recently published books. From culture to cooking to creativity (see Fuentes’s The Creative Spark I reviewed previously). Caleb Everett, a professor of linguistic anthropology, here makes the point […]

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By: Stepniak

Stepniak — Thu, 04 Jan 2018 02:45:43 +0000

While I really enjoy going down the single truth path ( I love “Out of Africa”), I also enjoy a “multi-regional” approach — many known and unknown intentions and biological circumstances makes us Human. However, I am a bit reserved when it comes to thinking that we have taken something to the next level. It is quite possible that, let’s say, the white faced Capuchin hand games is all they really need or even desire. Other animals might not have the necessity to be novel with their communication and entertainment, for their economy and world view is much different. This would mean a new game that a Capuchin has possibly discovered might mean that they are also standing on the shoulders of giants.

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By: inquisitivebiologist

inquisitivebiologist — Wed, 03 Jan 2018 20:48:33 +0000

In reply to Stepniak.

Hi Stepniak, thanks for your thoughts. Ruling out creativity in other species is indeed sheer impossible. I think by now there is plenty of evidence showing creativity (often in the guise of tool use) in various species. Humans have obviously taken it to the next level. There has been a slew of books in recent years with titles along the lines of “how X made us human” with some authors highlighting cooking and the use of fire, others highlighting culture or agriculture etc. Truth is, I think, all of these had a part to play. The book I’m currently reading, Numbers and the Making of Us, talks about writing (specifically looking at numbers and numeracy). Writing has been hugely important in allowing what Michael Tomasello calls the cultural ratchet; the ability to collectively lock into a huge, expanding pool of knowledge, generation upon generation, building on the work of our predecessors. We stand on the shoulders of giants.

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By: Stepniak

Stepniak — Wed, 03 Jan 2018 17:51:28 +0000

It’s extremely difficult to assume that non- human primates and other members of the animal kingdom do not possess creativity. I would assume that writing is what makes our species of primate distinct, whether that be because of creativity or a need to store information in way that is necessary for homo sapiens sapiens to get a long in this world within culture that is relative to any given biological and cultural situation (assuming that other entities aside from humans have culture), is engaging to say the least. Nevertheless, a creative spark is a novel idea and a great metaphor that I look forward to reading.

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