Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

Showerthoughts_Mod t1_iy1jrwr wrote

This is a friendly reminder to read our rules.

Remember, /r/Showerthoughts is for showerthoughts, not "thoughts had in the shower!"

(For an explanation of what a "showerthought" is, please read this page.)

Rule-breaking posts may result in bans.

1

mafiaknight t1_iy1qbb2 wrote

But how would you prove that? Maybe they got the idea from humans and not the other way around. Or perhaps they were invented independently.

Also: which animal has spirituality?
Which has clothing?
And which has language?

1

Fickle-Cartoonist466 t1_iy1r7nu wrote

The first examples of art, boats, clothing, funerals, language, recipes, spiritual beliefs, and weapons were found in the fossil record dating before human civilization

Art: the earliest cave paintings we've found were made by Neanderthals, not to mention species of insects, primates, and fish who trace farther back in the fossil record created structures that may count as "art"

Boats: Neanderthals taught humans how to make boats; also ants make boats and ants have been around millions of years longer than humans

Clothing: Neanderthals evolved in Europe where the cold demanded clothing; humans didn't start wearing clothes until we migrated from warmer climates in Africa to colder Europe and ran into the Neanderthals

Funerals: elephantiformes and primates have funeral rites and they evolved long before Homo Sapiens

Language: early hominids and cetaceans developed spoken language before humans

Recipes: early hominids taught their offspring how to harvest and prepare safe plants and meat and avoid poisonous ones

Spiritual beliefs: primates and elephantiformes exhibit signs of early spirituality via funeral rites etc, and again, evolved before humans

Weapons: primates and early hominids fashioned tools and weapons before we did

Point is, humans didn't invent these things, we only adopted them. But they've existed in some form before humans discovered them.

2

mafiaknight t1_iy1smyv wrote

I personally disagree with the underlying belief in evolution, but understanding your viewpoint I agree with your conclusions: If evolution is true as commonly believed then everything you’ve said is both true and surprisingly interesting.

I didn’t know elephants had funerals. I had assumed this one was from ants, who collect the dead in a graveyard. I’m not convinced this == spirituality, but neither will I refute the point. I accept it as “perhaps”.

1

mafiaknight t1_iy1tcs4 wrote

Word. I appreciate where you’re coming from, and that you shared. I found it interesting and thought provoking.

Some of the stuff is more correlation than causation IMO, but that doesn’t make it untrue per se.

It also pressumes a specific belief in the creation of the universe, but within that belief, it’s quite insightful I think.

Thanks for explaining and not just insulting me like some people do.

2